President of Owerri Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (OCCIMA), Everest Opara, has commended the recent South East Security Summit held in Enugu, endorsing a periodic hosting of such summit because of its far reaching importance for business communities and general development of any society.

The OCCIMA boss and the Chief Executive of Everight Diagnostic Laboratories, said that the summit coming at a time the country is faced with security challenges could not have been more timely, saying no business can thrive in the midst of insecurity.

Mr. Opara described the summit as a proactive one, stating that though there is perceived fear of the contagious effect of the state of insecurity in some parts of the country, but with the summit such fears would have been allayed.

“The truth is that the partnership with the government and its security agencies to marshal out a proactive plan with which South East will be secured from avoidable break down of security of life and property. No genuine business can thrive when safety of both the investors, service providers and the consumers are not guaranteed. I really commend the effort of the Nigerian Police with sister security agencies for taking up this as a project. I commend them,” he said.

The summit touched on various objectives: Spelling out the issues and challenges affecting security of the South East region; identifying the effect of the state of insecurity on business in the region; specifying ways through which business communities can actively participate in securing the region; defining a roadmap for setting up the South East security; and laying foundation for developing a sustainable framework for unbroken collaboration of all stakeholders in achieving a secure South East region.

While calling on the general public to be security conscious since it is everyone’s business, Mr. Opara suggested that such security meetings should not be a one-off thing. He suggested periodic meetings for a continual update on development and new direction since security issues are as dynamic as business.

Another participant, Hon. Emeka Ajih, a ICT Consultant and Public Servant, while extolling the security summit, revealed that the focus areas of intervention discussed during the summit bordered on strengthening accountability for professional standards; support for the mainstreaming of democratic policing in the Nigerian Police Force and towards safety and security issues; to raise awareness both internally and externally on the importance of effective resource allocation for the NPF; and support systems and planning process that will foster joint security actors working for the provision of election security.

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