Al-Hikmah University Journal

Nigeria’s society is naturally blessed with abundant human and material resources such as land, mineral and water. According to the National Youth Population Commission (NPC, 2013), youth constituted a large proportion of the Nigeria human resources. The level of development whether economic or socio-political attained by any country depends largely on the extent to which enormous potentials of its resources are harnessed by the government. The main objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between youth empowerment policies and programmes and national security development in Nigeria. The “Youth bugle theory” by Gunnar (1990), was used as a framework for the study. The theory argues that a large youth population is prelude to instability and civil unrest. A Desk research method was used using content analysis technique with data drawn from secondary sources. It identified various social, educational, economic and political components needed to achieve holistic youth empowerment that can lead to effective national security development in Nigeria. It equally highlighted barriers to effective youth empowerment and how it can lead to increased insecurity challenges in Nigeria. Security of lives and properties remained the fundamental duties of government and the backbone to economic and socio-political development. The paper concluded that Youth empowerment remained one of the major determinants of a country’s level of security development. Thus, instruments of the “Human Rights-Based Approach” to youth empowerment were recommended in order to provide sustainable national security development in Nigeria.