Security experts have highlighted the need for the incoming government to tackle security challenges, including farmers-herders clashes, bedeviling many parts of the country.
They spoke at the Securex West Africa Exhibition and Conference organised by Afrocet Montgomery in Lagos.
During a panel session, themed ‘Nigeria’s Trilemma: Security, Economy and New Government’, the experts discussed how security affects the agricultural sector and expectations for the next administration.
“According to a report by Towntalk Solutions, Nigeria has experienced about 27 percent of total insecurity and safety issues that occurred in 2022 in just the first quarter of 2023,” Wale Adeagbo, director of security, risk advisory and consultant at Halogen Group, said.
Peter Okoloh, executive chairman, PR24 Nigeria Limited, said the new administration would have to address Boko Haram attacks, kidnapping and farmers-herdsmen clashes, among others.
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He said the farmers-herdsmen clashes have caused more deaths and crises than the Boko Haram crisis in recent times.
“The Ruga policy in 2019 came up with a livestock transformation plan, which was a major initiative that would have addressed a lot of security issues in that space but was not implemented. The incoming administration needs to work on that initiative,” he said.
Kike Shodenko, security and risk consultant at ASIS Lagos Chapter 206, highlighted how insecurity affects the economy, saying the farmers-herdsmen clashes had taken a toll on the agricultural sector.
She said over 470 maize farmers in Katsina have been killed in the past three years, reducing the maize supply from that region.
She stressed the need for the new administration to work with the private security sector.
“The private security sector has been in talks with the government on collaboration on matters of security in the country,” she said.
“I hope there’s a change of space; the policies might not necessarily change. With Nigeria’s previous antecedent, I can only hope things get better with the new administration.”
Olufemi Kayode, CPP area security manager, West Africa at Mondelez International, said that to improve the agricultural sector, the government needs to secure the entire agricultural chain
“We need to protect the farms, farmers, and the entire agricultural supply chain,” he said, adding that there needs to be a deliberate approach to changing the security architecture of Nigeria.
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