Worried by the current security challenges facing Nigeria, a former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, has said the security challenges are posing a threat to the corporate existence of the country.

Speaking at a conference titled, ‘National Security and Development in Contemporary Nigeria,’ organised by Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin on Monday, the former IGP said that it behooved serious government in any society to ensure maintenance of law and order with a view to creating conducive atmosphere for socio-political and economic development.

The ex-IGP, who is also the pro-chancellor of the university, said that “this nexus between security and development has made the goal of entrenching and maintaining law and order a major challenge of most governments across the globe.

“Today, bomb explosions and sporadic gunshots have continued to endanger the polity and threaten the corporate existence of Nigeria; communal clashes, tribal hostilities, kidnapping, religious bigotry and post-election violence stagnate and retard socio-economic activities and developmental processes.

“In addition, structural violence which is expressed in social deprivation, social inequality, high level of poverty arising from unemployment and mass illiteracy and ignorance constitute debilitating conditions that pose serious threat to security and development. Consequently, sufferings, heartaches, instability and disunity are inevitable corollaries resulting from violence and state of insecurity.”

One of the guest lecturers and a professor of criminology at the University of Abuja, Femi Odekunle, said President Goodluck Jonathan does not have the character to bail Nigeria out its current challenges.

Odekunle, who was the pioneer Director of the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime, said that “Jonathan may not be the right man at this time. In terms of character and orientation, Nigeria needs a strong hand and a focused national leader, who will not care whose ox is gored.