President Muhammadu Buhari came to power
promising Nigerians "change". Novelist and
writer Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani gives five
examples of what has changed in Nigeria
since 29 May 2015 when he was sworn in.


1. Are we safer?
Those of us who travel regularly in
Nigeria's north-east had become used to
what should be a 15-minute journey turning
into an hour-long ordeal.
You had to stop dozens of times at
roadblocks and disembark, while heavily
armed soldiers inspected your vehicle for
traces of the Islamist militant group, Boko
Haram.
Today, the number of checkpoints has fallen
significantly - even on the road to Chibok -
thanks to enhanced confidence in the
security of the entire region.
The army has regained swathes of territory
that the Islamist militants had occupied as
part of their so-called caliphate.
Boko Haram has been considerably
weakened, resigned to attacking soft
targets using suicide bombers.
Thousands of women and girls kidnapped by
the group have also been rescued, including
one of the 219 schoolgirls from Chibok
abducted in April 2014.
But while there is progress in the north-
east, trouble in the Niger Delta, the
country's oil-producing region, is
resurfacing.
Recent attacks on oil facilities have caused
a drop in production and helped push up the
global price of crude oil.
On patrol with Nigerian soldiers


2. Where's my money?
In the months preceding last year's
elections, the popular chant on the streets
was "Sai Buhari, Sai Buhari", which means
"Only Buhari" in Hausa - the most widely-
spoken language in the north where the
president originates.
"Sai Buhari" became an almost magical
greeting, capable of earning you a discount
from the sweaty chap pushing a
wheelbarrow of tiger nuts or sugar cane.
It could even elicit a smile followed by
permission to move along, from the
miscellaneous airport officials who usually
ensure that your passage through Nigerian
customs and immigration is fraught with
agonising delays.
A year later, the chant has changed to
"Buhariya", which roughly translates to
"Buhari's way" or "Buhari's time".
The slogan is now used to explain every
unpleasant evidence of Nigeria's troubled
economy and a time of austerity.


Q: "A basket of tomatoes has gone up from
3,000 naira ($15) to 18,000 naira?"

A: It's "Buhariya!"

Q: "How come the naira is plummeting
against the dollar on the black market?"

A: It's "Buhariya!"


3. Where's our money?
This time last year, friendship with Sambo
Dasuki, the former national security
adviser, could have altered your economic
circumstances forever.
He would have been besieged with invitation
cards to be the chief guest at various
events.
When he entered a room, almost everyone
would stand in respect.
Today, he sits in an Abuja jail, awaiting trial
for the alleged mismanagement of billions
of dollars meant for the war against Boko
Haram - charges he denies.
Several other big men, previous
untouchables, such as former service chiefs,
top politicians and government officials,
are also sitting in jail awaiting corruption
trials, or out on bail.
And, if you're looking for a second-hand
luxury car to buy, now may be the time.
A number of people formerly linked to the
government are desperate for cash and
selling off their fleets.
It would seem as though the leaking taps
that gushed dollars to be spent carelessly
have stopped flowing since President Buhari
came to power.
Buhari's battle to clean up the oil industry


4. Where are the women?
Ensuring women's participation at all levels
in political, economic and public life is one
of the targets of the UN's sustainable
development goals (SDGs).
But oly six out of Mr Buhari's cabinet of
37 are women, a meagre 16% and way down
on the previous administration's 31%.

Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani:
"The president's wife, Aisha... appears as
the stereotypical good African wife."
The president's wife, Aisha, is also the most
silent first lady Nigeria has had in decades,
barely seen or heard - except maybe when
she is visiting unkempt children in a
refugee camp or donating food items to
victims of Boko Haram.
She appears as the
stereotypical good African wife.
Her invisibility is suspicious when you
consider that President Buhari, during his
election campaign, said he would abolish the
office of the first lady - but then
retracted the suggestion when challenged
by feminist voters.


5. What are we wearing?
In Abuja the government in power
influences the style of dress throughout
the administration.
Staff of the government, friends of the
government and aspiring friends of the
government all aim to dress like the person
at the top.

Northerners ruled Nigeria for most of the
country's first three decades after
independence from the UK in 1960.
Over time, their traditional outfits,
babarigas (flowing gowns) and kaftans,
became firmly entrenched - even when a
non-northerner was elected in 1999.
Olusegun Obasanjo is an ethnic Yoruba from
the south but throughout his eight-year
presidential tenure, he mostly wore
babarigas.
Cartoons depicting a typical Nigerian "big
man" will usually feature him dressed in
the flowing robes, his potbelly distorting
the layers of cloth.

All this changed in 2011, with the election
of Goodluck Jonathan.
He was Nigeria's first president from one
of the country's smaller ethnic groups, and
also the first from the oil-producing Niger
Delta, in the south.
Mr Jonathan preferred the long shirt and
trouser outfit that is traditional among his
Ijaw community.
Suddenly, the babariga was nowhere to be
seen.
Government offices and hotel lobbies began
to feature an inordinate number of men
dressed in the presidential style of the
time.

Some even went as far as the fedora hats
and walking sticks that go with the outfit.
Eventually, the style gained its own special
nickname - "resource control" - in
reference to the fact that most people who
wore it seemed to be the ones controlling
Nigeria's oil resources.
Indeed, it seemed to be the preferred
outfit of many of Nigeria's newest
millionaires.


Not any more. Within a year of Mr Buhari,
"resource control" outfits have almost
completely vanished from view. The
babariga is back.
Beyond these five areas, there are many
more profound changes that Nigerians are
expecting from our government, but those
will take time.


The structure of corruption and
mismanagement which previous governments
left behind must first be dismantled before
a new foundation of progress can be laid.
And President Buhari is no modern-day
Hercules.
Cleaning Nigeria's equivalent of the
fantastically filthy Augean stables of
Greek myth is certainly not a one-year job.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36384237?SThisFB

Kool

seven WAYS NIGERIA change for the worst. no electricity, no jobs, non payments of civil servents, no peace, no security, rise in cultism and armed robbery.

We can still join hands to make it better.