Abandoned projects worth N12 billion have been said to be littered across States of the federation due to the insecurity ravaging the country.
This was revealed by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor on Thursday at the 2023 public lecture organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Bwari branch, in Abuja, OsunDaily News learnt.
According to the CDS, the state of insecurity in the country has resulted in a loss of over 11% of the Gross Domestic Product annually.
Irabor at the lecture titled, “National Security as a Panacea for sustainable economic growth: the role of indigenous engineering innovation,” said even though insecurity has been curbed to a large extent, its effect on the economy remains evident.
The CDS, who was represented by the Director, Engineering services, Defence Headquarters, Major General Gat Ochigbano, submitted that “Nigeria in the last decade has witnessed several security challenges which include terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other challenges which are well known.
“The economic cost of insecurity is enormous as violence costs Nigeria over 11 per cent of its Gross domestic product annually while projects worth N12 billion or more have been abandoned across Nigeria due to insecurity.
“While the role of armed forces in national stability and nation-building cannot be overemphasised, the complex nature of contemporary security challenges requires multi-sectoral and specialised efforts from the society.”
In the same vein, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, who was represented by AIG Rudolph Obe said, “To effectively secure the nation, there should be locally developed crime-prevention gadgets, tools, equipment, and facilities. They should be domesticated from conception, bearing our peculiarities in mind, to tackle the security challenges of our nation in particular. This is a wake-up call for Nigeria Engineers and its umbrella body.
“Though the world is said to be a global village, crimes are local, hence, there should be a localised approach to the prevention, fight, and detection of crimes.”
