State Management of Separatist Agitation and Growing Insecurity in Southeast Nigeria (2015-2023): A Critical Analysis

Nigeria is currently challenged by the crises of regionalresentment and insecurity that continue to undermine genuineefforts towards national integration and national security.Acknowledging this reality, this study interrogated the effects ofstate management of separatist agitation on growing insecurityin southeast, Nigeria. The methodology of the study is a mixed-method design which underscored the pertinence ofdocumentary, administration of questionnaire instruments andkey informant interview as sources of data collection where datacollected were content-analyzed in likert scale mean score valueof sample size of 350 determined through Taro Yamane andPurposive Sampling Techniques from a population of 27, 612,828. In addition, Group Theory, Theories of RelativeDeprivation and Frustration & Aggression, and IntegratedSeparatist Agitation Theory, ISAT were applied to illuminatethe causes and dynamics of separatist social movements likeMASSOB, IPOB in southeast, Nigeria. The study revealed thatthere were issues and events underlying resurgence ofseparatist agitation as the Federal Government of Nigeriafailed to manage the secessionist campaign which consequentlyexacerbated insecurity crisis in the south east. The studytherefore recommend for conciliatory and integrativemanagement of separatist agitation as state government andcritical stakeholders are involved in curbing insecurity crisis insouth east to strengthen national cohesion in the federation. .