Let set the record straight, it will be the highest injustice for anybody not to appreciate gains on Infrastructural Development across the country, supporting states governments with various financial bailouts, budget finance support, and many more policies to alleviate the suffering of citizens. No administration in the country carries out several welfarist policies like PMB’s administration. Indeed, the ruling party described itself as a “ Transformational Change Agent”, determined “to cleanse closet to halt the dangerous drift of Nigeria to a failed state.
Mr. President remains arch critics to all successive administrations in the country of wrongdoing or formulations of anti masses policies since 2002. At the inception of the administration, it has encountered excessive praise from subordinates, sycophantic and people seeking favors, control over vast resources they once didn’t have. The masses also made excessive praise that only Baba Buhari can change the unfortunate situations of the country.
In spite, Mr. President’s is incorruptible, decent and wells meaning with good intentions to the peoples and the country, but the administration missed its precious opportunity to enact critical laws in its first six months, and also frittered away without even a cabinet. When ministers are appointed, the appointees to the presumption of the citizens would have genuine reformers and technocrats by international standards are to be in the cabinet in respect of party affiliation.
Mr. President promised to be transformational leadership that would bring order and harmony in place of insecurity and tensions, to restore faith and trust in government by tackling corruption and abuse of power, and to give hope to ordinary Nigerians by running a successful economy, reducing poverty and increasing prosperity. It really disheartened the administration not meeting the expectations of the voters,
These promises has raised the hopes of Nigerians unfortunately the hope not being seeing in spite citizens’ goodwill the masses are voicing their anger bitterly against administration as the peoples are languishing in extreme hardship. no one will believed, one day, poor masses would fed up with “Sai baba” to Kai Baba.”
How the country and the citizens arrived at this current situation? Let dissecting three critical planks of the administration, economic, insecurity and corruption.
Economic Decline: It is under the administration Nigeria entered into second recession in 2016, the first in 30 years. Nigeria again slipped into its second recession in five years and its worst economic decline in years. Since 2015, economic growth is too low to lift the bottom half of the population are below the poverty line. The country became a debtor nation relying on loans to execute infrastructural projects. The administration has consistently assured that it is working hard to grow the nation’s economy each passing days Nigerians seeing scary escalating Nigeria debt profile.
The administration using 50% of its revenue to service its debts! this is unsustainable. This is just part of an economic malaise that has consigned millions of Nigerians to “Multidimensional Poverty” even as a few ones continue to enjoy the nation’s wealth. in addition of administration failure to intensifying efforts in diversifying the nation’s economy is not being achieve had been untapped nation’s mineral resources utilize will strengthens the value of the Naira and boast external revenue.
The administration pledged to create enabling environment for Foreign direct investment into the country, Mr President embarked on countless foreign missions seeking investors but even those that operate in the country are moving to the neighboring countries. The Foreign direct investment into Nigeria has slumps to its lowest in 11 years as the last time Nigeria recorded lower FDIs, was in Q1 2010.
During, the inauguration of the Boro Port, Mr. President have expressed his deep personal attachment to the project, since his time as chairman of the defunct Petroleum Special Task Force (PTF). One year after the commissioned the project is fast losing its prospects and becoming a shadow of it like many abandoned projects across the country. Even stakeholders have expressed worries over the inability of the Federal Government to put the port to use, more than a year after its commissioning and still Baro Port not operational.
On Corruption, no one dispute Buhari’s reputation of being an “incorruptible man” of unimpeachable character. At the inception of the administration Nigerians anticipated that President would work of National Assembly to removed immunity clause from the constitution because the constitutional conferment bar civil or criminal proceedings should be instituted against them while in office. This constitution provision remain one of the challenges of curbing financial infractions and corruption in governance.
Nigerians expected that the administration would forward Executive Bill to the National Assembly for the creation of special courts with jurisdictions for trial and Prosecution of corrupt persons and economic saboteurs. Lack of this special courts not speed up prosecution processes. Though, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation has said no successive adminstration in the past had ever successfully prosecuted as well as securing convictions in number of high profile cases like the current Administration.
Regrettably, it is under the watch of our incorruptible Baba that Nigeria has dropped on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index ranking. We have seen in South Africa and South Korea the Office of Public Prosecutor are independent and powerful that can investigate president even while still in office but in Nigeria Despite the proclaimed war on corruption, but the crusade far from achieving.
On Security Challenges, at the beginning of the administration Nigeria troops has made the giant stride for technically defeated Boko Haram. It is recommended that Nigerian troops foils BH attack on Barno , Yobe and others states. The security agencies curtains number of Boko Haram Improvised Explosive Device Bomb has drastically reduced to attacked large areas but only occurs on soft targets areas. BH and other terrorist organizations has been pushed out, and now cornered in lake Chad.
Unfortunately, the country has now facing insecurity in North Central and North West and another part of the country as terrorists Fulani bandits, and kidnappers have overrun the areas.
The audacity of these terrorists has reached an unfortunate and unpardonable level that kidnappers negotiate terms of release with kidnapped victims’ loved ones. Paying ransom has become the most lucrative business, there are stories that even the military and paramilitary forces pay for their kidnapped members to be released.
They collect taxes from farmers before the locals can till their farms. They also pay before they can harvest from their farms. Well, true or false, bandits who raid wherever they want and kidnap whoever they wish are now a government. They walk around carrying AK-47 rifles displaying their arsenal ranging from light to heavy hardware on social platforms especially Facebook.
As part of these terrorists, carried out violent attacks targeting commuters traveling on highways villagers and kidnapped hundreds of school children for ransom in the country. The country witnessed a new heartless act of terror committed as more than 30 passengers in Sokoto state were burnt to death. Despite government efforts to tackle the menace these bandits have continued to devise means to survive and exert their authority on communities.
Therefore, the president needs to make a difference in dealing with an unpatriotic individual that has a free day almost everyone does as he wishes because Buhari’s fear factor has gone. Let regain your status for being a retired General, and War Veteran at others time of being celebrated as the General Commanding Officer, in 1980, shows great courage to drive out Chadian soldiers who had annexed Nigerian islands in Lake Chad. Let Mr. President act like Ethiopian Prime Minister for leading troops in the fight against a rebel in the north of the country. Abiy was not a trained but a child soldier, while Baba was a trained, soldier.
Truth is that the administration has 18th months to make things bet r as he needs to make them for the sake of himself and the generations after him. It is not the best moment in the country’s history, for the President and those who love him indeed are worried. These remaining months left to end your final term in office are critical to the citizens. Hope for citizens seems slimiest with unveiled plans by the government to raise more taxes in 2022 amidst hardship in preference to more borrowing to finance the federal budget.
Let us pray for Allah to guide baba and open his heart to understand the suffering people are going through. We bow before Allah to forgive us, help us in our trying moment as people and the country at large to pass this trial. Wishing him Allah’s guidance to regain his personality in the eyes of Nigerians that keep asking whether is the same man of reliability we saw in Baba Buhari some years back because what citizens and the country have gone through is unimaginable.
Dukawa writes in from Kano.
