SECURITY CHALLENGES ON DATA COLLECTION AND GATHERING IN SOCIAL SCIENCES RESEARCH IN NIGERIA: MITIGATING ITS IMPACT

Abstract

Undoubtedly, Nigeria's security architecture has been marred by various challenges, which includes insecurity. These activities range from insurgency to kidnappings to conflicts between herders and farmers. This paper examined how insecurity has adversely affected the data collection and gathering process. In Nigeria with its overall negative implications on socioeconomic development. Through an in-depth cross-examination of secondary sources of data, books, journals, and online materials, this study shed more light on critical issues while adopting the revisionist theory of national security as its theoretical framework to holistically and comprehensively analyze these glaring security challenges and their far-reaching impact on data collection and gathering in the domain of social sciences research. Locally, socioeconomic interaction has remained under siege as a direct consequence of an unabated spate of insurgency, robbery, kidnapping, etc. In the international scene, images of Nigeria's insecurity as portrayed in various media have continued to discourage foreign investors and hamper the influence of foreign investments in the country. Findings established have deluged that the process and quality of data collection have been greatly affected as a result of insecurity, which makes it difficult for committed researchers to access relevant sites and physical locations to secure firsthand and reliable data that will continue to support objective research results and conclusions in social sciences. The study emphasized the need for the Nigerian government to take a non-politicized approach in addressing the incessant security concerns and upholding synergy among the various arms of local security agents, while showing unprecedented commitment to the elimination of corruption in war against insecurity. This will go a long way to assist in the enthroning and creation of the right research environment for the collection of valid data, which can inspire development-oriented socioeconomic policy.