https://nextedition.com.ng/2019/01/18/special-features-looking-at-2018-through-the-eyes-of-others/

The year 2018 is gone and 2019 is already on the clock.

At the end of each year, it is natural to reflect, to take stock of achievements and short comings of the year ended.

In doing so, one is able identify areas of strength and weakness and make amends.

Sometimes too, a second opinion helps in the reflection.

As it is with an individual, so it is also with organisations and governments. A review is always necessary to make progress.

As Nigerians prepare to go the polls in a general election to choose leaders who will steer the ship of the nation at least for the next four years, The Next Edition, spoke to a few people on how the government at the national level fared in their estimation.

Mr. Tive Denedo, a Media Content Creator, described it as a mixed bag. “On one hand many of the briefcase contractors have disappeared but we also achieved the unenviable position of being the poverty capital of the world. There are heavier fires of insurgency, self determination and herdsmen/ farmers clashes in many fronts. All these heightened insecurity to a new all high level. The disappearance of briefcase contractors is both positive and negative.

“There are also allegations of massive corruption in a government that swore to fight corruption. This can be seen in the defection of politicians who are supposed to be prosecuted for corruption to the ruling party. The government's pet project was anti-corruption and it should have made the campaign as inclusive as possible rather than personalising it.

“There has been no form of transparency in the said fight against corruption. Government isolated the judiciary and the legislature in the attempt to reduce the incidents of corruption. Their credibility was eroded as it appears that any politician who agrees with the ruling party has his corruption sins forgiven. It reduced significantly, the goodwill upon which this government rode to power.”

According to Mr. Denedo, the government also had no answer to the hunger ravaging the land even as it seemed to be at war with everyone except the members of the ruling party.

He spoke further: “There is trouble with trade unions. Education and businesses are at a standstill and the resort to the blame game is a demonstration of either inefficiency or incompetence or both. On the political front, Nigerians are worried over the choices they were presented by the two political parties as their flag bearers.

“In percentage I cannot score the government’s performance up to 25 percent.”

Mr. Tompra Abarowei, a Media Consultant, assessed the government thus: “It was a mixed bag of fortunes for Nigeria in 2018 as the country experienced its worst year in recent decades. The foreign exchange though stable in the last one year, hovered around N340 to the dollar. The foreign reserve ended the year with about $450b according to the CBN, thanks partly to increase in crude oil production which peaked at about 2.15mb/d in the closing days of 2018.

“Federally collected Revenue in the year was very impressive. The FIRS reported an increase of over 40% in tax collection with the sum of N4.3trillion while the Customs recorded N1.2trillion respectively.

“The impact of these positives from the economic perspective would have been applauded if they translated to better living standards on the populace. But alas the GDP is still low compared to that of many other African countries. Yes, we did not experience the legendary annual fuel shortage last year, thanks to the huge subsidy that the government had to pay for the importation of petroleum products into the country.

“Despite the huge revenue recorded in the year, however, the Nigerian economy continued to stutter. The federal government complained about revenue shortfall to fund the 2018 budget, a situation which many economic analysts failed to understand. Some do not agree with the figures bandied by the government.

“Infrastructural development which the government touted is yet to impact on the society even when we hear the government’s claim in that regard. Power has remained in the 4000 and 5000mega watts range.

“Foreign direct investment continued to drop with the attendant job losses. Our capital market remained stagnant. GDP remained low for the largest black population in the world with a population of over 200 million people.

“In the security front the country experienced countless, avoidable deaths in 2018. The killings affected both civilians and the military and were occasioned by the determination of insurgents to concentrate their attacks on the armed forces. Suspected Fulani herders/militants and cattle rustlers also continued to burn, maim and kill people in their hundreds without let or hindrance.

“The security forces also had their hands full with incidents of kidnappings, cult killings and outright abductions. No one knows when the dwindling security will abate for the elections to go on especially in the North East.

“And on the political front a rash of political activities played out in 2018 with politicians flexing their popularity muscles. The year witnessed a lot of realignments as we approached the crunch general election of 2019. The two political heavyweights, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, chose their Presidential candidates setting the stage for the mother of all electoral contests between incumbent President Mohammadu Buhari and former ally the Waziri of Adamawa and former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.”

Mr. Alex Ekemenah, Editor of NextMoney Magazine, said in the area of securing lives and properties of Nigerians, the government failed.

His words: “My greatest concern in 2018 was the needless loss of lives and properties across the country especially through Boko Haram insurgency in the North eastern part of the country; the insurgency of Fulani herdsmen across the length and breadth of the country and other forms of low-level militias and criminal activities. There were too many killings in the country with Government never able to do anything, whereas the primary responsibility of Government is protection of lives and properties. Throughout 2018, Government was never able to stop the bloodletting – even in some cases it escalated the state of insecurity by inflammatory remarks by certain government officials.