Nigeria’s social landscape has been inundated by an alarming spate of rape and child defilement cases, so much more that there is hardly a week without media reports of rape in the country. Records released by the Nigeria Police Force shows that a total of seven hundred and seventeen cases of rape and child defilement were recorded in the first five months of the year 2020. More alarming is the defilement of minors and underage children by adults. The foregoing raises concerns and the need to interrogate the causes of alarming cases of rape and defilement of minors in Nigeria. The mixed methods research approach was adopted to generate both primary and secondary data. For the primary data, an online questionnaire was designed and administered to a total of two hundred and nine Nigerians across various sectors and regions of the country. Besides, six (6) key informants, each from the Ministry of Women, Legal Department, National Human Rights Commission, NGO, religious leader and media practitioners, were interviewed. On the other hand, government reports, gazettes, journal and newspaper articles were used to generate secondary data. Findings show that defilement of minors in Nigeria is perceived from a socio-cultural perspective as an avenue for money rituals. Other causes include mental disorders of perpetrators, alcoholism and substance abuse. Effects of such acts are physical and psychological. Recommendations on ways of curbing the menace include life sentences, name shame of perpetrators, and strict enforcement of existing laws prohibiting rape and defilement in the country.

The establishment of local governments in Nigeria was motivated by the need for administrative convenience and development. The peculiarities of the grassroots government, according to efficiency service theorists, would engender national development. The purposes of the study, using mixed methods, were to investigate the challenge of state interference and the implications on service delivery in Ado Local Government Area, Ekiti State, Nigeria between 2011 – 2021. Primary data involved the use of online questionnaire and observation. The total of 103 respondents responded to the online questionnaires used for the analysis. Sources of secondary data include textbooks, reputable journals, and the internet. Primary data was analyzed statistically using frequencies, percentages and pie chart while content analysis was used for secondary data. The study discovers that state governments have been shortchanging local governments in Nigeria through their interference. The paper recommends political and financial autonomy for the local government to enhance sustainable development.

Crimes have become more rampart than ever in Nigeria. Robbery, pilfering, kidnapping, internet scam, and other social media crimes have risen to high pedigrees of recent. In most cases, perpetrators of these crimes are youths. The questions are: what is the nature and causes of crime being perpetrated among Nigerian youths? What is its implication on sustainable security for Nigeria? Using South-Western Nigeria as a case study, this study employs both quantitative and qualitative methods, to interrogates the challenge of sustainable security for Nigeria with youth unemployment and crimes. A total of 200 questionnaire were used to elicit information from the residents. It discovered that unemployment and lack of meaningful empowerment by government, among others, are responsible for high crime rates among youths. It recommends urgent efforts on the part of government to gainfully engage unemployed youths for decent means of livelihood. Also, commensurate penalties should be meted out to crime perpetrators including any accomplice security officers to serve as deterrent to others.

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