President Muhammadu Buhari has attributed rising disinvestment and foreign companies relocation from Nigeria to growing dissatisfaction, secession agitations, and youth protests across the country, saying investors across the globe have tagged Nigeria as unstable, necessitating their boycott of the country.
He added that should the agitations and protests continued unchecked, investors with exisiting business interests in Nigeria may be forced to leave the country, rendering Nigerians in their companies jobless and contribute to the country’s unemployment rate.
The president noted that while his administration was working fervently to create jobs and attract foreign direct investments, activities of the agitators, including that of protesting youths were undermining the processes and scaring investors away from Nigeria.
Buhari who disclosed this during an interview aired on a national TV on Thursday morning, noted that to halt the trend of divestment, it was important for the youths and secessionists take a detour from their ways and ensure the nation was secured if they want jobs in the country.
He also blamed the Endsars protesters for the lack of investments and jobs across Nigeria, saying destruction, arson and killings that marred the process contributed largely to current unavailability of jobs in the country.
According to him, no investor can invest in an unsecured environment, particularly with the rising insecurity, Kidnapping currently bedeviling the nation
“About 200 buses bought by the former governor of Lagos were burnt by restive youths. Who would go and invest in such an environment? Nobody it is just common sense.
”I told them to tell the youths if they want jobs they should behave themselves, make Nigeria secure so that people can come and invest. Nigeria is resourceful everybody knows that God has really endowed us.
“Youths should behave themselves make Nigeria secure and they will get jobs because Nobody can invest in an unsecured environment,” he said.
On the Indigenous People of Biafra clamouring for secession, the president described their agitations as efforts in futility, saying they are a dot in a circle that has nowhere to go.
“That IPOB is just like a dot in a circle. Even if they want to exit, they will have no access to anywhere. And the way they are spread all over the country, having businesses and properties, I don’t think IPOB knows what they are talking about.
“In any case, we say we’ll talk to them in the language that they understand. We’ll organise the police and the military to pursue them.”
