Ungoverned spaces and cross-border security management: focus on Nigeria-Niger border relations

This paper assessed the impact of ungoverned spaces on crossborder security management between Nigeria and Niger Republic. There has been a raging debate on the causes and enablersof insecurity alone the border belt regions in the southern Libya corridor. Most discussants in this debate have lavished interest on governments’ reactions especially in the use of force, while few have highlighted the importance of proactiveness. Studies have found ungoverned spaces and fertile ground for criminal networks to operate. More so, the vast land spaces along the borderline that are mostly lacking in governance have come under severe scrutiny. This paper joined this debate by positing ungoverned spaces as proactive opportunity for the state in preventing insecurity. In this regard, it was within the focus of the paper to determine whether there is relationship between ungoverned border communities and crossborder security challenges; and examine the efforts of Nigeria and Niger through NNJCC in demarginalizing residents in theirborder communities. The study was anchored on the theories of ungoverned spaces and securitization while a combination of quantitative and qualitative research designs to gather and analyse data. The study found that there is a strong relationship between ungoverned spaces and security challenges along the communities in Nigeria-Niger borderlines, and that there is currently no bilateral agreement to address the issues of ungoverned spaces in these border communities. Hence, the study recommended among other things that the governments of Nigeria and Niger Republic should set aside their political differences and enter into an agreement that will condition both countries to make sizeable investment in border communities.