By Emeka Alex Duru
At the establishment of New Nigerian Newspapers, in 1965, Premier of the defunct Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, made a remark that drastically altered the narrative on one not celebrating himself, for fear of being accused of arrogance.
He had reminded his audience that though the maxim was that one should not blow his trumpet, time had come to discard that impression, given that unless one blew his trumpet, nobody would do it for him because others would be busy blowing their own.
This, perhaps, explains the above average score which the President Muhammadu Buhari administration awarded itself, almost a week to its three years in office.
Economy on course?
In economy, for instance, the administration, had adjudged its self as being on the track, sniggering that it is only the blind would not notice the giant strides in the sector.
In a release by Buhari’s Media Adviser, Femi Adesina, titled “The economy: Facts are stubborn things”, he listed areas the administration had recorded success in repositioning the economy.
He quoted the National Bureau of Statistics as saying that the economy has recovered from the slow-down and eventual recession, which started in 2014.
He said there has been improvement with stronger growth for three successive quarters, adding that from contracting by 0.91% in Q1 2017, the economy has grown by 0.72 percent in Q2 2017, to 1.17 percent in Q3 2017, and 2.11 percent in Q4 2017.
The Q1 2018 GDP, Adesina said, showed that the economy has recorded a GDP growth of 1.95 percent, compared to a contraction of 0.91 percent in Q1 2017.
“For the past 15 months, inflation has declined consistently from 18.72 percent to 12.48 percent. The country is steadily on the road to single digit inflation rate”, Adesina enthused.
Elsewhere, Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, was upbeat, stressing that contrary to critics, who claim the government had nothing to show for its three years of existence, the Buhari administration had performed beyond expectations.
He said: “This administration has kept its social contract with the Nigerian people by delivering on its campaign promises. We are putting our nation on the path of sustainable growth and development, diversifying our economy like never before, tackling corruption at its very core and devising creative measures to secure lives and property”.
In flaunting the administration’s achievements in economic recovery, war against corruption and insecurity, the Minister had touched on the key areas the President had promised Nigerians to give more attention while campaigning for votes.
Those are incidentally, sectors Nigerians are mostly divided in assessing the government. In economy for example, though the officials of the government, lay claims to stabilising the system, analysts fault them for judging the system by its own standard.
Naira takes the blame
They recall that the national currency, the Naira, which presently exchanges with the American Dollar at 360 or thereabout, was doing so at less than 120 on May 29, 2015, when the President was sworn in. But due to sloppy economic policies, it fluctuated to about N500 to a Dollar before being managed to remain at its current rate.
Experts in the sector blame the poor management of the exchange regime as being responsible for the unceasing high cost of goods, despite government’s claim of balancing the economy.
The high cost of goods and materials, is seen as the major cause of difficulties in the land.
In a scathing memo from former President, Olusegun Obasanjo to Buhari on January 23, this year in which he urged him not to go for a second term, he noted that the dislocation in the system, is because the President is weak in the knowledge and understanding of the economy.
Nigerians react
Kayode Odunmuyiwa, a building material merchant, acknowledged the difficulties in the land, which he said, manifest in the low sales they record.
He said, “Our own is not textbook economics. It is practical. No matter what anybody may claim on the television or pages of newspapers as the economy looking up, the truth is that things are getting more difficult every day. What we experience these days, is poor sale and inability to replenish our stock because of the fluctuations in the cost of goods. How can we therefore say that the economy is bouncing back”?
Abigail Benson, who deals on food stuff, was more pungent in explaining the situation. “The price of Rice is gradually coming down. But is it all that we eat? What about a measure of garri that has risen from N300 to N1,200 since 2015? What do we say about Egusi that has jumped from N1,200 to N3,500?”
According to her, any person claiming that the economy has improved may either be living in the moon or is simply being mischievous.
Esther Ugoli, who lives in Satellite Town, Lagos, rather chose to interpret the biting economic situation on the transport fare she used to pay to Mile 2 which was N100 but has now risen to N200. That, she said, was a fall-out of the fuel price hike by the government in 2015 that drastically affected prices of goods and services.
“For me as a salary earner, who has not had my monthly salary increased, the fare hike, has been quite stressful. This is aside other services that were affected by the same policy. So, to tell me that the economy has improved, is simply, taking the joke too far. If anything, we are dying slowly”, she lamented.
Insecurity prevails
Similar measured responses have trailed government’s claim of curtailing the spectre of insecurity. On assumption to office, the Buhari administration had taken measures that had resulted in halting the rampaging Boko Haram insurgents in area of territorial acquisition and expansion.
In the process, 14 local government areas in Borno State that had been earlier annexed by the terrorists, were recovered by the Nigerian military. In a public show of triumph, the Army high command, handed over the flag alleged abandoned by the insurgents in the face of superior fire power by the military.
The Information Minister amplified the exercise by claiming that the sect had been technically degraded. His remarks were corroborated by Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Burantai, who went a step further in stating that the insurgents had been overrun by the military, adding that what remained were mop up operations that would be completed by the land forces. Nigerians gave the administration applauds for the audacious move.
Herdsmen on the prowl
But the ululation had hardly gone down when the Fulani Herdsmen menace seized the country, leaving in its trail, blood and sorrow.
In their murderous engagements, the herders had carried out dastardly actions that opinions suggest may be larger in number than lives lost to Boko Haram operatives.
The government, curiously, has not done much in stemming the tide of the activities by the agents of death. Till date, no conviction has been recorded against any of the herdsmen.
By the last count, the Catholic Church in the country on Tuesday, May 22, staged a nationwide protest against the killings and government’s low pace of action in curtailing their activities.
The Methodist Church, has also threatened to carry out similar action if the trend continues.
Question marks on anti-corruption crusade
Nigerians are also divided on the success of the administration in tackling corruption. While the body charged with the assignment, The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), churns out figures of arrests and prosecutions, not much convictions have been recorded.
Elder statesman and Chairman, Northern Elders Council, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, alluded to this, when he rhetorically asked, ““How many people have been convicted (of corruption) by this government?”
He made reference to the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (Babachir Lawal), who was indicted for committing an infraction by the report of a Senate committee, which was forwarded to the President. Nothing was done on the matter, subsequently.
Further observation by critics is that most of its engagements are more on media trials than carrying out its functions diligently.
It has also been noted that the Commission focuses its attention on politicians in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or perceived opponents of the President, while closing its eyes on politicians in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
PDP kicks
It is against this backdrop that the PDP has alleged that the APC is the problem with Nigeria.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP had accused the APC of demonstrating that it was never a political party designed for governance and development, but a contraption for oppression and vendetta.
“It is also instructive to note that since it came to power by deceit and propaganda in 2015, the APC has done nothing except actions and comments that promote hatred, violence and daily bloodletting among Nigerians; causing of disharmony among arms and tiers of government in addition to undermining our democratic and security institutions”, the release added.
Elsewhere, the party noted that there was no cause for celebration since the Buhari government has failed Nigerians at all fronts.
