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The recent warning by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) that the worsening insecurity across the country remains a major threat to the nation’s economic growth, investment, food security and infrastructure development, should be heeded. It reflects the reality on ground all over the country. Our economic planners should take note of NESG warning. The warning calls for a coordinated intervention that will restore confidence in the business community both at home and abroad.
The NESG’s timely warning came on the heels of frequent attacks on farming communities, oil installations, power infrastructure, telecom facilities, abductions and ransom for kidnapping. No business plan will survive in the war zone that Nigeria has become, just as farmers will be unwilling to visit their farmlands, while infrastructure will not generate value if they remain vulnerable to attacks by bandits.
According to SBM Intelligence, data tracking the 12-month period from July 2025 to June 2026, showed that 7,825 people were kidnapped, marking a 66 per cent increase compared to the previous year, while N7,78 billion (US$5.79million) was reportedly paid to kidnappers. Currently, Nigeria is ranked fourth in the 2026 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) published by the Institute of Economics and Peace. This makes Nigeria the fourth most terrorism-affected country in the world with a score of 7,792 and 750 recorded terrorism-related deaths in 2026. At least 1,142 people were killed across these kidnapping incidents.
These incidents undermine productivity, raising business costs and discouraging long-term investment inflows. The warning contained in the statement issued by the NESG ahead of its 32nd Economic Summit, also stressed that economic development would remain difficult to achieve without improvements in national security. In fact, if security fails, productivity in the country will likely collapse, and development stalled.
In view of this, we call for stronger monitoring using technology, improved transparency in upstream petroleum, greater economic inclusiveness of Nigerians in vulnerable communities and tougher measures to curb oil theft. Besides, sustainable security demands coordinated action that involves government institutions, businesses, security agencies and local communities. Economic and social interventions have also become expedient to address poverty crisis, unemployment, inequality and exclusion, the major drivers of insecurity.
Without security, it will be difficult to achieve job creation, industrialisation, shared prosperity and subnational economic growth. These drawbacks have had their toll on investments in Nigeria. According to statistics from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), foreign investors pulled out N266billion from Nigeria in three years (2023-2026). Total foreign inflows reached N513.36billion, while foreign outflows reached N779.43billion.
The largest monthly deficit occurred in March 2026, totaling N74.72billion. While foreign investors scaled back, overall market activity remained resilient, driven by domestic investors as total trading on the exchange reached about N11.98billion in the first seven months of 2026. This was due to profit-taking, portfolio rebalancing, and a shift toward fixed income securities offering higher yields.
At the same time, international fund managers have continued to treat the Nigerian stock market with caution due to ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties, regulatory unpredictability and challenge with long-term capital retention despite currency and policy reforms. Due to rising insecurity that threatens investment and economic growth of the country, it is not surprising that the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria(MAN) has raised the alarm over plunge in industrial growth that declined to 3.96 per cent in Q2 2026, dropping sharply from 7.46 per cent in Q2 2025 despite headline national GDP growth reaching 4.43 per cent. Sadly, the GDP dropped from 9.57 per cent in Q1 2026 down to 7.72 per cent in Q2 202.
The resultant effect is severe structural pressure that disconnected macroeconomic growth from ground realities. This includes high energy tariffs, foreign exchange pressures, high interest rate that makes borrowing costly, as well as weak purchasing power. These have made the ease of doing business in Nigeria difficult to cope with.
Despite federal government’s avowed commitment to significantly curb insecurity, the war is far from being over. The insecurity monster is still kicking in spite of being technically degraded. The government should re-tweak its strategy on the ongoing war against terrorists, bandits and kidnappers since the current approach seems not to be yielding the expected results. Altogether, there is need for government to focus more on the economy.
