“The most human security secure geo-political zone [in Nigeria] is the South-East” – United Nations

A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report might not have done the correlation, linking the Igbo Apprenticeship System and Human Security & Human Development in southeastern part of Nigeria, yet, the conclusion is evident: “the most human security secure geo-political zone is the South-East”, in Nigeria. Largely, with such an emphatic conclusion, I expect government to put resources to investigate further.

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 secure 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 yearlong military insurgency. It also remains among the least developed parts of the country.

This is not rocket science: Silicon Valley produces all these category-king startups because of the fluidity of capital and support systems in the region, and southeastern Nigeria is humanly secure because of its own version of entrepreneurial venture support system. Whether it is Nnewi or Silicon Valley, people rise with support from communities.

My question is thus: how can we get our politicians to pay attention to what is working here in Nigeria, over the natively esoteric complexity of Silicon Valley, for applications in other regions in Nigeria, especially the northern part, as noted in the UNDP report?

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