Mounting insecurity may scare investors

Security of lives and properties is one of the many fundamentals that domestic and foreign investors look out for before they bring their hard-earned cash to the table. Obviously, Nigeria is blessed with an estimated population of 200 million people which is a large target market for investors all over the world.

But, over the years, the spate of kidnapping, banditry, robberies, cultism, herdsmen issues, communal clashes, murders, etc, seem to be obstructing more local and foreign investments inflow into the country.

When the Nigerian Army told the world some years back that it had technically defeated Boko Haram, I laughed.  Also, the Federal Government has told us that it is ready to create 10million jobs for Nigerians in the next 10 years.

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Fantastic on paper, but let’s see how it plays out because politics should not be mixed with policies. Joblessness is one of the many indices that trigger off frustration and criminalities.

Recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) said $14.2 billion flowed into our country between January and May this year. The apex bank further explained that direct foreign investment during the period under review stood at $2.87billion, representing 20.18 per cent of the total inflow.

But financial experts at the stock market say the government could have attracted more foreign and local investors into the country if the embarrassing issue of insecurity have been  sorted out and advised the Federal Government to adopt a more holistic approach to the national issue of tackling all forms of criminalities at various levels in the country.

Emmanuel Udom

 www.ezines.com