… As Hotelier says kidnappings, COVID-19 crippling business in Nigeria***

Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu, of Ondo State, has warned that the various criminal activities of kidnapping, bombing and assault on the people in parts of the country being referred to as banditry, must be appropriately addressed as terrorism.

Akeredolu in a statement on Monday in Abuja noted that infiltration of the country’s borders and the recent disruption of train services by bandits must be addressed as terrorism and the perpetrators treated as same.

The governor was quoted as saying this on Monday at the 27th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja with the theme: “Securing Our Future: The Fierce Urgency of Now.”

Akeredolu and his Kaduna State counterpart, Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai, and others were among the panelists at the summit which centered on addressing the country’s security challenges.

He contended that a nation with failed security and justice systems was set to fail.

While expressing concern that the dimension of insecurity in the country recently had been surprising, Akeredolu said he had always believed in multi-level policing as the best way of securing the country.

“In Ondo State, we don’t have terrorism. Our problem is farmers and herders clashes and kidnapping for ransom. We have drug abuse and agitation for self-determination.

“We have always preached the multi-level policing in Ondo State. We believe in layers of security,” he said.

The governor, who explained that though there were criminal trespasses that could be treated by the state, alleged that before the Amotekun corps was established, the police were not always ready to make an arrest.

“Yes, you have criminal trespass. It should be treated by the state. All we had before Amotekun was a police that had the duty to arrest and were not prepared to make an arrest.

“Things are changing and have really changed in Ondo state. Today, if you trespass on other people’s land, the Amotekun will go after you and arrest you.

“They pay compensations to the farmers and when they fail they are in court. It is the only way you can send signals to people.

“When you commit a crime and the hands of law don’t catch up with you, another person will repeat it,” he said.

On open grazing, Akeredolu said nomadic pastoralist was a culture that must be discouraged in the interest of those involved.

He noted that the issue of grazing routes was not a welcome conversation, adding that those were issues of the past that must not be brought back to the fore.

“Speaking for those of us who have put in place anti-open grazing law. We have our reasons and we have no apologies,” he said.

In the meantime, a hotelier, Mr Abiodun Isinkaiye, has lamented that kidnapping and COVID-19 pandemic are crippling hospitality business in the country, particularly in Ekiti

Isinkaiye said the hospitality business, which had been battling with the persistent issue of epileptic power supply in Nigeria, was worsened by the increasing cases of abduction and the outbreak of COVID- 19 pandemic.

The Proprietor of the  Prosperous Royal Hotels and Resort said this on Monday, in Ado-Ekiti at a public lecture.

The programme was part of the activities of the 2021 Annual Public Lecture and Awards Presentation organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Correspondents’ Chapel, Ekiti Council.

He appealed to the Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari and the state governors to work hard to curb the abduction of Nigerians by unknown gunmen.

He added that the recent trend in kidnapping had reduced the profit margin of every sector of the economy, with the hospitality sector being the worst hit.

“Management of hotels business has always been a problem in Nigeria in view of epileptic electricity supply we have been facing for long.

“We rely on diesel-powered generators as a source of power, which reduces our profit margin because the power supply has to run for 24 hours to give our customers comfort.

“As we are still trying to cope with that, the COVID- 19 and kidnapping surfaced. The two have really negatively affected hospitality business in Nigeria, in fact, we can’t quantify the hardship that we are facing in the sector,” Isinkaiye said.

He further said since the two phenomenon started, the business environment had changed; adding that the number of visitors to their facilities reduced with the fear that they could be kidnapped or come in contract with the deadly virus.

“When those who are visiting the state from the government or corporate bodies are to be in large numbers, such are now cut down significantly; because of these recent challenges and these are the people whose patronage we strongly rely on mostly.

“It has not been easy with us operating this business in recent time. We are no more getting visitors and the few ones we get must be safe and secured, meaning we have to also invest more in providing security so that our visitors will not be kidnapped,” he added.

The hotelier also said they had to comply with the government’s directives on the enforcement of COVID- 19 protocols in all their facilities by investing more in buying sanitisers and other necessities spending huge amounts of money.

Isinkaiye, however, described hospitality as a “reliable employment-generating sector in the country,” calling on government at all levels to give hoteliers the necessary assistance for their survival in the business.