ABSTRACT
Although historical conflicts still characterize some of the African landscape, and have roots in colonial, political, and economic relationships, African societies are actually not faring badly in the management of their state affairs. While countries such as Angola, Somalia, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone may have represented cases of security crises (Kenny, Serrano, and Sotomayor, 2012) in the recent past, the future of African security is not as ominous as many people believe. Most African states control their central governments, national territories, state institutions, and other domestic and external affairs. Despite some insecurity problems today, many countries in Africa do not constitute security disappointment. In an effort to address some of the myths and misconceptions and unravel some of the complexities of security issues in Africa, this chapter provides an outline of African security affairs. It furnishes a series of explanations that will help Nigeria and Africa as a whole come to terms with security concerns, and control and prevent symptoms of insecurity that confront them.
