By Merit Ibe, [email protected]
The National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) have expressed worry over the state of insecurity in the country, calling on the federal and state governments to expedite actions to restore peace, law and order before the full-scale launch of political campaigns for the 2023 general elections.
Lamenting that the worsening insecurity profile in Nigeria was reaching a worrisome dimension with recent unfortunate incidents, the chambers noted that if nothing is done to commit to a new order and a more enabled and innovative security architecture, soon, security will suffer a heavier blow once politics takes centre stage in governance.
Its acting Director General, Mr. Opeyemi Alaran, who called for urgent and incisive policy implementation by government at all levels to tackle insecurity, promised that the association was on hand to partner government to implement innovative solutions based on existing platforms, such as the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC).
The acting DG expressed the association’s sadness, saying it is further disturbed by increasing connotation that the country is unsafe to do business. He lamented that these incidents are of extreme concern to the association, given that current economic realities require inflows of foreign direct investment for sustained economic growth.
“Our sense of sadness is for the avoidable loss of lives, for which we commiserate with the family and loved ones of the deceased, as well as the humanitarian and economic damage that these attacks have caused. 
The LCCI president, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, said on behalf of the business community, the chamber was concerned with the current insecurity crisis due its impact on businesses and the economy and also concerned because of the apparent threat to the forthcoming general elections in 2023 and by extension, a threat to our democracy.
“In the absence of peace and security, it would be challenging to hold credible, free and fair elections that would reflect the choices of the electorate.”
Olawale-Cole noted that insecurity in Nigeria is multidimensional and pervasive, ranging from armed banditry, kidnapping, attacks on state infrastructure, perennial herder-farmer clashes to gang violence, attacks on police stations, prisons, airports and power transformers, inter-communal violence, ritual killings, mob justice and casual intimidation of ordinary citizens by law enforcement agents.
“In the South-South region, we have an economic war as the government struggles to maintain the peace required to achieve optimal crude oil exploration for forex earnings.
“Nigeria earns about 80 per cent of its foreign exchange from the oil and gas sector. There are political agitations in the South-east, secessionist agitations in the South-west. Today, we have terrorism, banditry and kidnapping in the Northern part that have taken frightening dimensions and colourations.”
For immediate action, the chamber recommended that President Muhammadu Buhari should convene a National Council of State meeting to deliberate on the several issues around politics, the economy, insecurity and the forthcoming general elections.
In the face of these challenges, the Chamber suggested that Nigeria needs a surveillance infrastructure that is monitored in real-time to respond to emergencies and foil planned crimes.
“Youth unemployment is a critical factor fuelling insecurity in Nigeria. The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that youth unemployment is at 42.5% and youth underemployment at 21%. This is a driving factor for the insecurity crises in Nigeria. We need more jobs to engage our youths productively.
“We must tackle gun control crises, where unauthorised and unidentified people possess firearms without strict control. It is estimated that more than six million small arms are in the hands of civilian non-state actors.
“Drug abuse by our youth must be curtailed, and drug traffickers adequately prosecuted and punished as a deterrent. The United Nations Office on Drug and Crimes (UNODC) in 2021 revealed that about 14.4% of Nigerians were engaged in drug abuse. This portends a negative trend for the country’s future when we estimate the connection between drug abuse and violence.
“The huge amount of N2.41 trillion earmarked for the defence and security sector in the 2022 Federal Government budget may have reflected government’s commitment to resolving security challenges. We however, need to be prudent with spending and put in place checks to prevent the diversion of funds to other uses like sponsoring political activities. In 2019, Nigeria had the third-largest military budget in Africa, behind only South Africa and Algeria. At the state and local government (LG) levels, governors and local government chairpersons have severally been accused of regularly mismanaging ‘security votes,’ a monthly federal allocation towards security-related expenses within the states. There is a need for better accountability in the disbursement of these funds for suitable projects.”