Nigeria is currently facing a number of security challenges. These challenges include terrorism, kidnapping, cattle rustling, banditry and highway robbery. The alarming rate of insecurity has seriously affected business activities in the country as it has led to stigmatisation in transport and logistics and interstates travels. The federal government has been trying its best to curb the terrible situation. As envisaged by the law, the government needs to exceed this threshold considering the need to continue to tackle the existential security challenges facing the country. Majority of our people no longer feel safe on our roads and some of them, who cannot travel by air, have resorted to abstaining from travelling, while the majority have changed their jobs that involve travelling and farming. Companies have had to close down and agriculture business has suffered setbacks because of insecurity. A direct result of this is the significant decline in Nigeria’s revenue generating capacity. The situation is worse than can be painted here!
The federal government has claimed many times that it remains firmly committed to the security of life, property and investment across the country. Accordingly, defence and internal security have been accorded top priority in the 2023 budget. Current efforts to properly equip and motivate our valiant personnel in the armed forces, police and paramilitary units are being sustained. President Muhammadu Buhari, in his 2023 budget speech, assured Nigerians that insecurity, especially banditry and kidnapping, will be significantly curtailed before the end of his administration on May 28, 2023. He said his government will redouble its efforts to ensure it leaves a legacy of a peaceful, prosperous and secured nation. The government is aware of the implications of insecurity on commerce and industry, tourism, transportation and agriculture. Agriculture, the mainstay of the rural economy in Nigeria, has suffered setbacks especially in Benue State, widely recognised as the “food-basket of Nigeria”. People are also afraid of travelling to their farms in the suburbs because of kidnappers.
The 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stipulates that it shall be the responsibility of the governments to ensure the security of lives and properties of the residents of Nigeria (Chapter IV: Fundamental Human Rights). In many cases, Nigerians have been kidnapped and detained in inhuman environments and conditions. In some cases, the kidnapped have been killed by slaughtering and shooting by the heartless kidnappers. One of the factors generally considered by foreign investors is the security situation of the foreign country in which they are investing. Globalism and info-communication technology have turned the world into a global village. A Nigerian can now live in Lagos State and have a manufacturing industry in Accra, Ghana, or Cotonou, Republic of Benin. The most important factor is assessment of risk factors around the business, especially using PESTLES analysis.
Under PESTLES analysis, business risks can be assessed as political, economic, social, technology, legal, environmental and security/safety risks. Political risks have to do with the political stability, policy formulation and politics of the project environment both within and without. Economic risks deal with issues like interest rate, inflation, foreign currency exchange rate and its predictability over a medium to long term, price fluctuation, etc. Social risks have to do with workforce diversity, including cultural difference, age difference, class differentials, beliefs and practices of the people, etc. Technology risks deal with the machineries which are used for the execution of projects. Environmental risks include physical environmental issues, like site topography, geology and climatology of the country in which the business will be domiciled and which are very essential, pollution etc. Safety issues have to do with health and safety/security of resources on site, that is, human, material and financial.
While some African countries like South Africa, Rwanda, Botswana, Angola, etc, have been able to implement individual projects to alleviate some and in some cases, those challenges, Nigeria does not have common strategic targets for security infrastructure development especially provision of security of lives and properties. Good governance is crucial for ensuring the effective and efficient provision of security and safety. This is largely because, firstly, good governance means that resource allocations will reflect national developmental priorities and thus respond to societal demand. Secondly, provision of security and safety is a statutory function of government and a fundamental one at that. No country can experience economic development and growth without giving security of lives and properties a serious consideration.
Section 33(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, provides that “every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria.” It is anti-business development for a group or set of people, either internally or externally, Nigerians or foreigners, to constitute themselves into bandits and kidnappers with the sole aim of breaching the peace of the nation. Without assurance of security in the country, all efforts to industrialise it will tantamount to nothing. It is now insecure to travel or convey goods from Lagos to Ibadan through the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway or Lagos to Ijebu Ode to Ibadan. The moral decadence in the country is high due to the high level of poverty and greed of some people.
Security and safety cost money. They require personnel, equipment and management. Close circuit television (CCTV) systems which will involve mounting of cameras at every ten kilometre point along our major roads, especially Kaduna-Abuja and Lagos-Ibadan Expressways, is necessary. Armed highway patrol with modern vehicles and ammunition should also be deployed along the roads especially those with ‘deadly spots’. Training of local hunters to be able to use arms and ammunition and protect themselves and the businesses of their people – their means of livelihood, will not be out of the question. It is also necessary for states in Nigeria, especially those with high security risks to fortify the security apparatus in their states. Can an isolated and serene tourist resort like the Turkish Riviera, otherwise known as the Turquoise Coast, located in the South West Turkey, thrive in Nigeria? An unsecured country is infertile land for business development!
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