An Assessment of the Effects of Boko-Haram Insurgency on Business Development in North-Eastern States of Nigeria

The paper is aimed to study the Boko-Haram insurgency since it creates economic challenges and drastically reduces the business activities from the affected north-eastern states of Nigeria due to restiveness in those places especially by reducing investment and growth of business in the affected places. So, the research study was conducted using structured interview to collect the views and opinions of business men and women in the six states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe in Nigeria. The sampling method adopted for the study was stratified random sampling technique. The instrument used for data analysis was simple percentage targeted to relate socio-economic attributes of business men and women to include their categories of business, age, sex, educational qualification, length of years in business operation, and the reasons for engaging in such businesses. Descriptive statistics (means, frequency and percentages) was used in analyzing the effects of Boko-Haram insurgency on business development in north-eastern region and X2 statistics was employed to test the hypothesis which states that there is no significant relationship between Boko-Haram insurgency and business development in the north-eastern states of Nigeria. The results revealed that there was significant relationship between the variables and hence a direct consequences involved between Boko-Haram insurgency and the declining business activities in the north-eastern states of Nigeria. The paper therefore recommends that for any government to successfully win the war on terrorists insecurity and insurgency, it must first of all win the battle of development and this is to say invariably governments in the Lake Chad region are to invest greatly in the human development of its citizenry. The paper also recommends that for Nigeria to defeat Boko-Haram and tackle its consequences on people and their businesses the government in the north-eastern states need to look at people's rights and welfare and this has to remain a people oriented response.