Nigeria’s president was elected a year ago promising to tackle Boko Haram, corruption and a struggling economy. But real results have yet to materialise.

A year ago today Muhammadu Buhari was elected president of Nigeria, sparking street celebrations and jubilation from many of his countrymen. They saw in the tough-talking former general a leader capable of steering Africa’s most populous nation towards its much-vaunted potential.

Buhari, though a military dictator from 1983-85, enjoyed a reputation for integrity, incorruptibility and doggedness. So when he vowed to wage war on Nigeria’s mind-boggling corruption, many believed him. His military experience and no-nonsense demeanour lent credibility to his pledge to “crush” Boko Haram, the homegrown jihadi insurgent group that controlled significant chunks of Nigerian territory at the time of his election and was responsible for thousands of deaths.

Many Nigerians also believed Buhari would revive the country’s economy, which was reeling from the effects of a slump in the price of oil, Nigeria’s major export. A year later, does all the optimism surrounding Buhari’s victory seem justified?

Buhari can claim some success regarding Boko Haram. Nigeria’s military has been progressively pushing the jihadis from territories they once controlled, forcing them on the defensive. However, he has by no means “crushed” Boko Haram, which still maintains the capability to launch attacks on soft targets such as this month’s suicide bombing in a mosque, which killed 22 people. Women and children are still regularly being abducted by the group. The war against Boko Haram is therefore far from over, but Buhari deserves a B- for significantly weakening them in his time as commander-in-chief.

His anti-corruption efforts have led to the trial of Nigeria’s former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki, who denies having diverted over $2bn that was earmarked for fighting Boko Haram during the previous administration of Goodluck Jonathan. Several prominent figures have been linked to the case and face prosecution. Numerous investigations into other financial scandals have been opened. Buhari has also taken steps to clean house at the state-run oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, a nest of corruption. Nigeria’s auditor general recently revealed that $16bn of oil revenue went missing in 2014 alone.

Buhari inherited an economy battered by weak oil prices, but his policies have made a bad situation worse
But for all the hoopla, Buhari’s anti-graft war has yet to yield any convictions. In fact, there is growing fear that with the help of clever lawyers, poorly prepared prosecution cases and potentially buyable judges, the culprits might ultimately go free or receive light prison sentences.

Additionally, critics accuse Buhari of being selective in fighting corruption, saying he targets politicians linked to the former government, while giving a pass to senior figures from his own party, the APC, which rarely has clean hands. This criticism is valid and underscores just how deep the rot is in Nigerian politics. Where practically everyone is, or has, been on the take, the prosecution of some and not others can always be viewed as a political witchhunt.

A recent scandal further diminished Buhari’s anti-graft credentials. The Nigerian president signed off a national budget loaded with dozens of questionable expenditures and some blatantly inflated figures. After a public outcry, Buhari admitted the incident was “embarrassing” and vowed to punish the officials who “padded” the budget, claiming ignorance of the controversial expenditures.

This suggests he is either not on top of things, or is willing to turn a blind eye to these problems in his own administration. Either way, it reflects poorly on his leadership. The Nigerian president thus gets an overall C for his anti-corruption efforts so far.

Buhari’s economic record is also wanting. It is true he inherited an economy battered by weak oil prices, but his policies have made a bad situation worse. He has been overly statist and interventionist, reacting to downward pressures on Nigeria’s currency, the naira, by imposing draconian foreign currency controls. His government has also banned the importation of dozens of items, from frozen chicken to ballpoint pens. This was supposed to encourage domestic production but the result so far has been soaring food prices, companies laying off workers as they suffer shortages of raw materials, rising inflation and GDP growth slowing to 2.1%.

Growing unemployment is particularly dangerous in a country that is experiencing a population boom and is projected to have over 206 million people by 2020, with 63% of the population under the age of 24. Buhari’s dogged character – a selling point in his presidential campaign – is now proving an impediment regarding the economy as he stubbornly refuses to adjust his policies to reality. Nigeria’s president gets an F for his economic performance so far.

Buhari still remains popular with many Nigerians, but his approval rating has dropped from 77% last August to 57% this February, reflecting the growing economic frustration. I was one of those who celebrated Buhari’s election last year. I still believe he is a genuine patriot who has the best of intentions for Nigeria. But good intentions don’t guarantee good policy.

Unfortunately, it is all too easy for Nigerian presidents to get disconnected from reality as they are usually surrounded by[b] careerist sycophants[/b] who tell them their every idea is a stroke of pure genius. It seems increasingly clear that Buhari doesn’t have any clever answers to Nigeria’s current economic problems and it would thus be wise of him to seek advice from those who might have alternative solutions.

The wellbeing of Nigerians must be Buhari’s priority, not the satisfaction of his ideological instincts. He must be open-minded and act fast to kick-start the Nigerian economy. If not, the same crowds who celebrated his victory last year will cheer his loss at the next presidential elections in 2019 – me included.

Lalasticlala!!! Presido must deliver, APC must deliver, Change must be delivered.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/28/muhammadu-buhari-nigeria-problems-boko-haram-corruption

The president always TALKS, he does not ACT!

Yes o mr president and APC must deliver.

God bless Nigeria.

AAlozie:
The president always TALKS, he does not ACT!

lol. No too vex sir,things will get better for sure.

buhari didnt talk much because he was a disaster when it came to campaign in the non hausa speaking South


Osunbade the short ...... Was the real deceiver with his mouth watering campaign promises that madeApc look like Eldorado


Enjoy your chains biko

Buhari inherited an economy battered by weak oil prices, but his policies have made a bad situation worse
But for all the hoopla, Buhari’s anti-graft war has yet to yield any convictions. In fact, there is growing fear that with the help of clever lawyers, poorly prepared prosecution cases and potentially buyable judges, the culprits might ultimately go free or receive light prison sentences.

All the baboons problems today were self inflicted even the Whiteman can see the hypocrisy of Mr baboon. Media trials with no convictions! Penetrating mind have already seen small Peniis in HD.

He has at least FOUR YEARS to prove himself. He's just done ONE.

#Patience.

Ecoterrorist:
buhari didnt talk much because he was a disaster when it came to campaign in the non hausa speaking South


Osunbade the short ...... Was the real deceiver with his mouth watering campaign promises that madeApc look like Eldorado


Enjoy your chains biko

Say no to scam, say no to Nepa certificate holder.

Promises were made

Promises are being kept

Let Everybody has a part to play


Together let's end corruption

If you pay bribe to any institution when you are searching for work report it

Common police that stops you and takes money , report him or her

Petrol station not selling regular price report it

Be the Change you desire


The basic problem Nigeria has is corruption , Let's fight it together

Progressive01:
He has at least FOUR YEARS to prove himself. He's just done ONE.

#Patience.

Let's be fair with him.

DaBullIT:
Promises were made

Promises are being kept

Let Everybody has a part to play


Together let's end corruption

If you pay bribe to any institution when you are searching for work report it

Common police that stops you and takes money , report him or her

Petrol station not selling regular price report it

Be the Change you desire


The basic problem Nigeria has is corruption , Let's fight it together

We are even more corrupt than the leadership.

I agree with you. If we all desire positive changes, we also must change. We've got a huge part to play in this game of progress.

dearpreye:

Let's be fair with him.

Good morning Dearpreye, how've you been??

The writer must be from PDP

edoyad:
The writer must be from PDP

Hehehe of course only PDP members are suffering.

Progressive01:
Good morning Dearpreye, how've you been??

Good morning, my able comrade.

I'm doing just fine.

Hope you're good , too?

edoyad:
The writer must be from PDP

IPod yoots.

Who still listens to Buhari when he talks?

Anyway, I no read o, no time for poo

DaBullIT:
Promises were made

Promises are being kept

Let Everybody has a part to play


Together let's end corruption

If you pay bribe to any institution when you are searching for work report it

Common police that stops you and takes money , report him or her

Petrol station not selling regular price report it

Be the Change you desire


The basic problem Nigeria has is corruption , Let's fight it together

The question is what action are the leaders going to take when they discover this fraud.

dearpreye:


Good morning, my able comrade.

I'm doing just fine.

Hope you're good , too?

Yeah, got two days off my desk. Rumours my alma mater wants to increase the cost of collecting one's cert from 6k to 30k as from friday. Good money (60k) for six weeks of fuel oo!!

Not so disposed to parting with such an amount, so I sought permission and took off. Got an undergrad and PG certs with them. That's a whooping 60 big ones! They should go get the money elsewhere.

Progressive01:
Yeah, got two days off my desk. Rumours my alma mater wants to increase the cost of collecting one's cert from 6k to 30k as from friday. Good money (60k) for six weeks of fuel oo!!

Not so disposed to parting with such an amount, so I sought permission and took off. Got an undergrad and PG certs with them. That's a whooping 60 big ones! They should go get the money elsewhere.

Not funny at all. These are times that call for swift means of avoiding unnecessary wastes and losses.

They should get their money somewhere else. Hahaha.

Buhari can only get it right if he drops his vindictive stance on ruling.

[quote author=Progressive01 post=44270703]He has at least FOUR YEARS to prove himself. He's just done ONE.

#Patience.[/quote its 2years n 363 days and d days r counting. Maybe when he start campaigning for 2019 election that is when he will start working. Patience ko patience ni

Lalasticlala, obinoscopy, "Olajumoke" says that I should tell you that, Buhari must deliver!!!"
Mods please give this a wider read, thank you.

The dulllard was just a noise maker!

Chai! Buhari, abeg shame your critics for one. You can do it. I know you can do it. Start by providing uninterrupted power supply

make i book flight

Now I believe in d high sense of professionalism among foreign media cos they even appear to understand our problems more than us. Everything written in this piece is just d truth. Even d much hyped anti corruption fight cos of its selective template cud garner only a 'C'. Boko haram a 'B' whereas d economy scored capital 'F9'. Common registers used here like 'witch hunt', "selective prosecutions ",'budget padding ' 'sycophancy 'etc are what d zombies ll always ascribe to Ipob touts or wailers. Now dat even d Guardian UK is also wailing may be d writer was paid by Nnamdi Kalu or d PDP

i THINK THE BIGGEST question is are we allowing the current leader to do his job ??

When metuah , and others were arrested , when EFCC mentioned alams and other people , people started singing selective prosecution


Has any hausa man staged protest for Dasuki ? I seem to remember women, boys, men crying for metuah

In reality , as i said earlier the masses are the ones giving these people freehand and we are the ones suffering from it

slimfit1:


The question is what action are the leaders going to take when they discover this fraud.

lalasticlala

Mods I think this thread is still relevant today as it was on the day of post. All the issues mentioned haven't been resolved.

Cc: lalasticlala
Mynd44
OAM4J
Obinoscopy

Yes. Time for action, not talk.