P
PressRoom
Guest
The state of the nation under Buhari’s administration has many people drawing interesting parallels between the past and the present. It is becoming quite common to hear people say, “We are back to 1984”. 1984 was the year, Buhari stepped in as Head of State and ruled the country.
Here are 5 reasons we can prove Buhari’s government today is exactly the same as his government in 1984.
1. Hard times – Things were also tough for Nigerians in 1984, after the madness of the second republic era which is similar to what is going on presently in the country.Although Buhari inherited a mess, all white elephant projects were halted and the Buhari regime decided to pay off the national debt incurred by the displaced Shehu Shagari civilian administration as he has also done. The regime insisted on such rigid, hostile and ineffective strategies at the expense of liberalization and investor friendly strategies.
This koboko-inspired price control consequently inspired scarcity, and Nigerians had to queue for basic commodities that were hitherto readily available. His responses to some of the challenges he faced then only aggravated the situation.
2. The Rise of Buharinomics – This was used to refer to General Buhari’s economic programme marshalled out to salvage the nation in 1984. He summarised the objective of his economic policy (as articulated in the 1984 budget) as follows: “To arrest the decline in the economy, to put the economy on a proper course of recovery and solvency, and to chart a future course for economic stability and prosperity.”
In a nutshell, Buharinomics set out to arrest the decline in the economy and refocus it towards recovery.
Buhari started to rebuild the nation’s social-political and economic systems along the realities of Nigeria’s austere economic conditions. The rebuilding included removing or cutting back the excesses in national expenditure, obliterating or removing completely corruption from the nation’s social ethics, shifting from mainly public sector employment to self-employment. He also encouraged import substitution industrialization based, to a great extent, on the use of local materials and he tightened importation.
However, Buhari’s bid to re-balance public finances by curbing imports led to many job losses and the closure of businesses.
3. The EFCC witch hunting – The Buhari government investigated and detained top political leaders of the second republic holding them responsible for economic excesses of the previous regime. The state security agency was given, the National Security Organization was given greater powers. This story is the same today as many 50 ex-public office officers are been arrested and investigations have been on going trying to recover looted public funds.
4. Corruption Must Go – In 1984, just as we have presently, Buhari meant his words to fight corruption to a standstill and restore health in the nation’s bleeding economy.
The general then did not waste time in instituting military sanctions against perceived corrupt public officers in the ousted government and reeling out policies and programmes aimed at resuscitating and reforming the Nigerian economy.
Many began to imagine a new Nigeria, where acts of corruption and indiscipline would have no place because of the zeal on the part of Buhari and his military team in their quest to tackle corruption without sparing any “sacred cow.”
5. Devaluation of the Naira – Buhari broke ties with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), when the fund asked the government to devalue the naira by 60%. However, the reforms that Buhari instigated on his own were as, if not more rigorous than those required by the IMF.
On May 7 1984, Buhari announced the country’s 1984 National Budget. The budget came with series of complementary measures: A temporary ban on recruiting federal public sector workers, raising of interest rates, halting capital projects, prohibition of borrowing by state governments, 15 per cent cut from Shagari’s 1983 Budget, Realignment of import duties and more.
PS: This post first appeared on YNaija
Here are 5 reasons we can prove Buhari’s government today is exactly the same as his government in 1984.
1. Hard times – Things were also tough for Nigerians in 1984, after the madness of the second republic era which is similar to what is going on presently in the country.Although Buhari inherited a mess, all white elephant projects were halted and the Buhari regime decided to pay off the national debt incurred by the displaced Shehu Shagari civilian administration as he has also done. The regime insisted on such rigid, hostile and ineffective strategies at the expense of liberalization and investor friendly strategies.
This koboko-inspired price control consequently inspired scarcity, and Nigerians had to queue for basic commodities that were hitherto readily available. His responses to some of the challenges he faced then only aggravated the situation.
2. The Rise of Buharinomics – This was used to refer to General Buhari’s economic programme marshalled out to salvage the nation in 1984. He summarised the objective of his economic policy (as articulated in the 1984 budget) as follows: “To arrest the decline in the economy, to put the economy on a proper course of recovery and solvency, and to chart a future course for economic stability and prosperity.”
In a nutshell, Buharinomics set out to arrest the decline in the economy and refocus it towards recovery.
Buhari started to rebuild the nation’s social-political and economic systems along the realities of Nigeria’s austere economic conditions. The rebuilding included removing or cutting back the excesses in national expenditure, obliterating or removing completely corruption from the nation’s social ethics, shifting from mainly public sector employment to self-employment. He also encouraged import substitution industrialization based, to a great extent, on the use of local materials and he tightened importation.
However, Buhari’s bid to re-balance public finances by curbing imports led to many job losses and the closure of businesses.
3. The EFCC witch hunting – The Buhari government investigated and detained top political leaders of the second republic holding them responsible for economic excesses of the previous regime. The state security agency was given, the National Security Organization was given greater powers. This story is the same today as many 50 ex-public office officers are been arrested and investigations have been on going trying to recover looted public funds.
4. Corruption Must Go – In 1984, just as we have presently, Buhari meant his words to fight corruption to a standstill and restore health in the nation’s bleeding economy.
The general then did not waste time in instituting military sanctions against perceived corrupt public officers in the ousted government and reeling out policies and programmes aimed at resuscitating and reforming the Nigerian economy.
Many began to imagine a new Nigeria, where acts of corruption and indiscipline would have no place because of the zeal on the part of Buhari and his military team in their quest to tackle corruption without sparing any “sacred cow.”
5. Devaluation of the Naira – Buhari broke ties with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), when the fund asked the government to devalue the naira by 60%. However, the reforms that Buhari instigated on his own were as, if not more rigorous than those required by the IMF.
On May 7 1984, Buhari announced the country’s 1984 National Budget. The budget came with series of complementary measures: A temporary ban on recruiting federal public sector workers, raising of interest rates, halting capital projects, prohibition of borrowing by state governments, 15 per cent cut from Shagari’s 1983 Budget, Realignment of import duties and more.
PS: This post first appeared on YNaija