Senator Gabriel Suswam has said insecurity has collapsed the nation’s economy.
The former Benue State governor and member of the 9th assembly spoke at the public presentation of a festschrift in honour of the pro-chancellor and Chairman Governing Council, University of Abuja, Professor Ahmed Mohammed Modibbo, titled, “Insecurity and economy of northern Nigeria in the 21st century and beyond.”
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While speaking at the event held yesterday in Abuja, he said the recovery of the economy depended on tackling Nigeria’s insecurity challenges.
Suswam commended the authors for writing a book on economy and insecurity which he said would benefit Nigerians and those in the diaspora.
“People outside this country will know where our problems are coming from and what we need to do to address insecurity otherwise as you know the president has presented the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and what we have seen is a lot of borrowing. This has a direct correlation with insecurity in the country. The economy is collapsing fast rather it has collapsed so for every budget, we need to borrow to finance it.
“The deficit of the budget has grown to an unmanageable level so something urgent needs to be done. I think once we begin to address these issues of insecurity we will be on the right track to improving the economy of our country,” he said.
The chairman of the occasion, Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje, in his welcome address said the event was initiated by the former students, mentees and colleagues of Modibbo.
He said the book is a compilation of various academic papers and articles by Mohammed covering essentially the menace of insecurity in accordance with the deterioration of northern Nigeria.
Prof Modibbo in his remarks underscored the importance of the economic development of the country but added that a series of insecurity episodes had limited the development of the country.
He said the papers in the book addressed how insecurity has affected development in Nigeria as well as proffered solutions.
The book was edited by Prof Maiyaki Mejila of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi.
