Tayo Elegbede
The sharp increase in the number of homicides - up eight per cent over the last year – can be almost entirely attributed to Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa with, for example, the homicide rate in Honduras further increasing by almost 10 per 100,000 people - becoming the highest in the world at 92 homicides per 100,000 people, the 2013 GPI revealed.
Nigeria has been ranked 148 out of the 162
countries evaluated on the reduction of violence and insecurity between
2012 and 2013 by the Global
Peace Index. This rating earns Nigeria the 14th less peaceful
country in the world in the rank of countries like Chad, Yemen, Libya, Syria,
Pakistan amongst other conflict ridden states.
According to the publisher of the Index,
Institute for Economics and Peace-IEP, “The world has become a less peaceful
place”. The 2013 Global
Peace Index, ranks 162 countries by measuring security in society, the
extent of conflict and the degree of militarisation. This year's report
reinforces a longer-term pattern they have noted: since 2008 levels of peace
have fallen by 5%.
The report highlighted that while the
number and intensity of internal conflicts has risen in recent years, hostility
between states has fallen.
In Nigeria, this is evident in the
multitude of mindless killings and bombings in the North, untamed manhunt and
kidnapping in the South, endless violence in the East and gross human
molestation and abuse of fundamental rights in the West.
From 2007 to date, Nigeria has
consistently ranked low in the index, signifying worsening state of the nation
in terms of peace and security in the past six years.
The country ranked 117th out of
121 in 2007; 129th out of 140 in 2008; 129th out of 144 in 2009; 137th out of
149 in 2010; 142nd out of 153 in 2011; 146 out of 158 in 2012.
Recently, A New York-based Human Rights
Watch said about 3,600 deaths has been recorded since a radical sect dubbed
Boko Haram began violent operations in the Northern region of the country in
2009. Although, government is now waging war against the insurgents
through an emergency rule.
With this rating as the 14th
less peaceful country in the world, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and
the world’s eighth largest oil producer has so much to contend in order to
achieve its developmental goals.
The global outlook indicated a dramatic
rise in the number of homicides and more countries, 59, increasing their
military expenditure as a percentage of GDP were the key drivers in making the
world a less peaceful place, according to the 2013 GPI. This year’s
findings were said to underline a six-year trend showing a deterioration of
five per cent in global peace. It indicated that 110 countries have seen
their score deteriorate while only 48 became more peaceful. The economic
impact of this five per cent loss in peace came at a cost to the global economy
of US$473 billion last year, or the equivalent to almost four times Official
Development Assistance (ODAs) in 2012, it unveiled.
The sharp increase in the number of homicides - up eight per cent over the last year – can be almost entirely attributed to Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa with, for example, the homicide rate in Honduras further increasing by almost 10 per 100,000 people - becoming the highest in the world at 92 homicides per 100,000 people, the 2013 GPI revealed.
Steve Killelea, founder and Executive
Chairman of the IEP, was quoted to have said that, “The migration of
populations to urban areas in developing countries has been a key driver in the
rise of homicides worldwide. This has also led to an increase in violent crime.
It is essential for the police to gain the trust of those living in city slums,
to achieve this; addressing police corruption would be a first important step”.
Tayo Elegbede is a Freelance Journalist
with Local and International news firms.
Twitter @tayojet1
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