The Institute of Chartered Secretaries
and Administration of Nigeria on Wednesday called on the Federal
Government to as a matter of urgency address the insecurity challenge in
the country.
Ndanusa, who is also the Chairman, Board
of the Securities and Exchange Commission, noted that while the country
had recorded significant improvement in key sectors of the economy, the
issue of insecurity had become worrisome.
He explained that despite the fact that
the country’s Gross Domestic Product had been on the increase in recent
times, poverty and unemployment still remained issues that had not been
effectively addressed.
Nigeria’s relative poverty measurement
figure, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, stands at 69 per
cent (or 112,518,507 Nigerians).
The North-West and North-East
geo-political zones have the highest poverty rates in the country with
77.7 per cent and 76.3 per cent, respectively.
Among states, Sokoto has the highest
poverty rate at 86.4 per cent, while the unemployment rate in the
country currently stands at 23.9 per cent.
However, for the benefits of economic
growth to sufficiently trickle down, Ndanusa said there was a need for
policies that would help achieve inclusive growth and poverty reduction.
He said, “The issue of concern about the
security situation in the country has affected every segment of the
nation’s economy. It goes without saying that the present situation has
grave governance implication, which cannot be swept under the carpet.
“The security crises we are experiencing
have a lot of economic undertone. When you have youth unemployment and
poverty; then, you create a ready made potential for battalion of people
that can be used by all kind of extremists.
“What we need in the immediate to the
long-term are economic policies that actually impact on the citizens,
because growth in the GDP is not enough. But how does it affect the food
on the table, unemployment, break the circle of poverty and how do we
bring credit for small scale businesses?”
