‘How insecurity cripples job creation, pushes women deeper into poverty’

The Director-General of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), Dr Joseph Ochogwu, has said Nigeria’s worsening insecurity is undermining job creation, disrupting businesses and pushing women in conflict-affected communities deeper into poverty.

He explained that attacks on farms, markets and rural settlements destroy livelihoods and discourage economic investment.

He added that from farmers abandoning their fields to traders shutting down their businesses and displaced families struggling to survive, the economic consequences of insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and communal violence are threatening efforts to expand employment and reduce poverty.

Speaking at a conference on peace and conflict resolution organised by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation-West Africa in Abuja, Ochogwu noted that women, particularly those who depend on agriculture, food processing and petty trading, are among the hardest hit, losing income while shouldering increased responsibilities for feeding their families and caring for dependants.

The IPCR boss identified poverty, unemployment, economic inequality, weak public institutions and unresolved communal grievances as structural factors that can intensify insecurity when combined with exclusion and impunity.

Ochogwu argued that Nigeria’s security challenges could not be resolved through military operations alone, insisting that sustainable peace required addressing the underlying conditions that perpetuate violence.

The impact on employment is particularly evident in agriculture, where attacks and threats force farmers to abandon their land or restrict cultivation to safer areas. Reduced production affects not only farmers but also agricultural labourers, food processors, transport operators, and traders whose livelihoods depend on moving produce.

Businesses in affected communities also face rising operating costs, disrupted supply chains and declining customer traffic. Some reduce their workforce, while others close or relocate, further shrinking local employment opportunities.

Persistent insecurity can also discourage investors from establishing or expanding businesses in vulnerable areas, limiting job creation for young people and other economically active Nigerians.

He maintained that displaced households often face more severe consequences.

Losing access to farmland, equipment, customers and established business networks can destroy years of economic progress and leave families dependent on assistance.

Ochogwu cautioned against treating poverty and unemployment as automatic causes of violence, noting that their consequences depend on how institutions and communities manage economic pressures and grievances.

He called for a shift towards preventive peacebuilding, supported by effective governance, accountable institutions and improved economic opportunities.

Therefore, security operations should be complemented by agricultural recovery programmes, affordable credit, vocational training, support for small businesses, and targeted assistance for displaced households.

Earlier, Angela Odah of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation-West Africa, highlighted how worsening insecurity had turned ordinary activities, including road travel and moving agricultural produce, into dangerous undertakings.

Odah said kidnappers, bandits and criminal gangs had made communities across the country increasingly vulnerable. At the same time, repeated attacks had forced many rural residents in northern Nigeria to spend years in internally displaced persons’ camps.