UNDP names South East as safest place to live in Nigeria

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at the weekend announced its National Human Development report for Nigeria for 2016, revealing that the most human security secured geopolitical zone in Nigeria is the South East.

The South East, made up of five states – Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo; however recently has been witnessing agitation for a separate republic by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), with violent killings in the Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

According to the UNDP, in its National Human Development report for Nigeria 2016, the South East is the safest place to live in Nigeria.

“Insecurity remains an ever-present threat to peace and development of the country … and, without a doubt, poses great danger and exacerbates an already fragile economic development landscape, as the country grapples with the reality of shifting from over-reliance on oil and gas sector to other sectors,” said Fatma Samoura, UNDP Nigeria resident representative at the launch of the 2016 National Human Development report in Abuja earlier on Saturday.

The report under the theme “Human Security and Human Development,” makes a compelling case that unchecked poverty; persistent hunger; uncontrolled diseases; lack of access to basic services; disregard for human rights; sub-optimal response to natural and man-made disasters; unregulated natural resources exploitation and use – among others, pose serious threats to human development today.

The report further highlights the existing gap in human security across the geo-political zones of the country; – the most human security secured geo-political zone is the South-East while the North-West and the North-East geopolitical zones are the least human security secured, with residents of the Federal Capital Territory being the worst in most realms of the Human Security Index.

The North-East region of the country has been the most affected by the more than 5-year long military insurgency by the Boko Haram sect. It also remains among the least developed parts of the country, the UNDP noted.

The report further states that “Despite a robust economic growth of about seven percent between 2010 and 2014, a large proportion of Nigerians still live in poverty and are exposed to various vulnerabilities.”

 “An estimated 61.3 percent of Nigerians are classified as poor, with 48.8 percent of them classified as multi-dimensionally poor,” the UNDP report further revealed.