The nagging insecurity in Enugu North Senatorial Zone of Enugu State is retarding the harnessing of its economic potentials.
The President of Nsukka Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, Mr Uchenna Nnadi, stated this in an interview with NewsNGR in Enugu on Wednesday.
Nnadi, a financial and business management consultant with speciality in governance and risk management, said the zone, popularly called Nsukka cultural zone, being the gateway of Eastern Region from the North, has arable land, waterways and research institutions to move the zone to the international limelight if its perennial security challenges were tackled.
According to him, “The zone is experiencing heavy insecurity in its two opposite critical axes, namely, Isi-Uzo and Uzo-Uwani LGAs. This has given rise to opportunistic crimes to the rest of the zone, particularly in Igbo-Eze North and South LGAs.”
He called on governments at all levels to find a lasting solution to recurring kidnapping and herder-farmers’ clashes in the cultural zone.
He said, “The proposed Naval Base at Ogurugu in Uzo-Uwani, and more should be sustained to provide kinetic security, while bringing in more non-kinetic security measures in terms of government policies and programmes that promote entrepreneurship and employment.
“Being a gateway zone, security is principal and strategic; it is either the zone proactively takes care of insecurity and be the centre of economic activities for North, East and West or become the core cell for the insecurity industry for North, East and West.”