Nigeria losing many foreign investments to rising insecurity, businesses warn

Business experts yesterday disclosed that the country is missing so many opportunities of attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) due to escalating insecurity nationwide.

Experts who spoke in Abuja at a capacity building workshop for National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) staff, titled ‘Data management strategies to improve national planning and development’, urged the NBS to embark on a national survey in collaboration with the academia to bring out a solution to security challenges in Nigeria.

Speaking, Royal Statistical Society (RSS) Chairman, Dr. Olaniyi Matthew Olayiwola, who lamented that the development has affected the transportation, commerce and the trading industries, regretted that both local and foreign investors are now afraid of investing in the country due to insecurity.

Olayiwola, who is also the Head of Department (HOD) Statistics, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, disclosed that the RSS is currently developing a model called biased reduction model to detect the actual causes of insecurity in the country and proffer solutions to national security challenges.

His words: “Nigeria has lost a lot of FDI due to insecurity challenges we are having in the country, there are so many factors dragging the Nigeria economy down depriving investors from investing in the country and so many that can invest in the country to help the GDP.

“Because of the insecurity, they are finding it difficult to invest and the economy is deeply affected. Look at the transportation system, the commerce, the trading and some other things. The security situation is also making it difficult for the country to exchange what is being produced.

“There are so many people that are very rich in the country and are capable of having so many industries but they believe that if they establish themselves in the country and a crisis pops up, their establishment may be set ablaze.

“We as statisticians have seen that. If we are able to address the issue of security challenges in the country, every other thing will fall in place; for instance, investors can come to Nigeria to invest.

Citing communication gap and lack of information as major factors causing insecurity in the country, the university scholar insisted that insecurity will be a thing of the past, if the NBS could collate data around causes of insecurity.

Earlier in his remarks, NBS Statistician General, Simon Harry urged participants to be attentive and translate the knowledge gained from the workshop into nation building.