On Thursday 28th April, 2022, the Department of Political Science, International Relations and Mass Communication in collaboration with SDG 16 held the 19th LUCRID Webinar tagged “Informal Means of Social Control and Present-day Nigerian Security Challenges”, with a special focus on the actualization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 16, “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions”. 

In her opening remarks, the acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Charity Aremu addressed the state of insecurity in Nigeria. She noted that it is “VCA” (Volatile, Complex and Ambiguous), asserting that the world we live in is full of uncertainty with reference to the Kaduna-Abuja train attack. She said that the situation becomes more complex and with complexity the world becomes ambiguous. Professor Charity Aremu highlighted factors underlining the prevalence of menace in the nation; such factors include: poor economy, low per capital income, bad governance, poverty, terrorism, unemployment, and poor security system, ethnic and religious differences. She thereafter identified some means of curbing insecurity in Nigeria; they comprise good governance, economic development, leadership development, boarder security, human and infrastructural development, proper security training and adequate provision of equipment to security operatives.

In his presentation, Barrister Oluwaseye Adeboye who briefly addressed the state of insecurity in Nigeria noted that formal means of social control namely retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation and reparation have not been effectively applied to reduce the rate of crime in the country, he therefore opined that the society should begin to explore the informal means. According to the legal luminary, the informal means of social control could come through communication, social values, custom influence, internalizing the norms and values in the process of socialization. 

Earlier, Barrister Oluwaseye made it known that the issues of insecurity in Nigeria is largely caused by crimes; he therefore gave a vivid explanation on the classes of crimes with reference to section 2 of the criminal code which defines crime “as an act of omission which is rendered punishable by some legislative enactments”. He further stated that crimes are committed against the state. Section 36 (12) of the constitution of the Federal Republic Nigeria states that “a crime is only one when it has been made so valid by a valid law”. He concluded his presentation by stating that traditional council, local council and district heads should take up responsibility of ensuring safety of their respective subjects.  

The 19th LUCRID Webinar attracted Faculty, Staff and Students of the College of Business and Applied Sciences as well as participants outside the University context who joined via zoom.