Tuggar to Investors: Do Not Write Off Nigeria Based on Isolated Security Concerns

• Seeks international support for training, equipment, says Africa’s geopolitical risk overhyped

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, yesterday, urged foreign investors not to judge Nigeria’s prospects through the prism of isolated security incidents. Tuggar said such cases did not reflect the reality of Africa’s largest economy and its long-term investment fundamentals.

Speaking to CNN on the side-lines of the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Tuggar, acknowledged Nigeria’s security challenges. But he stressed that they were localised and being actively addressed by the government.

He said the tendency to generalise insecurity across the entire country had often led to exaggerated risk perceptions that obscured opportunities in key sectors. He urged the international community to rethink the way it saw Nigeria.

The minister stated that Nigerians were among the continent’s most heterogeneous people. He highlighted the country’s improving macroeconomic reforms, and ongoing efforts to strengthen governance by the Bola Tinubu administration.

Tuggar stated that while no country was immune to security concerns, investors should take a more nuanced view of Nigeria, assessing the country on its specific merits rather than broad assumptions.

He told the CNN, “I think it would be nice to see (Nigeria) as a very diverse country that actually has not fared badly compared to countries that are more homogenous. That we have been living with each other in peace, in spite of some of the fringe or even conflict areas, in border areas that now are cascading downwards.

“But it is very important to define it for what it is so that we can find the right solutions. We have forest guards; we have several other initiatives. In fact, we had done very well with the fight against Boko Haram.”

The minister pushed back on what he characterised as the incorrect framing of the Nigerian as well as the African situation, explaining that a lot of the claims are overhyped.

He said, “Some of the conversations that are taking place here also have to do with Africa’s risk bias, where the issue of risk, geopolitical risk in particular, is overhyped when it comes to Africa, which doesn’t apply in other parts of the world.

“So it’s very important we look at the progress that the Tinubu administration has been making with macroeconomic reforms, with the tax reforms that make it easier for investors to come into Nigeria, lowering of corporate income tax, and reform of the foreign exchange.

“We can actually come to Davos and use our Nigerian cards here, credit cards without a limit, (we have) $43 billion in foreign reserves. Our sovereign bonds, our treasury bills have a yield of 8 to 10 per cent. So let us look at Nigeria holistically. Let us not continue to dwell on some of these isolated incidents and define the entire country by it.”

He added, “And it’s also important to note that sometimes when we dwell on some of these incidents, sorry, when we don’t frame the narrative correctly, we actually trigger some of these incidents, because that’s when some of the bandits and the terrorists try to go for innocent civilians and try to use them as human shields because they know they’re going to be targeted.”

Tuggar acknowledged the effect of the recent coup in Niger Republic and its negative effect on security in the Sahel, emphasising that Nigeria remains open to working with other nations of the world in terms of training and equipment to end the security challenges in the country.

He stated, “We were trying to sort out the thousands that had surrendered. Some were innocent victims caught in conflict areas until the coup in Niger. And Niger pulled out of the multinational joint task force that was working so well because it allows for the right of pursuit.

“It allows for soldiers, Nigerian soldiers, to pursue terrorists into Niger and vice versa. We’re urging potential investors to treat us the same way, to look at us the same way that they look at other countries.

“The fact that there is an incident in a country of 923,000 square kilometres does not mean you write off the entire country.”

On whether the recent US-Nigeria airstrikes hit the targets in Sokoto, the minister declined to be categorical in his response. He said such questions were best answered by those in charge of the military and security.

Tuggar said, “Suffice to say that there were specific targets that were hit, and as is the case with some of these strikes, sometimes you don’t get the right target.

“But it underscores the willingness of Nigeria and the United States, and, indeed, other countries, towards a better understanding of the conflict in the region, and to work together towards bringing it to an end.

“Because it is a conflict that affects the entire planet, the West African region and the Sahel and Lake Shad regions, in particular, are among the fastest growing regions in the world. Nigeria is going to be 400 million in the next 24 years. The African continent is going to be the most populous.

“And it’s important that we nip these conflicts in the bud, so that they don’t spill over into other continents, so that the Sahel does not become a breeding ground for terrorism, for extremism, for all sorts of criminal activity. And regionally we’re doing a lot.”

Tuggar stated, “It’s Nigeria that is shouldering a lot of responsibilities. In a month, if you look at the work that we’ve done intervening in the Republic of Benin, where there was a coup attempt, providing shelter for an opposition leader after an election, and a coup in Guinea-Bissau, it’s a lot of responsibilities, and we need the support.

“We need to be supported with the equipment, we need to be supported with the training, and more importantly, we need to be supported with the understanding and the right framing to what is happening in our region and what is happening in the country.”