Between Buharism and recession

Retired General Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) is in his fifth eventful years in Aso Rock Villa as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces. He came in 2015 soundly defeating the then incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan (GEJ) who speedily accepted his fate in good faith. Jonathan was a relatively timid President who commanded with little or no impact on the lives of Nigerians — be it economically, politically or security-wise.

During the GEJ giddy years insecurity was so pronounced that we collectively lived dangerously; the national condition deteriorated to the extent that towns and villages up north were seized with relative ease by certified terrorists!

Then (much like now) poverty and hunger stalked the land as corruption balooned astronomically affecting every facet of our miserable lives. Yet GEJ feigned criminal ignorance of the national dispossession confusing issues and giving another meaning to graft.

Today, more than five years after he was electorally trounced and sent packing from the Villa GEJ is living happily as an ex-President commanding international acclamation as a democrat who handed over power upon his defeat without any resistance. His successor, PMB, has not done any better than GEJ in every security or corruption or economic indices.

Buharism has muddled up things making them even worse! While the propaganda machinery of both the President and the misruling APC daily pumps out lies and half-truths to defend the obvious indefensible we know that our country is not doing well in every sector.

Recently news online filtered in that the Nigerian economy has hit another all-time low once again encountering recession in the process of a downward swing. While the global COVID-19 pandemic could be partly blamed for the recession the management of the economy in general by the Buhari team leaves room for patriotic concern and cogitation.

The economic policies and programmes of Buharism leaves much indeed to be desired. Despite jerking up the pump price of the premium motor spirit (fuel) the economy remains comatose unable to respond to the needs of millions of Nigerians desperate for positive changes in their lives.

While President Buhari promised ‘change’ no change has ever occured. Rather what we are witnessing are fiscal sleaze of those charged with enforcing anti-graft laws and sectional and ethnic advancement in terms of national appointments.

If not issues bordering on Ibrahim Magu being investigated for corruption then they must be the chief law officer of the federation cornering millions of Dollars and billions of Naira in self-enrichment schemes! Yet Buharism hypocritically promised a ‘war’ against graft!

Read also: Buhari’s legacy of recessions

Before ascending the presidential ‘throne’ he so much coveted Buhari as a former military dictator was known to be poor in economic management matters. Even security under his watch has deteriorated so much that the present security challenges facing the nation are daunting enough.

President Buhari is very good at blaming others, especially his predecessors, for the national woes thus hiding craftily his incompetence. Times without number he had argued that the past PDP administrations prior to his coming had mismanaged the economy squandering billions of Dollars that accrued to the nation.

Yet his administration has depleted the national foreign reserves and borrowed recklessly abroad as if tomorrow would not come.

But that argument, blame-game politics, lamentable as it is, holds no water given the continuity of the governance process. If you come to power you do not continually ‘cry’ over leadership failures of the past but use what is available to achieve the desirable.

Nobody prevents you from probing the past in order to situate responsibility for whatever anyone occupying any office had done with the power the people entrusted upon their hands. To serve as deterrence heads could roll.

As President you cannot expect the national economy to grow in heaps and leaps when you unilaterally close the land borders with neighbouring countries for more than a year now. You must be an executive fool not to reckon that transnational trade boosts the economy and provides employment.

Recession is, therefore, bound to happen with such dictatorial decision without precedence. Again you could ‘invite’ recession when as a leader you refuse to appoint the best among us to tackle the daily economic challenges confronting the nation but goes for the mediocre from your region, religion or tribe.

Between Buharism and recession, therefore, Nigeria is being misled to the point of a crisis. And Nigerians are made to pay for this rudderless leadership. President Buhari must confess his incapacity to fix the economy and nip the burgeoning insecurity in the bud.

When the Daura-born one-Nigeria ‘prophet’ confesses his failure to address this pivotal economic problem then a solution could be found. Otherwise the nation is headed inexorably towards perdition.

AUTHOR: Ozodinukwe Okenwa…

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Articles published in our Graffiti section are strictly the opinion of the writers and do not represent the views of Ripples Nigeria or its editorial stand.

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