This is a column by Ken Henshaw, Executive Director of We The People. WITTY THOUGHT is a brisk review of situations in Nigeria with intent to revive social consciousness.
On all counts and indicators, especially those ones he rode into power promising, this President has failed. On the economy, the man has supervised 2 recessions in 5 years, he has supervised 100% weakening of the naira over other global currencies, he has worsened unemployment, supervised Nigeria becoming the poverty capital of the world, doubled the cost of petrol, doubled the cost of electricity, returned Nigeria into foreign debts, destroyed the prospect of foreign direct investments and has doubled the price of food.
In the fight against corruption which he boasted so much about, he has also failed woefully. In the global corruption perception index by Transparency International, Nigeria is worse in terms of corruption. Corruption is endemic in the Police, civil service, customs, etc. Checkpoints that extort Nigerians have increased under his watch. The man has fixed nothing besides talking about it.
He promised to end insecurity in a matter of months; that was another lie. Under his supervision, Boko Haram has entrenched and created partnership with ISIS, they attack Nigerian soldiers and territories at will. Under his watch, another brand of terror has emerged- bandits whom he pampers and bribes. The farmer herder conflict is still with us, gaining ferocity daily, sending Nigerians into exile from their communities. Under his watch, the kidnapping of school children has become big business, occurring with alarming regularity. We thought with the outrage over the incident at Chibok, and his promises, that ugly occurrence will end, No! Now it is no longer a show of force, it is now lucrative business. Under his watch, the South South, South East, South West have all lost faith in the ability of the Commander in Chief to protect them, they have set up their own security networks. Under his watch the army and Police have committed atrocities against Nigerians everywhere. International human rights watchdogs Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported countless cases of abuses bordering on war crimes.
Under his watch Nigeria is becoming a failed state. On the latest Mo Ibrahim Index on governance in African countries, Buhari’s Nigeria is described as ‘Increasing Deterioration’, indicating a worsening problem of poor governance. Under his watch, Nigeria has become poorer with more citizens driven below the poverty line.
In terms of basic freedoms, the ratings of Nigeria have fallen sharply under the Buhari Presidency. In 2019, CIVICUS downgraded Nigeria’s civic space from obstructed to repressed, meaning that citizens basic freedoms are restricted, violated and denied.
In choosing people to appoint into offices, President Buhari prefers cronyism, ethnicity, religion and a cult of loyalty well above competence. Under his watch, Nigeria is again a terribly divided country.
This, and several more are the legacies of Buhari’s 6-year Presidency!
Does he take responsibility for these failures? Hell no! He spent his first 4-year tenure blaming the former ruling party for all his failures. He has blamed anyone but his poor governance, he has blamed young Nigerians whom he claims are lazy. He has even blamed people of the Niger Delta for not voting for him. Asked how he will fix the Niger Delta question at an international event, he ordered the audience to produce the 2015 election result!
When Transparency International reports that Nigeria is increasingly corrupt under his watch, he says the agency is run by his enemies. When Amnesty International says law enforcement units are committing abuses, the presidency accuses them of working with Biko Haram. When the Brooklyn Institute says Nigeria has overtaken India to become the poverty capital of the world, he gets angry with their data. When he is told that Boko Haram is becoming stronger, he says no, they have been ‘technically defeated’. When the National Bureau of Statistics reports that unemployment is rising, the Presidency orders them to reverse it, etc.
On all counts, this President has failed and continues to fail.
If President Buhari was a Director you hired to fix your company and grow it, and after 6 years, this was his scorecard, will you keep him or kick him out fast? So why will any right-thinking person keep President Buhari presiding over a company of 200 million Nigerians?
Again I ask, what does it take to get a president to resign or kick him out? Are we condemned to endure this level of poor governance till 2023, just so that the established template of politicians and power sharers remains unchanged? Must we?
This view is strictly mine.
NOTE: Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Ken Henshaw and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch or any other organization the author works for/with.