With only $150,000 in savings, Nigeria’s leader may be the least corrupt in Africa


By the standards of sub-Saharan African leaders, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari is dirt-poor.

According to a statement released by his government, he has $150,000 in his savings account. He owns five homes and two mud houses, an orchard and ranch with 270 head of cattle, 25 sheep, five horses and a variety of birds. He has bought two cars from his savings

"President Buhari had no foreign account, no factory and no enterprises. He also had no registered company and no oil wells," reads the statement released by the spokesman, Garba Shehu, describing the president's assets as "Spartan."


The question on many minds is this: Is Buhari, Nigeria's former military ruler and ex-head of the oil ministry, telling the truth?

Corruption, after all, is a major problem in Africa's largest economy. Buhari himself has publicly said that more than $150 billion is missing from the government's coffers. Still, the public declaration appears to be an attempt to show some much-needed transparency. Buhari was elected in March largely by promising that he wouldn't tolerate corruption.

What's clear is that Buhari has done what his predecessors — and most other African leaders — have never done.




Consider these five other African leaders. They have been labeled by Forbes Magazine as the "five worst leaders in Africa."

1. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of Equatorial Guinea

He's Africa's longest-serving ruler, an autocrat who leads the tiny, oil-rich West African nation of Equatorial Guinea. Despite its vast natural wealth, the majority of its people live in deep poverty with no access to clean drinking water, proper educational or health facilities. One fifth of children die before age 5. The money has gone into the pockets of Mbasogo and his family. They own luxury properties in the United States and other countries, a private jet and a fleet of luxury cars.

2. José Eduardo dos Santos, president of Angola

He's Africa's second-longest-serving leader. Angola is the continent's second-largest oil producer, and one of the biggest suppliers of oil to the United States. It also has massive diamond deposits. Dos Santos's relatives hold key positions in his government and control a huge share of Angola's economy, amid widespread allegations of corruption. Nearly 70 percent of the population lives in dire poverty, and a third of the nation's children are malnourished.


3. Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe

He has ruled the southern African nation for a quarter-century. He was the architect of controversial policies, most notably the seizure of white-owned commercial farms. Though the country in recent years has seen an economic rebound, Mugabe remains one of the continent's most autocratic rulers. He wields nearly total control of government institutions, and his loyalists have used violence to retain control. Human rights abuses are rife, while unemployment remains among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

4. Omar Al-Bashir, president of Sudan

Bashir seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1989 and has since disbanded political parties, the nation's parliament and many privately-owned media outlets. Under his rule, civil war erupted, in which more than 1 million people were killed. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court at the Hague on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the killing and rape of civilians in Sudan's Darfur region. A U.S. diplomatic cable, leaked by Wikileaks, unveiled that Bashir may have stolen as much as $9 billion from state coffers and deposited it into his private bank accounts in Great Britain.

5. King Mswati III, king of Swaziland

He is the continent's last reigning monarch, presiding over a nation with one of the world's highest HIV rates, where average life expectancy — 33 years — is among the lowest in the world. Despite his people's suffering, the king leads a lavish life with a taste for luxury cars, first-class travel and expensive parties, even as the nation's economy is in dire straits.

atlwireles:
unfortunately Nigerians don't believe your crap.

jayfolarin:


U mean to say a few insignificant wailers don't believe

atlwireles:


I don't call almajiri wankers a majority in this country.

Mynd44:

They are minority but enough to unseat the incumbent president right?

GTFOH

omenka:
Wailer start wailing at the count of three:

1....

2....

3....

Go!!!


Haba atlwireless, I said "at the count of three" naw, you no even fit wait make I count finish before you begin dey cry.

atlwireles:
[s][/s]

Almajiri, you should be on a suicide mission today. Why are you here?

omenka:
He sounds very upset.

seunmsg:
Proudly Nigeria. So great to see that we have elected a president that is a clear departure from what is the norm in sub Sahara Africa. By the time he's completing his tenure, am very sure even the most pessimistic wailers will have no choice but to commend his administration.

dridowu:
@bolded, you are wrong on this, it has become norm for wailers to wail, so they will always wail not matter what Buhari is doing. If not pre-declaration of asset they wail , post declaration wailing continue. They claim he did not declare all his asset as if they were there when Buhari was acquiring them.
They have forgotten that an Ex-Presi "Does not give a damn" about asset declaration.

IbnSultaan:
God bless PMB

Ilekeh:
Bullshoit.

They need to stop. Just stop, okay.

They're trying to make Nigerian people complacent to administrative corruption.




For what? I'm as much of a PMB supporter as you, but we need to eat every bread the western world feeds us. Be careful of poison.

atlwireles:
unfortunately Nigerians don't believe your crap.

obo389:

stfu and open the link.
do u tink is ur local news paper?

atlwireles:

Look at this akobata Fulani

obo389:

open d link.its nt funny.maybe ur out of data .

Nonybb:
Buhari is deceiving himself. His cow miraculously jumped for 150 to 270; who is deceiving who? We will keep wailing!