SECURITY CHALLENGES AND THEIR STRATEGIC IMPACTS ON TRADE AND COMMERCE IN SOUTH EAST NIGERIA

Abstract

The South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria is an integral part of the country's economic landscape due to its large trade and commercial activities. However, security challenges such asinsurgencies and organized crimes have impacted the economic prospects of the region adversely. This paper examines the security challenges and their impacts on trade and commerce in the South-East. The study is based on a qualitative approach, employing in-depth interviews with stakeholders in the regionand key informants including political, cultural and business leaders, as well as opinion leaders and opinion formers. It used the instrument of SWOTs framework to interrogate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of the region in line with trade and commerce. The results indicate that the security challenges have had a negative impact on trade and commerce in the region.Chief among these effects include; threats to business operations, cost of doing business due to security dispute; disruption of supply chains and essential services, and reduced trust between government and the governed. The study further reveals that insurgencies are the major security challenges facing the South-East region. It is recommended that the indigenes should look inward and nip in the bud these security threats that have become cancerous to commerce,that the federal and state governments of Nigeria should strengthen security measures particularly in rural areas, so as to reduce these threats and enhance the safety of businesses, business owners, transactors, and personnel.Additionally, there is a need to promote dialogue and collaboration among the various groups in the region so as to promote peace, security and stability for trade and commerce to prosper.