# I. INTRODUCTION ince the end of the World War II in 1945 and the fallen of the Berlin Wall (cold war) in the late 80's, the international community is made to face another round of serious security threat that is today becoming widespread. This particular threat is 'terrorism' which has led to varying human rights abuses. During the cold war, the United States foreign policy was dominated by the strategic need to contain communism which to a large extent mitigated the potency of human rights and democracy. Though the end of the cold war elicited broad human rights concerns to the extent that they take centre stage not only in nation's foreign policies but also in world politics About: Institute Of Human Resources Development (Inhurd) University Of Agriculture, Abeokuta -Email:chrisojukwu1@yahoo.com as a whole, the issue of terrorism has remained problematic to the international community as it has increasingly impacted negatively on nation's foreign policies. This peculiar act of criminality ranges from suicide bombing (Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during the World War II and World Trade Centre in the United States in 2001) to kidnapping of individuals which is presently gaining recognition in Nigeria. Irrespective of factors that gave rise to terrorism, the major challenge today is how to tackle the dastardly act. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, the war on terrorism generally gained legitimacy and justification in the International community as many countries considered it to be their international obligation to fight the social menace. In other words, confronting the criminal act has become one of the most important fundamentals of national governments foreign policies. To be sure, the US, the conceived major victim and target of the terrorism has come to dominate the scene in the fight to abolishing terrorist activities by prioritizing democratization processes. From the US administration's perspective, future 11 September type of attacks can only be prevented through liberalization and democratization of the Middle Eastern countries. This was a key rationale used by the Bush administration to mobilize public support for conducting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. For instance, the eradication of Al-Queda type of terrorist activities in Afghanistan and the subsequent war in Iraq was premised on denying terrorists access to weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD). In addition to escalating political instability and uncertainty in countries, terrorism also has a large effect on economic activity: the capital stock (human and physical) of a country is often reduced as a result of terrorist attacks; it promotes increases in counter-terrorism expenditures, drawing resources from productive sectors for use in security; it has an adverse effect on specific industries such as tourism and it reduces the expected return to investment, that is, changes in the intensity of terrorism have an ambiguous effect on the overall investment position of the world (such as, investment over wealth). Terrorism may also portend large movements of capital across countries of the world economy is sufficiently open. It is in such cases, corporate (International) Investors rate terrorism as one of the essential factors influencing foreign investment decisions. For instance, the amount of The same is the case in Nigeria hitherto. Since the increase in proportion of kidnapping and blasting of oil pipelines in the Niger Delta, the number of international investors coming to Nigeria has reduced drastically while some foreign companies who had been in Nigeria years before the terrorist activities began have relocated to other neighbouring countries such as Ghana and South Africa where they are sure to enjoy relative peace, security and supply of electricity. The thrust of the paper therefore, is to critically examine the various ways the issue of terrorism in Nigeria has affected the Nigeria's foreign policy and its human rights concerns. In other words, how has the prevailing spate of various dimensions of terrorism -kidnapping, abduction, hostage-taking, political assassinations affected the national interests, Nigeria's international relations policy and fundamental human rights of both Nigerian citizens and foreigners resident in Nigeria II. # CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS: TERRORISM Terrorism has become a fixture of international life. The phenomenon has been variously described as tactic and strategy; a crime, a justified reaction to oppression and an inexcusable abomination. It has become increasingly common among those pursuing extreme goals throughout the world today, not only has modern science and technology expanded the rein and zones of terror, but the human condition and individual aspirations, as well as the nature and levels of global interactions have contributed maximally. Hence, the concept is a criminal act that influences an audience beyond the immediate victim. The strategy of most terrorist is to commit acts of violence that draws the attention of the local populace, the government and the world to their cause. They plan their attack to obtain the greatest publicity, choosing targets that that symbolize what they oppose. For instance, in 1972, at the Munich Olympics, the Black September Organisation struck and killed II Israelis. Though they were the immediate victims, the main target was the estimated 1 billion people watching the televised event. This being the case, everyone and any nation is a potential target, be it a core or weak nation, it does not matter much to the actors. As an observer puts it, 'in the hands of the modern terrorists, evil is distilled into a potent, living weapon' The phrase 'one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter' is a view terrorists themselves would accept. They do not see their act as evil but fighting for what they believe in by whatever means possible. The terrorist attacks in great nations like the United States and the United Kingdom in 2001 and 2005 respectively brings to the fore a future in which our societies are among the battle fields and our people among the targets. The September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States were not only tragic and horrific, but were also followed by other major attacks such as, the tourist facilities on Bali in 2002, the siege of a middle school in Breslain, Russia, Madrid in 2004, the London transit systems in 2005 (Lutz and Lutz 2008). These attacks resulted in major casualties and have provided outgoing evidence that terrorism is a continuing problem and ravaging fire for many societies around the world. But in specific tern is terrorism? The term has a connotation of evil, indiscriminate violence or brutality. To label a group or action as terrorist is to seek to suggest that the actors or the violence is immoral, wrong or contrary to obvious basic ethical principles that any reasonable human being might hold. In some context, terrorism may be conceived as, freedom fighters, revolutionaries, rebels, resistance fighters, members of democratic opposition or national liberation soldiers (Enders and Sandler 2006: Lutz and Lutz 2006b, 2008). Terrorism is the deliberate and systematic murder, maiming and menacing of the innocent to inspire fear for political ends. In the latter part of the 20th century, the phenomenon became popularised as one of the features of world politics and conflict. Hitherto, terrorism is used by individuals, single minded small groups, state agents and broad insurgent movements to seek some political and military results perhaps considered difficult or impossible to achieve in the usual political forum or on the battlefield against an army (Harmon, 2000). As Walter (1972) argues, terrorism is not only confined to anomalous circumstances or exotic systems, it is also potential in ordinary institutions as well as in unusual situations. It has been variously described as both a tactic and strategy; a crime and a holy duty; a justified reaction to oppression and an inexcusable abomination. Reigns of terror are not properly understood if they are conceived exclusively as ephemeral states of crisis produced by adventurous events or as alien forms of control. Systems of terror usually defined as 'abnormal' by the conventions western social and political thought may be generated under certain conditions of stress by 'normal' political processes. Merari (1994) for instance, describes terrorism as the use of violence by sub-national groups or clandestine state agents for obtaining political (including social and religious) goals especially when the violence is intended to intimidate or otherwise affect the emotions, attitudes and behaviour of a target audience considerably larger than the actual victims. Wilkinson (1974) holds that as a type of unconventional warfare, terrorism is designed to weaken or supplant existing political landscapes through capitulation, acquiescence or radicalization as opposed to subversion or direct military action. Significantly, terrorism is a compulsive strategy of the relatively disadvantaged, the weak who seeks reversal of authority, an efficacious use of force to achieve a desired policy, a theatrical warfare whose drama involves the actors who actually carry out the violent act, the group against whom the violent act is targeted and the authority due to be influenced or compelled to act. Often times, those who are accused of being terrorists rarely identify themselves as such, instead, they use terms that represent their ideological or ethnic struggle such as: separatists, freedom fighters, guerrillas, Jihadi, revolutionaries. Historically, the concept 'terrorism' dates back to the first organized human interactions. At minimum, it could be traced back to the period when Jewish zealots used terrorism to resist the Romans by killing many roman soldiers and destroying Roman property. It could also be traced to when Muslims used terrorism to fight each other (Shiites versus Sunni) and against the crusades. It was a period in the religious circle when dying in the service of god, dying while killing the assumed enemies of God (Allah) loomed large (Rapport 1984). The modern development of terrorism as a tool to achieve political and religious goals began during the French Revolution (1793-1794). During this period, Maximilien Robespierre of France introduced government sponsored terrorism in order to maintain power and suppress opposition to the government (Hoffman 1998). Similarly, during the Soviet Revolution in 1917, Lenin and Stalin, evolved government sponsored terrorism as a useful tool to maintain government control. These personalities systematically used the act of terrorism to intimidate and frighten the entire society. To them, both terror and fear were veritable instruments for governmental operations. In 1966, Cuba hosted the Tri-continental conference which was sponsored by the Soviet Union. The conference marked the beginning of the internationalization of terrorism. Terrorist and liberation groups from Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America began to work together and built alliances. The trend continued like that. In Germany, the Red Army Faction (German group) allied itself with Black September (Palestinian group); in France, Action Direct (French group) allied with the Red Army Faction and Red Army Brigade (Italian group); in Japan, the Japanese Red Army allied with the popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (Padelford et al., 1976). Meanwhile, there is a wide spectrum of strategies of terrorist groups. No one type of group has a monopoly on any particular technique or strategy. Thus, different strategies can be employed by different, unrelated groups of terrorist. Strategy in this context is the considered application of means to advance one's ends objectives. This depends largely on the circumstances and the terrorists intentions. Harmon (2000) indentifies some of the terrorists strategies which include; strategy to create or further a sense of societal dislocation, fear and even anarchy; strategy to discredit, diminish, or destroy a particular government and replace it with another economic strategy which is intended to directly harm the property owners and perhaps to vitiate the economic policies and programmes of government particularly in the areas of sabotage of oil pipelines, bombings bank robberies and disrupting the export of manufactured goods and strategy for international effect. This finds explanation in some actions some governments embark upon to deter unnecessary foreign incursion or intervention in the business of the country. Essentially, the strategy of terrorists is to commit acts of violence that draws the attention of the local populace, the government, and the world to their cause. They plan their attack to obtain the greater publicity, choosing targets that symbolize what they oppose. For example, in 1972 at the Munich Olympics, the Black September organization killed 11 Israelis. The Israelis were the immediate victims, but the true target was the estimated 1 billion people watching the televised event. The organization used the high visibility of the Olympics to publicise its views on the plight of the Palestinian refugees. Similarly, in October 1983, Middle Eastern terrorists bombed the marine Battalion Landing Team Headquarters at Beirut International Airport. Their immediate victims were the 24 military personnel who were killed and over 100 others who were wounded. Their true target was the American people and its congress. A modern trend in terrorism is toward loosely organized, self-financed, international networks of terrorists. Another trend is toward terrorism that is religiously or ideologically-motivated. Radical Islamic fundamentalist groups, or groups using religion as a pretext, pose terrorist threats of varying kinds to many nations' interests. A third trend is the apparent growth of cross-national links among different terrorist organizations which may involve combinations of military training or funding, technology transfer or political advice. In fact, looming over the entire issue of international terrorism is a trend toward proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Indeed, Iran, seen as the most active state sponsor of terrorism, has been aggressively seeking a nuclear arms capability. Iraq is thought to be stockpiling chemical and biological agents, and to be rebuilding its nuclear weapons program. North Korea recently admitted to having a clandestine program for uranium enrichment. Also, indications have surfaced that the Al Qaeda organization attempted to acquire chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. Given all this, stakes # Global J ournal of Human Social Science Volume XI Issue III Version I 17 April in the war against international terrorism are increasing and attempts to prevent terrorist attacks are diminishing correspondingly. It is pertinent to also examine some of the various dimensions of terrorism. Prominent among these include, state-bound; non-state terrorism and terrorism across national boundaries. By statebound terrorism, is meant one being orchestrated and aided by states. This can be in various forms: intimidation, selective political assassination, abduction and kidnapping. Some striking illustration includes, the genocidal activities the Nazi regime carried out against the Jewish population between 1939 and 1945, and the stallinest purge of the peasant class of Kulaks in Ukraine that caused the death of millions of civilians. The non-state terrorism is often carried out by individuals or groups who feel it is no longer worth it to accomplish political objectives within the law, a law which to them represents the power of an immoral and/or illegitimate regime or government. These individuals are contemptuous of the society's political institutions and practices (Slann 1998). Some of the factors responsible for the nonstate terrorism are tied to relative deprivation: asymmetrical allocation or distribution of public resources, poverty, political frustration. It could also be due to religious intolerance or fanaticism (Adeniran 1996). Terrorism across national boundaries is one that has external connection. The act is mostly drawn on external factors. Whereas at the national (territorial) level the source of the violent act could be traced and some solutions sought (such as in cases of kidnapping, abduction), extra-territorial terrorism does not subject itself to such scrutiny and resolution. Hence, it is often difficult to identify the actual source of some terror across national boundaries, and some times, if identified, it becomes pretty cumbersome to cope with it without the collaboration of other actors within the international system. III. # FOREIGN POLICY Foreign policy expresses self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. Thus, the approaches are strategically employed in order to interact with other countries. In international politics, nations are particularly interested in achieving two basic things -national interest and foreign policy. The former begets the latter. National interest emphasizes taking action on issues that would improve the political situation, the economic and social wellbeing, the health and culture of the people as well as their political survival. In other words, national interest is people-oriented policies that have the capacity to improve the lot of the people and make them stand among other nations. It must be policies that would promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number of the citizens. For instance, a policy that leads to the creation of full employment in the country and at the same time advance the nation's march towards economic and political emancipation vis-à-vis other members of the international system (Ojo and Sesay 1988). A country's foreign policy, also called the 'international relations policy' is a set of political and economic goals that seeks to outline how a country will interact with other counties of the world. Thus, foreign policies generally are designed to help protect a country's national interests, national security, ideological goals and economic prosperity. It consists of decisions and actions which involve to some appreciable extent, relations between one state and others. It is a set of explicit objectives with regard to world beyond the borders of a given social unit and a set of strategies and tactics designed to achieve those objectives. This implies the perception of a need to influence the behaviour of other states or international organization. The aim is to ensure that such states or international organization maintain the existing pattern of behaviour especially if the influencing state perceives such as contributing to the achievement of its own objectives, or to change the present pattern by initiating a new set of policies, or by altering or halting the implementation of existing ones (Frankel 1967;Legg and Morrison 1971). Snyder (1969) conceives foreign policy as the processes of state interaction at the government level, while Reynold (1980) views it as the external actions taken by decision-makers with the intention of achieving long-range goals and short-term objectives. To Modelski (1962) foreign policy is the system of activities evolved by communities for changing the behaviour of other states and for adjusting their own activities to the international environment. In essence, foreign policy suggests a stated set of attitudes towards the international environment, an implicit or explicit plan about a country's relationship with the outside world, a conscious image of what is or ought to be the country's place in the world, or some general guiding principles or attitudes determining or influencing decisions on specific issues. This, however, buttresses Adeniran's (1983) assertion that foreign policy consist of three elements: One is the overall orientation and policy intentions of a particular country toward another. The second is the objective that a country seeks to achieve in her relations or dealings with other countries and the third is the means for achieving that particular goal or objectives. These elements find expression in the interaction of nation-states within the international system. It suffices to say, therefore, that the foreign policy of any state must be seen to reflect some identifiable goals and can only be adjudged a success or failure depending on the extent to which the set goals have been achieved or not achieved. For instance, one can say that Nigeria's foreign policy in Chad between 1979 and 1982 was a failure because it failed to achieve what it set out to do in Chad; to restore peace and order between the warring factions. It is in the interest of Nigeria to restore peace in the territory for the purposes of security, political stability and even economic wellbeing. The basic element underlying the foreign policy of all countries is the quest for security, which, depending on the strength and leadership of a given country, may range from the pursuit of status quo policies to blatant imperialism. In the word of Hartmann (1983) because a foreign policy consists of selected national interests presumably formulated into a logically consistent whole that is then implemented, any foreign policy can be viewed analytically in three phases: conception, content and implementation. Conception involves the strategic appraisal of what goals are desirable and feasible given the presumed nature of the international system. Content is the result and reflection of that appraisal. Implementation looks at both the coordinating mechanisms within a state and the means by which it conveys its views and wishes to other states. Though inefficiencies and failure can be very costly in any of these three phases, it is obvious that the most critical phase is conception (Winker and Bellows 1992). Beyond this, the setting in which foreign policy is made is pivotal. Unlike domestic policies, the targets of foreign policy decisions are not domestic but entities external to the state. In other words, the process of foreign policy decision making is influenced by factors that are not only internal to the state initiating particular policies, but also by pressures from sources that are external to it. Hence, two environments of foreign policy can be identified: the domestic influences on foreign policy include a country's geography, economy, demography, political structures, military, political parties, lobbies and interest groups and public opinion. To be clear, a country's location, topography, its terrain, climate, size, population and distribution of natural resources will not only affect the socio-economic development within the country, but will also determine the country's needs in relation to other states. One of the main critical determinants of Japan's foreign policy is its natural resources poverty. The country depends highly on external sources for its supply of energy and other strategic raw materials. Its topography does not even allow it to grow adequate food to feed its large population (Curtis et al., 2006). The external environment expresses the interests of other actors in the system which can come in varying dimensions such as multinational corporations and political terrorists. The idea behind the pressure is either to impact positively on the country's socio-economic and political project or to negatively affect such a country. It is not uncommon to find participants in the process of foreign policy decision-making having different perceptions of the objectives of policy as well as if the realities of the environment. Differences in beliefs, values and wants of people create in their minds certain expectations and desires about information concerning their environment. # IV. # HUMAN RIGHTS It is argued that human rights are as old as the human species. This is perhaps because they are viewed as God-given, inalienable and fundamental. But the conception of human rights and respect for them is still novel to many countries. Despite the Enlightenment, modern capitalism's emphasis on individual property, rights and western democracy's emphasis on individual political rights, many sovereign states still abuse what the concept truly stand for. As Barash and Webel (2002) note: Nearly one half the world's people are denied democratic freedoms and participations; about one third face severe restrictions on their rights to own property; jails are filled with political prisoners, many of them held without trail and victimised by torture; women are often deprived of their economic social and political rights that men take for granted. Today, fundamental human rights represent the modernized version of the traditional natural rights which include, the right to happiness, the right to peace, the right to self determination and self expression. Human rights have been regarded as not only basic to the development of human personality, but also as an indispensable condition of the peaceful progress of the world and vitally essential for a stable international society. They act as great safeguards against the tyranny of the majority and a considerable protection of the minorities (Ray 2004;Omoregbe 1994). As a liberal democratic concept, fundamental human rights are peculiarly the symbol of fulfilment of the long, hard struggle against the forces of absolutism and authoritarianism which characterized the pre-democratic era in Europe in particular. For example, in the ancient Greek society of citizens and slaves, the modern conception of inalienable fundamental human freedoms for all persons living within the confines of society was unthinkable. Though the advent of Christianity improved matters considerably from the stand point of human life, it was not until the late 17 th and the 18 th centuries that the necessity for a set of written guarantees of human freedoms was seriously felt as the symbol of a new philosophy and new way of life that was unthinkable in the feudal, monarchical and absolutist society preceding it. The entire development from natural rights to human freedoms is epitomized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948. The Declaration not only marked the internationalization of human rights, but initiated the process of recognizing the self-developing rights which comprise the freedom # Global Journal of Human Social Science Volume XI Issue III Version I of creation and innovation, and which call for social security, for education. The United nations charter, adopted in 1945 made human rights a central purpose of that new organization. Here, governments pledged to take joint and separate actions to encourage a more just, humane world. A year later, the UN created its own commission on Human Rights and the commission drafted a body of human rights principles -the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948 (Posner 1994). Human rights advocates such as Amnesty International and hundreds of national rights advocacy groups around the world rely on international human rights standards that set minimum requirements for governments. The core legal principles guiding these groups include, commitments not to torture their own people or foreigners, or subject them to slavery or political murder. Hitherto, there exists a worldwide movement aimed at exposing and combating official misconduct and alleviating people's suffering. The reason is that by exposing violations and challenging the violators, lives are being saved (Rourke 1996). Interestingly, the United States is one of the countries that champion the cause of promoting Human rights in many countries particularly developing countries. Other nations involved in the business of promoting of human rights include, Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia. These countries include human rights as a component in their own foreign policies. But they often prefer to pursue these concerns on a multilateral rather a bilateral basis (Brilmayer 1994; Kennan 1995;Mead 1995;Falk 1995). In the Bill Clinton's address to the US in November 1995, he urged Americans to support the deployment of US troops to Bosnia on the grounds that it is in US interests to do so and because it is the right thing to do. He argued that it was in US national interest to intervene because problems that start beyond the US borders could quickly become problems within them. The humanitarian concern, Clinton further argued, was the quarter of a million men, women and children who have been shelled, shot and tortured to death (Rourke 1996). Buttressing this view, Jimmy Carter declared during a speech to mark the 30 th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 thus: Americans should be proud that our nation stands for more than military might or political might, that our pursuit of human rights is part of a broad effort to use our great power and tremendous influence in the service of creating a better world in which human beings can live. Human rights is the soul of our foreign policy. In the same light, Cyrus Vance, U.S. Secretary of State (1977State ( -1980) ) remarked that it is a dangerous illusion to believe that pursuing values such as human rights is incompatible with pursuing U.S. national interests because U.S. can never be secure in a world where freedom is threatened everywhere else (Rourke 1996). In all, the basic question is, is there any system of government that is averse to human rights, if democratic system of government approbates human rights, does the same apply to friendly non-democratic system such as Republic of China, Cuba, Libya which run a communist system of government or Saudi Arabia which is ruled by a feudal monarchy? What should a country do when the dictates of real politics devoid of moral principles point in one direction and human right concerns point in another? How can two friendly countries that share bilateral relations address the issue of human rights beyond and above socio-economic and political matters? V. # A DIMENSION OF TERRORISM IN NIGERIA There is no gain-saying the fact that terrorism or terrorist acts has increasingly become widespread criminal violence as different countries across the globe have their own unique way of perpetrating the act. While some countries take to bombing and hijacking of airlines, some device the use of air missiles and while some like Nigeria settle with hostage taking, abduction, kidnapping and bombings of multinational oil pipelines. Of all these on the part of Nigeria, kidnapping is the most devastating. The spate of kidnapping in the country in recent times has become a disturbing phenomenon. The menace which started largely as a means of drawing government's attention to the neglect of the communities in the oil-rich Niger Delta region has blossomed to a booming lucrative trade. Though the act began in the states that comprised the Niger Delta region, it has gradually crept into neighbouring states in the South-East geopolitical zones. Initially, only expatriates or foreigners working in oil firms and multinational companies in the country were the main targets, but presently, Nigerians, including children, toddlers, adults and the aged, and relations of influential individuals in the society become targets of the nefarious and nebulous act. Kidnapping simply means to seize and detain unlawfully, by force or fraud and to remove a person from his own comfortable place to an undisclosed discomforting location against his will and wishes and usually for use as a hostage or to extraction ransom. Prior to the prevailing situation, kidnapping in Nigeria was rare and hardly in the same realm. It become rife in the latter part of 2005 and early 2006 when the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the so-called proponents of the resource-based restiveness in the Niger Delta region turned to kidnapping of foreign oil workers to draw attention to their political cause. That ploy subsequently lost its political coloration as it translated to a ransom and money-making criminal scheme. Between 1991 and 2000, Nigeria was ranked ninth behind nations like Columbia, Mexico, Russia, Philippines and Venezuela in the number of annual kidnappings. In 2008, the rate of kidnapping in Nigeria was 353 September 26, 2009). In July 2010, 13 containers carrying illegal arms were intercepted at the Apapa Wharf in Lagos. The shipping company claimed that it was an Iranian trader that owned the goods and that the company was informed that the containers were mere building materials as stipulated in the ships manifest. Beyond this, some Nigerians were of the view that the arms might have been imported by desperate politicians to molest and intimidate the electorate and their perceived political opponents during the 2011 elections (Ezeoke 2010). Again, on October 1st, 2010, there were bomb attacks around the Eagles Square. This occurred when a cream of Nigerian people and foreign dignitaries had gathered to mark the 50 years of the country's independence. Investigation showed that about 15 people died while several others were seriously injured in the incident. This happened in spite of the signal and warning by the United States and the United Kingdom intelligence of the impending bomb attacks. On the 25 December, 2009, a Nigerian boy, but studying abroad, Umar Farak Abdul Mutallab attempted to blow up a Detroit Michigan-bound aeroplane with 289 people on board. # VI. THE EFFECTS OF THE TERRORIST ACTS ON THE NIGERIA'S FOREIGN POLICY Since independence in 1960, Nigeria has had extensive diplomatic contacts with its fellow African countries and western nations and had worked through these both to safeguard its national interest and to achieve other international political interests. Based on its economic and demographic strength, Nigeria has always considered itself as one of the leading countries in Africa and its foreign policy has been geared to reflect this. Apart from belonging to many international organisations: United Nations and several of its special and related agencies such as, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), States (ECOWAS), African Union (AU), it also has taken the lead in articulating the views of developing nations on the need for modification of the existing international economic order. At independence non-alignment was emphasised as one of the basic tenets of Nigeria's foreign policy. The rationale behind that position was basically to preserve Nigeria's choice and freedom of action as a sovereign state. It also utilized that opportunity to advance the goals of pan-Africanism, c oncern for black people, decolonisation (Ogwu, 1986). However the emergence of the terrorist acts that are hitherto burgeoning and becoming a recurrent decimal, has made the nation to lose all these respect and its relevance in the international community. Of course, no country will be disposed to establish a bilateral relation with a country that is widely acclaimed to be a terrorist nation. Instead of witnessing multinational corporations coming into Nigeria to boost the nation's economy, the country rather experiences the exodus of many companies and industries from the country to other countries as a result of insufficient security and uncontrollable terrorist and criminal acts. (Obi 1992a). in fact, given the currency at which these activities (kidnapping, abduction and blowing up of pipelines) are going on in the country, Nigeria's chances of meeting its 6000 megawatts target of electricity production on which about $2.6 billion had been committed will be slim. The essence of striving to generate at least 6000 megawatts of electricity by December 2009 was to attract more foreign investments to Nigeria which is part of foreign policy. This set of goals can only be achieved if the lives of the foreigners who are working with the power sector will not be threatened by the kidnappers and if the pipelines that supply gas for the use of electricity are not blown up. Suffice it to say, that the more the country lacks the capacity to guarantee steady flow of crude oil in the international market, the more critical stakeholders will become impatient with Nigeria and perhaps begins to look for an alternative oil nation that is with an enabling environment. Suffices to say that from an economic strand, terrorism can be said to have four major effects: One, the capital stock (human and physical) of a country is reduced minimally as a result of terrorist attacks. Two, the terrorist threat induces high levels of uncertainty. Three, it promotes increases in counter terrorism expenditures, drawing resources from productive sectors for use in security, and four, it is known to affect negatively specific industry such as tourism. Increased investment in sustainable Tourism can boost the sector's contribution to economic growth, development and particularly Job creation while at the same time addressing major environmental challenges. In contrast, the spate of terrorist act in the Niger-Delta region and its neighbouring states is negatively affecting the socio-economic and cultural framework of the popular 'Obudu Range' tourist centre located at Calabar, Cross-Rivers State as many foreigners are scared from going there. VII. # CONCLUSION From the foregoing, it is obvious that terrorism in all its ramifications is a serious threat to any country's national interest and foreign policy. The question is, what can be done to address the problem? Having known the genesis and the immediate cause of the activities -issues of neglect, poverty, marginalization, underdevelopment, and youth unemployment in the Niger Delta region, government should brace up to its responsibilities by addressing the problems. Granted that both the past and present governments have done a lot to stimulate the developmental growth of Niger Delta such as the establishment of Oil Mineral Producing Authority Development Commission (OMPADEC) in 1992 and Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC) in 1999, the present government of Yar'Adua should intensify action on the post-Amnesty programme as that may go a long way to demonstrate the sincerity of the government to quicken the development of Niger Delta region. However, it is interesting to note that the National Assembly on 17th February, 2011 past a bill on Anti-Terrorism. This suggest, therefore that any form of terrorist act carried out in Nigeria attracts a maximum of 20 years imprisonment. This is in line with what goes on in most advanced nations. Many advance democracies spell out clearly their policy on such crimes. The British government for instance, maintains an unambiguous policy on ransoms. The country's long-standing policy is not to make substantive concessions to hostagetakers or kidnappers. It believes that paying ransoms and releasing prisoners increases the risk of further hostage-taking or kidnapping. The Nigerian government's official policy is that it does not pay ransom to kidnappers, yet it is common knowledge that most foreign companies operating in Nigeria have paid ransom to free their personnel without any government sanction or intervention. This being the case, both the central and state governments of Nigeria should give critical attention to the increasing note of unemployment in the country. As many youths who are graduates have no jobs, the tendency is that they may try to lay hands on certain things that may be unlawful, illegal, or criminal in order to survive. Similarly, there is need for the government to embark on any programme that could go a long way to reforming or transforming the agencies responsible for internal security. For example, the government should endeavour to have an upward review of the welfare package of the police force as well as its insurance policies. This can go a long way to ginger and boost their morale and make them appreciate whatever services they are rendering to the nation. 15![It is a simple and clear equation: As you kill, you we be killed. As you capture you we be capture. and as you... The way to safeguard your is to cease is to cease your oppression and on our nation (Bin Laden 2010). Umar Farauk Abdul Mtallab's failed to bomb an airline with 289 people on board lends credence to fears that Nigeria is a fertile ground for Al-Qaeda recruitment (Olaosebikan and Nmeribeh 2010.) security its impact foreign direct investment in the US prior and after the September 11 attacks provide some evidence of the open economy channel of terrorism. In the year 2000, before the terrorist attacks, foreign direct investment inflows represented about 15.8 percent of the Gross Fixed Capital formation in the US. This figure decreased to only 1.5 percent in 2003, two years after the attack.](image-2.png "15 April") AprilTerrorism, Foreign Policy and Human Rights Concerns in Nigeria ©2011 Global Journals Inc. (US) Terrorism, Foreign Policy and Human Rights Concerns in Nigeria © 2011 Global Journals Inc. (US) AprilTerrorism, Foreign Policy and Human Rights Concerns in Nigeria ©2011 Global Journals Inc. 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