Economic implications of insecurity

Within the last few years, heightened social insecurity in Nigeria has arguably fuelled the crime rate, leaving unpalatable consequences for the nation’s economy and its growth. For the purpose of definition, insecurity could be described as the presence of fear and absence of economic or physical protection for persons, buildings, organisations or country against destruction or threats like crime or attacks.

The rates of terrorist bombings, kidnappings, armed robbery attacks on banks as well as other violent crimes in recent months, have led to a prevalent massive loss of the nation’s human resources. This ugly trend poses a threat to the future of the nation’s agricultural productivity level, private sector investment volume, petroleum sector growth rate, manpower and overall economic development.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s unemployment rate increased to 23.9 per cent in 2011 compared with 21.1 per cent in 2010 and 19.7 per cent of 2009. The country has a youth population of 80 million, representing about 60 per cent of the total population with a growth rate of 2.6 per cent per year and the national demography suggests that the youth population remains vibrant with an average annual entrant to the labour force at 1.8 million between 2006 and 2011. In 2011, 37.7 per cent of Nigerians were aged 15-24 and 22.4 per cent of those between ages 25 and 44 were willing to work but did not get jobs.

Several corporate organisations that have human resource policies on workers’ compensation, insurance and other forms of workers’ welfare have deliberately refused to implement them. In most cases, the list of contract staff and expatriates on their payroll far surpasses that of other personnel in a country with disturbing unemployment rate records. The Federal Ministry of Labour has over the years, abandoned its responsibility as regards labour inspection and general supervision of employers in the country. A significant number of employees are either irregularly paid or underpaid while several government service retirees have died while queuing to collect their retirement benefits. The current level of social insecurity is simply unacceptable. The United Nations Children’s Fund reports that every single day, Nigeria loses about 2,300 under-five year olds and 145 women of childbearing age, making the country the second largest contributor to the under–five and maternal mortality rates in the world. According to UNICEF, “Even more devastating is the knowledge that, according to recent research, essential interventions reaching women and babies on time would have averted most of these deaths.”

“Malnutrition is the underlying cause of morbidity and mortality of a large proportion of children under-5 in Nigeria. It accounts for more than 50 per cent of deaths of children in this age bracket. The deaths of newborn babies in Nigeria represent a quarter of the total number of deaths of children under-five. The majority of these occur within the first week of life, mainly due to complications during pregnancy and delivery reflecting the intimate link between newborn survival and the quality of maternal care. Similarly, a woman’s chance of dying from pregnancy and childbirth in Nigeria is 1 in 13. Although many of these deaths are preventable, the coverage and quality of health care services in Nigeria continue to fail women and children. Presently, less than 20 per cent of health facilities offer emergency obstetric care,” states UNICEF.

Amidst this alarming level of social insecurity, the wide gap between the few corrupt rich citizens and the poor is further being widened. For instance, the value of private properties acquired with public funds which have been obviously looted by a few ex-public office holders without rebuke, is scaring. Private aircraft owned only by a few politicians, businessmen and clergymen are also estimated to have grown in the country from about 20 in year 2000 to over 150 in 2012, at a time when many Nigerians are living below the poverty line.

Massive loss of human resources and its effect as well as government’s unimpressive response to the various forms of crime do not offer hopes that the nation is likely to realize its short and long term economic targets. Bomb explosions and attack of innocent citizens by gunmen have been frequent. The Nigerian militant group, Boko Haram, conducted a series of bombing attacks and armed assaults on January 20, 2012 in the northern city of Kano, leaving at least 250 people dead. According to the Vice-President of Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Issa Aremu, 25 workers died in Kano.

The 2012 Report from Amnesty International indicates that Nigeria recorded 215 deaths from violent attacks by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect between June and December 2011. It adds that more than 200 people died in communal clashes in Plateau State alone during the year while hundreds of people were killed in rioting and violent attacks in northern and central Nigeria following the presidential elections.

According to the Human Rights Watch, about 2,800 lives were lost to terror-related violence between 2009 and 2012. Within the first nine months in 2012, 815 people were killed in 275 suspected attacks by the Boko Haram group and this represents more than the total number of deaths recorded between 2010 and 2011 combined. The organisation states that 211 police officers were killed while over 60 police stations in at least 10 northern and central states were attacked by the terrorist group apart from the police headquarters that was bombed in Abuja.

Kidnapping has equally increased in both frequency and scope, especially in the Niger Delta states and the south eastern part of the country. This heinous act has significantly taken a commercial dimension and the typical victim profile has shifted from just expatriate oil workers to wealthy locals. Although kidnap cases related to ritual killings are also on the rise in Nigeria, victims of commercial kidnapping in the 2012 reported cases, have been majorly businessmen, businesswomen or their family members. Other victims include traditional rulers, politicians or their family members as well as doctors and clergymen. A number of the abductions occurred while the victims were travelling by roads while others happened at victims’ homes and places of work. Ransom figures are rarely reported but ransoms running into millions of naira have allegedly been paid. Most kidnappings today occur in the South-East and the Niger Delta area but have expanded northward to areas where kidnapping was previously unheard of. The result of government’s investment drive has also been negatively affected by the fact that expatriate workers, foreigners and potential investors have constituted part of victims of kidnap.