Page 1 of 16

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 02 Issue 4

April 2016

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 114

Insecurity and Business Operators: An Investigation on

Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Emmanuel O. Okon1 , Inigbehe M. Okon2, and John O. Alabi 3

1Department of Economics, Kogi State University, Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria.

E-mail: tonydom57@yahoo.com.

2Department of Economics, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Akwa Ibom State

University, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

E-mail: mikeokon72@yahoo.com.

3Department of Business Administration, Kogi State University,Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria.

E-mail: johnalabi@yahoo.com.

3Department of Economics, Akwa Ibom State University, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

E-mail:mikeokon72@yahoo.com.

ABSTRACT

This paper studied the security situation in

Nasarawa state and its effect on business

operators. The method of the study is

qualitative and exploratory. Data were

generated from primary and secondary

sources. Secondary data were elicited from

books, journals and internet materials. The

primary data were sourced through survey.

Structured questionnaires were

administered to a sample of 451 respondents

in four selected towns in Nasarawa state.

The retrieved questionnaires totaled 420.

Data were analyzed using descriptive

statistics. Findings specifically revealed that

a reasonable percentage of respondents

claimed that the spate of insecurity/robbery

attacks has negatively affected their

businesses. A large percent are of the

opinion that the attacks on businesses tend

to discourage investors and encourage

exodus of operators from the state. This

paper suggests that the government should

increase the size of Nasarawa state security

agencies, empower and motivate them very

well and strengthen neighborhood watch.

Possibly, the neighborhood vigilante groups

should be mobilize and incorporated. On the

part of business operators, they should

ensure that their location enhances security

and at the same time be more conscious.

Key words: insecurity, business operators,

Nasaraw state, Nigeria

1. INTRODUCTION

Like the natural environments of

living beings, the environment of a business

can either enhance or stifle its growth and

development. The nature and extent of the

impact of the environment on any one

company depends on the internal

configuration of such a company.

Researchers have categorized the

environment into three components, the

Page 2 of 16

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 02 Issue 4

April 2016

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 115

preparedness of any one company being

referred to as the internal environment.

These are the macro environment, the

industry environment and the internal

environment. It has also been shown that the

internal environment affect performance

most followed by the industry environment

and lastly, the macro environment (Gado,

2015).

Nigeria in recent times has witnessed

an unprecedented level of insecurity. This

has made national security threat to be a

major issue for the government and has

prompted huge allocation of the national

budget to security. In order to ameliorate the

incidence of crime, the federal government

has embarked on criminalization of

terrorism by passing the Anti-Terrorism Act

in 2011, enhancement of surveillance as

well as investigation of criminal related

offences, heightening of physical security

measures around the country aimed at

deterring or disrupting potential attacks,

strengthening of security agencies through

the provision of security facilities and the

development and broadcast of security tips

in mass media (Azazi, 2011). Despite these

efforts, the level of insecurity in the country

is still high. In addition, Nigeria has

consistently ranked low in the Global Peace

Index (GPI, 2012), signifying a worsened

state of insecurity in the country.

Insecurity, crime and violence can

increase the cost of doing business thereby

affecting entrepreneurial activities and

overall business climate of a country. In

worst circumstances, it might even ‘drive

out foreign as well as domestic investments

and decrease availability of productive

labour and skilled manpower’ (Dutta and

Husain, 2009).

Like most states in Nigeria,

Nasarawa state is not free from security

challenges. Threats are directed against

citizens or public property of the State.

Nasarawa state is one of the states with

prodigious investment climate and potentials

for economic development. Several of its

untapped resources now offer very good

potentials for economically viable and

technically feasible industrial and

agricultural development projects (Taal

Circle, 2013). Consequently, this research

has attempted to provide answers to the

following key questions:

i. What is the state of insecurity and robbery

attacks on business premises/operators in the

state?

ii. Has the spate of insecurity/robbery

attacks negatively affect business?

Page 3 of 16

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 02 Issue 4

April 2016

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 116

iv. Does incessant robbery attacks on

businesses tend to discourage investors and

encourage

exodus of operators from the state.

Hypothesis

H0: Incessant robbery attacks on businesses

do not discourage investors and encourage

exodus of

business operators from the State

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Inquiry on the economic

consequence of crime and violence at the

firm level is becoming of great interest.

Using survey data on business owners in the

United States, multivariate analysis, and

taking into account neighborhood of market

operation and separating small business

from other businesses, Bates and Robb

found that firms that are concerned about

crime are no less viable than other identical

firms reporting that crime has no impact on

their business. That finding suggests that

firms do not take into account high crime in

decision to operate in an area. Using a quasi- experimental methodology on

geographically disaggregated crime data

across five American cities, Greenbaum and

Tita (2004) found that increased violence

has the largest impact on slowing the

creation of new retail businesses. Based on a

theoretical approach borrowed from the

shirking model, Azam and Langmoen

(2001) empirically investigated the

determinants of thefts reporting at the

manufacturing firm level in Cote d'Ivoire.

They found that firms that use informal

means for recruitment or do not pay or pay

their workers less than market wages, are

likely to report theft more frequently than

others. This paper, while pinpointing

criminal behavior and private enforcement

of the law at the firm level, did not indicate

the extent to which criminal activity affected

business activity in general.

3. MATERIAL AND METHODS

Study Area

The area, which is today known as

Nasarawa State, was formerly a geopolitical

unit under Benue and Plateau Provinces of

Northern Nigeria. With the clamour for the

creation of more states in the country.

Nasarawa State was eventually carved out of

Plateau State by the General Sani Abacha- led military government, on October 1,

1996. The creation of the State was indeed, a

significant development for its diverse

citizens. This is because it brought together

people who shared common aspirations and

had co-existed peacefully for decades.