By Okwy Iroegbu­-Chikezie

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) has advised the executive arm of government to liaise with the legislative arm to take security out of the exclusive list of the Constitution and fix it in the concurrent list for efficiency.

Its President, Mrs Toki Mabogunje, in a statement, said the impact of the security crisis on the economy remains profound and multi-dimensional.

She said: “The crisis has crippled many private and public investments across the nation. Several businesses and investors in affected areas are counting their losses. Many households have lost their means of livelihoods, while some have been displaced.”

On the impact on agriculture, she said many farmlands across the country, especially in the North and Middle Belt, have been destroyed.

According to her, these have severe implications for food production and food distribution from farms to markets.

“We recognise insecurity as a major driver of the persistent increase in food inflation in recent years. The worsening security situation will trigger further inflationary pressure on food prices thus exacerbating the poverty conditions in the country.

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“This alarming state of insecurity in the country has hampered movement of goods, services, and persons across the country, with implications for agriculture, agro-allied services, trade and commerce especially in affected areas.

Transportation & logistics sector, hospitality and allied investments, education, construction, and real estate have been severely impacted by the crisis”.

Speaking on investors’ confidence, the LCCI chief said the crisis projects the economy as an unsafe investment destination, and if unaddressed, would thwart government’s efforts in encouraging private investment inflows into the economy at a time the economy is in dire need of massive investments to bolster growth recovery, create jobs and alleviate poverty.

“We note that investors’ confidence had been weak before the covid-19 outbreak, and many investors still see the Nigerian market as a risky venture despite the oil price recovery, vaccination dissemination and growth recovery. We believe confidence will remain weak in the short-term if the situation does not abate,” she said.

Mabogunje said the worsening security situation also impacts the fiscal position of government by making policymakers incur unplanned and unbudgeted security-related expenditure at the detriment of infrastructural development expenditure.  She reiterated that it could worsen 2021 actual fiscal deficit levels amid fragility in revenue growth from oil and non-oil sources.

On the way forward, she stressed that it is critically important to have this challenge urgently resolved so that the pervasive fear and anxiety inflicted by the fear of insecurity can come to end.

She canvassed the decentralization of the security eco-system, adding that it would enable other levels of government take key security-related decisions and initiatives within their domain.

The sub nationals need to play more active roles in the restoration of peace in our country through the creation of a security machinery and architecture that would be controlled by them, subject of course to certain guidelines, especially regarding the rules of engagement.

She also suggested the need to ensure a concrete and sustainable means of reducing youth unemployment rate through youth employment schemes and programmes as there is a strong correlation between unemployment and criminality.