Insecurity has been described as the bane of development in Africa.
This was the focus of speeches delivered during the opening ceremony of a two-day international conference of UNIZIK Business School held at the ASUU Secretariat of the institution.
The international conference of UNIZIK Business School, the fourth in its series, aims to expose to the business community the intellectual means of planning, executing and sustaining existing businesses in the country and beyond.
The event which was virtual and physical combined had in attendance students of the institution and business men and women.
Speaking at the event, the lead paper presenter, Professor Christopher Ogbogho, Director of Research, Nigeria Army Resource Center, Abuja who dwelt historically on crisis and violence in African countries, regretted that non state actors have become purveyors of violence in Nigeria and noted that one of the major causes of failure of the economy is increasing number of youth migration to other countries even at the risk of death.
A guest speaker who addressed the gathering through zoom and a professor of International Human Rights Law, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, maintained that development should be based on building human capacity and well-being, pointing out that insecurity is the result of exclusion and advised government at all levels to engage the youths meaningfully in order to curb violence.
In an address, the Vice Chancellor of UNIZIK Professor Charles Esimone, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academics, Professor Ikechukwu Ikechebelu, noted that many African states are taunted by debilitating interminable security challenges , regretting that it has impeded investments foreign and local, hoping that the hybrid international conference will generate new ideas on how to fight insecurity.
The Director UNIZIK Business School, Professor Emma Okoye in an address, expressed pride that UNIZIK Business School has been inspiring leaders and transforming businesses adding that conferences of such nature are not just annual but are among the reasons why institutions such as theirs are established.
Earlier in an opening remark, the co-chairman on the occasion and the former Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and member Governing Board, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Professor Okechukwu Nwankwo said that any society which wants an improved economy must fight insecurity as no meaningful development can thrive in a crisis prone environment such as seen in African countries.
The Deputy Director, UNIZIK Business School Dr Chinedu Onyeizugbe and the Chairman local Organizing committee of the conference, Professor Ezinma Nnabuife while appreciating the cream of speakers at the event, noted that the conference since inception had in no small measure, revived ailing businesses and restored confidence on business men and women in Nigeria and beyond.
Correspondent Ngozi Obileri reports that the fourth annual conference has “Development and Sustainability of African Economy, the Security Challenges” as its theme, while Professor Joy Ezeilo of Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria was among those who addressed the gathering through zoom.
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