• Enugu lawmaker cries out, says only nine policemen protecting 500,000 residents

A development economist and Chairman of the Board of the ACUF Initiative for Policy and Governance, Prof. Chiwuike Uba, has called for a decisive, inclusive, and well-sequenced approach to Nigeria’s economic transformation. In a statement yesterday, Uba lamented that Nigeria’s excessive spending on security has failed to yield the desired results.

According to him, despite allocating over N40 trillion to defence and security between 2014 and 2025, and N6.11 trillion in the 2025 budget, insecurity has persisted across the country.

He noted that this amount exceeds the combined allocation of N5.7 trillion to education, health, and skills development. Prof. Uba argued that this imbalance reflects a persistent misdiagnosis of the root causes of insecurity.

He stressed that merely throwing money at the problem or relying on militarised responses will not solve it. He advocated, however, for a shift towards preventive investments in social welfare, justice, and inclusive governance.

According to him, addressing the underlying drivers of insecurity, such as poverty, unemployment, and lack of access to basic services, is crucial to achieving lasting stability.

Uba added that the country’s economic challenges, including rising debt, poverty, insecurity, and unemployment, are symptoms of underlying policy gaps and implementation missteps. He emphasised that Nigeria’s macroeconomic performance lags behind regional peers, despite its immense resource endowments.

Uba attributed this to the country’s heavy dependence on crude oil and underutilisation of sectors like agriculture and manufacturing due to regulatory bottlenecks, poor infrastructure, and policy inconsistency.

To achieve sustainable growth, Uba proposed a bold, multi-sectoral reform agenda focusing on economic diversification, human capital investment, debt management, and revenue expansion.

MEANWHILE, the member representing Igboeze South Constituency in the Enugu State House of Assembly, Harrison Ogara, has cried out over the recent kidnapping incidents in his constituency.

In a statement he issued in Enugu yesterday, the Labour Party (LP) lawmaker blamed the development on inadequate security personnel, stressing that only about nine policemen were left to protect 500,000 residents of Igbo-Eze South Local Council, his constituents.

Ogara, who was reacting to an alleged kidnapping of eight people, including a newly ordained Rev. Sister at Eburumiri Ibagwa Aka area of the local council, stated that it was becoming a challenge for his constituents to move freely.

He said: “A more painful aspect of the story is that a young person who was hiding in the bush to evade the kidnappers was killed by the kidnappers’ stray bullet while they were escaping the community.