Abstract

Democracy is perceived as a process of strengthening peace, boosting of foreign relations and attraction of citizens of other countries. This appears to be void in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, as it was observed that since 1999, Nigeria has been experiencing different challenges of insecurity within the six geopolitical zones. These include incessant killings, ethnic clashes, religious unrest, kidnappings and terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, insecurity in any given nation can affect such state’s relationship with other countries. This study therefore, examined the implication of Nigeria’s security challenges on her image abroad between 1999 and 2012. The study employed a mixed method that combined the historical and survey of ex-post facto type of research designs. Six states: Bauchi, Bayelsa, Delta, Kaduna, Ondo, and Plateau were purposively selected as crises ridden zones in Nigeria from 1999 to 2012. Multi-stage cluster sampling was employed for selecting respondents. The instruments used for the study were two sets of questionnaires and structured interview guide. Regression and descriptive statistics were adopted for analyses of data. Findings showed that insecurity affected Nigeria’s image among the comity of nations, and that Nigerian citizens were confronted by unwarranted delays and searches at entry points of different countries within the globe. The study concluded that even though no nation had severed relationship with Nigeria in spite of her security challenges, nonetheless, her national image declined. It was therefore strongly recommended that Nigeria must effectively combat insecurity so as to improve the image of the country both internally and externally.