Cost of Peace Accounting and National Security in Nigeria: Does it Really Matter?

Abstract

Purpose of the article: The cost of ensuring national security is very high, but measuring this cost has received little attention. One way of reacording and ascertaining the financial resources expended on national security is via Peace Accounting. Peace Accounting is an innovative idea that is taking a firm root in Nigeria and the world over. Peace accounting deals with ascertaining and reporting the financial resources accompanying domestic violence such as insecurity, political violence, insurgency, militancy, economic predicament, corruption and all other costs associated with national security. Methodology/methods: Secondary data were obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin and the International Monetary Fund Cross Country Macroeconomic Statistics from 1996–2015. Ordinary Least Square estimation technique was employed in analyzing the data and analysis performed via SPSS. Scientific aim: This paper gauged the costs of peace accounting and its implication for national security in Nigeria. Findings: The study found that expenditure on internal security, cost of peace keeping and gross fixed capital formation are dynamics of peace accounting. Furthermore, cost of peace keeping is statistically significant except that expenditure on internal security and gross fixed capital formation were statistically flawed. Expenditure on internal security has negative impact on GPI. Conclusions: On the basis of the above, we recommend among others that countries like Nigeria faced with security challenges should engage professionals/experts that can help develop peace accounting models aimed at measuring the cost of peace. Also, special attention should be paid to expenditure on internal security since it has negative effect on GPI.