Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State on Thursday said that more Nigerians are on the verge of losing their jobs in the face of increased insecurity and the attendant decline in foreign investment in the country.
Ortom who made the remark when he hosted officials of the Middle Belt Youth Organisations at the Government House in Makurdi, expressed fear that major crisis was already looming in the country as many youths are jobless.
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He prayed that something positive is done urgently to curb the insecurity across the country to avert the danger ahead.
The governor worried that the decline of foreign investment just as indigenous business people are now grappling with the insecurities which makes it difficult for them to invest are pointers to crisis that should not be allowed to happen.
“Today I was listening to the media and was told that foreign direct investment in the country had declined. Even those that are businessmen in the country are no longer investing in any form of investment because of insecurity.
“The result is that apart from the unemployed people, those who are already employed would soon be jobless and add to the number we have already. That is a big crisis,” he said.
The governor, therefore, called on leaders, at the local, state and federal levels to join hands to provide security for lives and property of the people.
In his speech, the coordinator of the Presidents of Middle Belt Youth Organisations and President, Benue Youth Forum BYF, Terrence Kuanum, earlier told the governor that the youth organisations are deeply worried by the various security challenges in the Middle Belt region, particularly in Benue, Kaduna South and Plateau states which he said are being perpetrated by young people.
