* On streets, Nigerians retain faith in former dictator

* Buhari makes faltering progress against Boko Haram

* Takes on big Nigerian institutions

LAGOS, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Nigerian beautician Rasheedat Lawal has seen sales at her cosmetics salon plunge since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power but she still thinks the 72-year-old former dictator is the right person to fix Africa's largest economy.

The ascetic, sandal-wearing general's first four months in power have coincided with a renewed slide in global oil prices, which has slowed economic growth in Africa's top crude producer and weakened the naira currency.

For Lawal that means a 20 percent price hike for the imported makeup and other beauty products at her small Lagos salon - an increase most of her customers cannot afford.

Yet after five years of ineffective and corrupt government under former President Goodluck Jonathan, she is pinning her hopes on Buhari's pledge to end the corruption that has kept Nigeria's oil wealth in the hands of a tiny, hyper-rich elite.

"You need to give Buhari some time," said Lawal, standing in a salon almost devoid of customers. "We want changes. We don't want to continue what was left behind by Jonathan."

Buhari made history in March by becoming the first candidate to defeat an incumbent at the polls. Improving security in a country where violence has torn both north and south was one of his key pledges, but since he took over as president on May 29, it has been two steps forward and one step back.

On the plus side, the oil-rich and volatile southern Niger Delta, the back yard of Jonathan, a Christian like most of the Delta population, has stayed calm since the accession of Buhari, who hails from the predominantly Muslim north.

The same cannot be said of the bloody Islamist insurgency in the northeast led by Boko Haram that Buhari vowed to crush.

Since he took over, the group has killed at least 900 people and efforts to find some of the 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in the town of Chibok more than a year ago have come to nought.

However, the army, backed by troops from neighbouring states, has continued a steady recapture of territory from the militants, who have killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million in their six year quest to establish a mediaeval caliphate on the edge of the Sahara.

The military achievement, highlighted in state media, appears to have made people across the country feel more secure.

Metus Maduka is from the Delta like former president Jonathan and, like many Nigerians, voted along religious and regional lines.

"I had voted for Jonathan because I wanted to support my brother but now I think Buhari is good for us," said the 26-year-old, speaking on a central Lagos street where he sells cheap jeans.

"He is trying to fix corruption, and security is better now."

SECOND TIME LUCKY?

Buhari first came to power in a 1983 coup, and quickly set about "fixing" a country saddled with corruption and inequality via an eclectic mix of economic nationalism and military autocracy.

Neither approach yielded any results in the 18 months before he was ousted in another putsch.

His expulsion of thousands of Ghanaian migrant workers to try to free up jobs for Nigerians hit the economy, and the jailing of opponents and deployment of soldiers armed with whips to ensure orderly queues at bus stops met widespread criticism.

Three decades later, half of Nigeria's 180 million people still live in poverty and life expectancy is just 52, according to the World Bank.

In the interim, he has declared himself a convert to democracy, losing and conceding three elections, but has failed to appoint a cabinet after four months in office, to the frustration of investors and big business.

The cabinet could be announced this week, political sources say, and Buhari has already taken aim at some of Nigeria's biggest institutions, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the state energy firm accused of losing $20 billion dollars in Jonathan's time - a charge it denies.

Some senior officials are also feeling the judicial heat, most prominently Senate President Bukola Saraki who pleaded not guilty in court this month to charges of falsification in declaring his assets.

Critics say corruption is still deeply entrenched in Nigeria, but Buhari's plans to tackle graft have gone down well on the streets.

"Buhari is scaring the corrupt people. You notice a difference now," said Adeloa Olabode, who runs a one-room textile shop in Lagos' sprawling Balogun market.

She and others are even starting to think the unthinkable - that since Buhari took over the power supply in Lagos, a sprawling megacity of 21 million people inured to blackouts and the thrum of diesel generators, is getting better.

"We use the generator much less," said Olabode. "I used to pay up to 16,000 naira for diesel every month. But not any more." (Editing by Ed Cropley and Philippa Fletcher)

http://www.trust.org/item/20150929114909-4lfgu/

Lalasticlala

l

Balanced reportage.

I'm sure some people will find reasons from the article to kiss the president's ass while others will find reasons to sling mud at him. For some others, they will find reasons to either praise or vilify our "Hero".

The country has never been so divided and polarized like now. Enough of the division already. Blind loyalty makes us hateful and iirrational.

As in eh! I de tell u..
Benefit of doubt no be small.

Yes except for the wailing sailers who are just sore losers

"I had voted for Jonathan because I wanted to support my brother but now I think Buhari is good for us," said the 26-year-old, speaking on a central Lagos street where he sells cheap jeans.

Hmmm..

midolian:
Hmmm..

I bet when that 26 year old dude goes home today, there is a 70% chance of him sleeping with light.

But during his brother's administration, that one na ghen ghen!. "Better thing no dey hide".

joseph1832:
I bet when that 26 year old dude goes home today, there is a 70% chance of him sleeping with light.

But during his brother's administration, that one na ghen ghen!. "Better thing no dey hide".

True that bro! I love the fact that the guy didn't lie. He said the truth..and I can say without a doubt that he spoke the mind of many wailers

Bevista:
Balanced reportage.

That is Reuters for you.

midolian:
True that bro! I love the fact that the guy didn't lie. He said the truth..and I can say without a doubt that he spoke the mind of many wailers

Well I wouldn't be so sure about that, most wailers wail because they're bitter because their so called hero failed and he was sent packing out of Aso Rock.

A man who is bitter doesn't care much about the truth, he concerns himself with spreading his bitterness and bile and consuming himself or herself.

ECOTERRORS proved the above when she allowed her bile and bitterness overshadow her when she vehemently told me how she hates me!.

Its such a pity!. I guess that's why they say, "truth is bitter'.

joseph1832:
Well I wouldn't be so sure about that, most wailers wail because they're bitter because their so called hero failed and he was sent packing out of Aso Rock.

A man who is bitter doesn't care much about the truth, he concerns himself with spreading his bitterness and bile and consuming himself or herself.

ECOTERRORS proved the above when she allowed her bile and bitterness overshadow her when she vehemently told me how she hates me!.

Its such a pity!. I guess that's why they say, "truth is bitter'.

E-terrorist can't get over that defeat.

True..but I mean, deep within, many wailers have the same feeling as the 26yr old who said Buhari is good for us. Its just too obvious.

joseph1832:
Well I wouldn't be so sure about that, most wailers wail because they're bitter because their so called hero failed and he was sent packing out of Aso Rock.

A man who is bitter doesn't care much about the truth, he concerns himself with spreading his bitterness and bile and consuming himself or herself.

ECOTERRORS proved the above when she allowed her bile and bitterness overshadow her when she vehemently told me how she hates me!.

Its such a pity!. I guess that's why they say, "truth is bitter'.

I took a sabbatical because of perennial nuisance like you but your stupidity will not allow my name to leave your mouth.



Onye ara

midolian:
E-terrorist can't get over that defeat.

True..but I mean, deep within, many wailers have the same feeling as the 26yr old who said Buhari is good for us. Its just too obvious.

I ll sponsor your next hajj trip for the Stone throwing, maybe Saudi Arabia will do that thing which I can't get my hands to do to you.



See you in next hajj but where is my MEAT

72 year old dictator.. International investors will not like to hear this...

Anybody close to the National Legislooters should warn them the Buhari they danced around with pre-elections is not the same Buhari most common people are building now. He towers like a rock of Gilberata across the rivers of Niger and Benue but his benign image is steadily permeating the cynical forest of the South.

On a daily basis, in-spite of all mud-slinging by oppositions, young people who had, hitherto, resented Buhari are becoming approving of his styles and list.

Most commoners that voted against him, especially in the Southern part of Nigeria, are beginning to praise him and his steps so far. If Buhari continues with his demotic policies a time will come when his words may just become laws. If he asked us to go remove the NASS we wont even think twice before destroying the N190 Billion naira per year drainage.

ECOTERRORS:
I ll sponsor your next hajj trip for the Stone throwing, maybe Saudi Arabia will do that thing which I can't get my hands to do to you.



See you in next hajj but where is my MEAT

Oh! So you still want meat from me after the emboldened?

Don't worry ehn! You ll get it

midolian:
Oh! So you still want meat from me after the emboldened?

Don't worry ehn! You ll get it

Our enimity doesn't stop you from sharing meat to ur *friend*

FreeGlobe:
72 year old dictator.. International investors will not like to hear this...

Hmm!! Yet they keep meeting with him

ECOTERRORS:
I took a sabbatical because of perennial nuisance like you but your stupidity will not allow my name to leave your mouth.



Onye ara

I see you're still bitter. Please don't allow bile to choke you, its not good for your health.

Midolian, you see what I'm saying. Her bitterness still blinds her from seeing the truth.

joseph1832:
I see you're still bitter. Please don't allow bile to choke you, its not good for your health.

Midolian, you see what I'm saying. Her bitterness still blinds her from seeing the truth.

midolian:

Its funny indeed, imagine ECOTERRORS asking you for sallah meat, as if she doesn't know the road to the market.

Imagine she's using the guise of *friend* to ask for sallah meat, if you use that same guise to ask say for punny now she go dey complain, but if na FFK, she go run give am because the guy sabi slay igbo punny wella. LMAO.

ECOTERRORS:
Our enimity doesn't stop you from sharing meat to ur *friend*

Neither does it stop you from sharing your kpomo to your *friend*