P
PressRoom
Guest
All is not well with Nigeria. Our Economy is in recession. We have herdsmen crisis. Militants blow ups of oil wells. Boko Haram. Party crisis. Corruption scandals of top government officials. The list is endless. We have a President. Muhammadu Buhari, an ex-military officer of the highest ranking. He became the President after the fourth trial. He came into power with the CHANGE agenda, and defeated Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP. One year and some months already into power, his administration has been engulfed in lots of controversies and failures in major sectors of the economy. With all these issues, what becomes of his programmes and promises? Here is a look at why the President Buhari should be afraid?
1. Economic Recession:It is now official. Nigerian economy is in recession. According to the NBS gross domestic product (GDP) report for the second quarter of 2016, Nigeria’s economy contracted by 2.06 percent to record its lowest growth rate in three decades. In the first quarter of 2016, the NBS said the economy shrank by 0.36 percent to hit its lowest point in 25 years.
According to World Bank data, the last time Nigeria had this magnitude of economic decline was under the regime of Ibrahim Babangida, when the economy recorded consecutive decline of 0.51 percent and 0.82 percent in first and second quarters of 1987.
2. Lopsided Appointments: For many times as we know, President Buhari has been yabbed for his appointments that has favoured a particular region of the country. This has birthed so many agitations from many factions calling him a Northern President.
3. Problems in APC: Though the ruling party, all is not well with the APC. The deep cracks within the party as evident in states like Ondo (who just had its gubernatorial primaries), in Kano state, also the ATIKU factor, the splinter groups in Kaduna, division in Adamawa over Atiku's call for restructuring, the crack in Zamfara APC family over move to impeach Governor Yari, Saraki's impeachment and Dogara's resignation are all problems and why the Nation's Chief Executive should be afraid. It's a situation of a house divided against itself, which may lead to its eventual downfall in future polls across the country.
4. Incessant Herdsmen Attacks: The spate of herdsmen attacks, suspected to be Fulani have sacked many residents out of their birth homes, and left so many people communally displaced. It has been an alarming rate of attacks since Buhari assumed office, with no strong measures to curb the violence inflicted by his 'kinsmen'. He is seen as being biased and as he continues to talk tough on the secessionists and militants in southern Nigeria, the Fulani herdsmen from his own ethnic division are ‘spared.’
5. Budget Padding: The last few weeks have been dramatic in Nigeria's legislative chambers, with allegations of loopholes in government expenditure. The allegatios of budget padding, levelled against the speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and three other officers, by former chairman of the House of Representatives Appropriation Committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, and the denial and counter-accusations have reinforced the escalating degeneration of lawmaking in the National Assembly. Those involved in this padding scandal are members of President Buhari's party. And this is just with the 2016 budget. What will happen to 2017, 2018, 2019 budgets?
6. Boko Haram & Militancy in the Niger Delta: The activities of militants in the Niger Delta region have have crippled the nation's economy. The continued crisis in the Niger Delta fuelled by the activities of the ‘Niger Delta Avengers’, among other groups is cause for concern. The relentless blow ups of the country’s oil infrastructure have slashed its crude output. Experts say attacks by the new militant group has shut down nearly 50 percent of output and production is down to 1.1 million barrels per day. The Boko Haram crisis is also there. If President Muhammadu Buhari fails to find lasting solution to these issues, the Nation would be more worrisome about their mandate and APC's programmes.
7. Change Agenda, The Change We See Now, And the Troubled Assembly: The All Progressives Congress came into power with the mantra of Change, but the reverse is the case now. People are already in doubt and afraid with the change promised and what we can see now. The National Assembly has been lazy and paralysed with the two presiding officers facing corruption charges. The ruling party, APC, with its major members in both chambers may be in trouble with the nature of problems they are in. What becomes of the troubled assembly?
1. Economic Recession:It is now official. Nigerian economy is in recession. According to the NBS gross domestic product (GDP) report for the second quarter of 2016, Nigeria’s economy contracted by 2.06 percent to record its lowest growth rate in three decades. In the first quarter of 2016, the NBS said the economy shrank by 0.36 percent to hit its lowest point in 25 years.
According to World Bank data, the last time Nigeria had this magnitude of economic decline was under the regime of Ibrahim Babangida, when the economy recorded consecutive decline of 0.51 percent and 0.82 percent in first and second quarters of 1987.
2. Lopsided Appointments: For many times as we know, President Buhari has been yabbed for his appointments that has favoured a particular region of the country. This has birthed so many agitations from many factions calling him a Northern President.
3. Problems in APC: Though the ruling party, all is not well with the APC. The deep cracks within the party as evident in states like Ondo (who just had its gubernatorial primaries), in Kano state, also the ATIKU factor, the splinter groups in Kaduna, division in Adamawa over Atiku's call for restructuring, the crack in Zamfara APC family over move to impeach Governor Yari, Saraki's impeachment and Dogara's resignation are all problems and why the Nation's Chief Executive should be afraid. It's a situation of a house divided against itself, which may lead to its eventual downfall in future polls across the country.
4. Incessant Herdsmen Attacks: The spate of herdsmen attacks, suspected to be Fulani have sacked many residents out of their birth homes, and left so many people communally displaced. It has been an alarming rate of attacks since Buhari assumed office, with no strong measures to curb the violence inflicted by his 'kinsmen'. He is seen as being biased and as he continues to talk tough on the secessionists and militants in southern Nigeria, the Fulani herdsmen from his own ethnic division are ‘spared.’
5. Budget Padding: The last few weeks have been dramatic in Nigeria's legislative chambers, with allegations of loopholes in government expenditure. The allegatios of budget padding, levelled against the speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and three other officers, by former chairman of the House of Representatives Appropriation Committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, and the denial and counter-accusations have reinforced the escalating degeneration of lawmaking in the National Assembly. Those involved in this padding scandal are members of President Buhari's party. And this is just with the 2016 budget. What will happen to 2017, 2018, 2019 budgets?
6. Boko Haram & Militancy in the Niger Delta: The activities of militants in the Niger Delta region have have crippled the nation's economy. The continued crisis in the Niger Delta fuelled by the activities of the ‘Niger Delta Avengers’, among other groups is cause for concern. The relentless blow ups of the country’s oil infrastructure have slashed its crude output. Experts say attacks by the new militant group has shut down nearly 50 percent of output and production is down to 1.1 million barrels per day. The Boko Haram crisis is also there. If President Muhammadu Buhari fails to find lasting solution to these issues, the Nation would be more worrisome about their mandate and APC's programmes.
7. Change Agenda, The Change We See Now, And the Troubled Assembly: The All Progressives Congress came into power with the mantra of Change, but the reverse is the case now. People are already in doubt and afraid with the change promised and what we can see now. The National Assembly has been lazy and paralysed with the two presiding officers facing corruption charges. The ruling party, APC, with its major members in both chambers may be in trouble with the nature of problems they are in. What becomes of the troubled assembly?