Editorial: Buhari Administration’s Mid-term

Monday this week, Nigerians celebrated the second anniversary – the mid-term – of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. Nigerians, as would be expected, have continued to offer their assessments of the administration, not just against the backdrop of promises it made to Nigerians prior to its coming into office, but also against the challenges that the country has had to face in the last two years of the administration.

It is of course natural that the Buhari administration would want to beat its chest about not doing badly, given the circumstances it found itself. However, Nigerians in general terms, would appear to have resolved that the country remains ailing – on all fronts. From the security sector where the North-east remains a seething cauldron and the activities of the murderous Fulani herdsmen have reduced vast swathes of the republic to a killing field; the economy which, despite the valiant efforts to get it out of the current recession, has remained largely unyielding to the broad range of stimuli pumped in by the federal government; or the anti-corruption war that continues to be bogged down by the same traditional strictures of process; the indices are such that leave little to cheer.

Be that as it may, it seems now, fairly easy to forget where we were two years ago. We refer here to the grave crises the administration inherited after 16 inglorious years of PDP administration – the reason Nigerians voted so resoundingly for change.

Take for instance, the war against the Boko Haram in the North-east, we were witnesses to how the once proud Nigerian Army was forced to endure the daily humiliation of Boko Haram with their superior fire-power – the consequence of the billions voted to fight the war ending up in the private bank accounts of some brass hats, something that former President Obasanjo would capture to succinctly to wit: “Jonathan and his people turned Boko Haram into an industry for making money… Boko Haram became an ATM machine for taking money out of the treasury”.

As for the economy, if preceding PDP administrations since 1999 failed to transit the economy from an oil-based to an industrial one – an economy less prone to cyclic shocks – the immediate past administration would present a classic study in wanton profligacy and cluelessness.

A few of the bazaar that went on under the Jonathan administration is worth recalling. First is the industrial-scale heist under which a nation with a modern Navy was reported as losing 20 per cent of its daily oil production to thieves. Add to this, the countless deals under which the administration alienated some of the nation’s choices oil blocks to its cronies under some dubious ‘strategic’ partnership; and then the inexplicable build up in debts at a time of unprecedented oil earnings – under the dubious but ingenious claim that the country was under-borrowed even when there was nothing to show for the massive borrowing; the result could not have been anything other than the broken system that the administration inherited.

All of these – long before the dip in global oil prices which merely came to knock the bottom of the primitive economy run by the cabal in the Jonathan administration. If few Nigerians recall that the federal government had to resort to borrowing to pay salaries at some point, the fiscal crisis that engulfed the finances of the states is unlikely to be forgotten in a hurry.

It was in this background that the Buhari administration rode into office. As if to compound the problems, oil prices not only took a dive, the militants would also ensure that the nation’s capacity to export crude oil was substantially crippled. The combined effect was the recession and the foreign exchange crisis which attenuated it.

Today, it is safe to say that things are beginning to change. While the nation may not be out of the woods yet, things are certainly not getting worse. Boko Haram is being fought with a new resolve; ditto, the monster of corruption – if admittedly the result has been modest. Although, still very high – at 17 per cent, inflation has been on a steady climb-down. Even the naira, has in recent time gained some strength. And while it is true that the cost of borrowing has remained prohibitive, there are also signs that a number of the concerns of businesses, particularly the environment for doing business are being addressed gingerly. The infrastructure situation, particularly power, of course, remains dire although, there have been renewed interests in railways development. And with the expected boosts in agricultural produce in the coming months, the nation seems on an assured path to food security.

Mid-way to its four year tenure, it is clear that the administration would need to do more. One thing that would need to change is its snail-pace approach to governance. Most certainly, the administration could do with new tools in its anti-corruption war. Its greatest challenge however, is growing the economy to create millions of jobs; fixing the archaic infrastructure at the heart of the economy’s legendary lack of competitiveness and reversing the situation of the country’s dependence on imported goods.