CBN Gov says huge security spending, guns cannot guarantee security





Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said on Wednesday that huge spending on security and use of guns by security forces would not guarantee security of lives and property of Nigerians.

He said this in a lecture paper he delivered at the ”Abia Youth Empowerment Summit” in Umuahia.

Sanusi, therefore, called for a more proactive measure to curb insurgency in the country, stressing that government owe it a duty to provide means of livelihood for the citizens.

“No matter how much we spend in security, no matter how many guns we give to security forces, there will not be security until these people have food on their table.

“Addressing security problems without addressing the fundamental economic causes is only a short-term measure.

“Yesterday it was Niger Delta militancy, today it is Boko Haram, tomorrow it will be something else. We have to address the problem of youth and their future across the country.”

He also advocated ”difficult” structural reforms to grow the nation’s economy to scale.

He noted that more than 90 per cent of religious, social, and political crises in the country had their roots in the economy.

“It’s about unemployment; it’s about poor infrastructure; it’s about an economy that is essentially dysfunctional; this is a country that imports what it can produce and exports what it does not produce.

“So the solution is simple. It’s about the difficult structural reforms that are required to grow the economy on scale.”

The dignitaries at the event included former Senate President, Chief Adolphus Wabara and the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, among others. (NAN)



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