Comparative Assessment of Institutional Reforms and Insecurity on Sustainable Economic Development in Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64348/zije.2025152Abstract
This study investigates the comparative assessment of institutional reforms, insecurity on sustainable economic development in Nigeria. Despite numerous governance reform initiatives, Nigeria continues to experience weak institutional performance, corruption, and persistent insecurity that undermine sustainable growth. The study adopts an ex-post facto research design and utilizes secondary time-series data sourced from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI) and Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI), the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), and the Numbeo Crime Index. Descriptive and correlation analyses were applied to examine the effects of institutional quality and insecurity on economic sustainability, proxied by real GDP growth and adjusted net savings. Findings reveal that periods of heightened insecurity, particularly between 2011 and 2017, coincided with declines in GDP growth and savings, while indicators of governance effectiveness, control of corruption, and regulatory quality remained persistently low. This pattern indicates that insecurity adversely affects investment and productivity, whereas institutional reforms exert a weak but positive influence on economic performance. The study concludes that economic sustainability in Nigeria is strongly dependent on institutional efficiency and national security. It recommends strengthening governance capacity and accountability, integrating security operations with socio-economic development programmes, diversifying the economy beyond oil dependence, and enhancing the rule of law and fiscal transparency. Effective coordination between institutional reform and security policy is essential to achieving inclusive, resilient, and sustainable economic growth in Nigeria.
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