SOCIAL MEDIA AND ETHNIC VOLATILITY IN NIGERIA’S DEMOCRACY AND IT EFFECT ON THE NATIONAL SECURITY

Abstract

Abstarct Globalization is the linkage between and amongst countries of the world necessitated by the flow of information, connecting of people facilitated by information and communication technology. The discovery and advancement in the communication technology, computer gadget, phones and web has tremendously changed the sphere of information and communication. National security more so, has been re-shaped. Despite the social, political and economic good in globalization, social media has created security loopholes for individuals, ethnic groups, and national security. Social media has over time been laden with events which follows the bush fire effect whereby issues online transcends into reality, where statements online leads to attacks or crisis offline. Despite the economic and social good the social media constitutes, the fragility and volatility that exist between ethnic and religious groups in Nigeria constitutes a large problem to the National security of the country. Agendas and propagandas of mischief and hate are been passed on social media for and against Ethnic groups and religious groups. The main objective this paper seeks to study is the impact effect of Social media on national security. The study employs the state fragility theory. The study discovered that security issues on the social media app are issues which are local to the regions but have transcended overtime to the social media space. The study recommends that fundamental ethnic and religious issues has to be resolved locally as that is the best way to solve the ethno-religious volatility online. Keywords: Ethnicity, Religions, Globalization, Social Media, Security.