Abstract

Violent conflict is gradually becoming one of the defining characteristics of Nigeria the nation considered by many as the most populous nation of the continent of Africa No part of Nigeria is free from violence of one form or the other The problem of violence in Nigeria has become more worrisome as the security operatives whose duty it is to maintain peace detect and suppress crimes have themselves become engulfed in violent conflicts thereby giving criminals opportunity to unleash terror on the citizenry with impunity Although other unethical practices are held accountable for the clashes superiority struggles arising from their historical past has of late become prominent The implication of this professional missnormal is grievous The repeated violent clashes among these security professionals have consistently alienated them from the public It has further caused loss of confidence and respect of the citizenry The ultimate side effect is lack of civil co-operation that these forces need to succeed in crime control This explains why the nation has not been able to effectively manage insurgency and other security challenges in recent times If Nigeria s peace is pivotal to African and global peace as stressed by some scholars then there is urgent need for the problem of superiority struggles to be addressed