The calendar has marked one year since President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria took oath of office and a year since the APC (All Progressive Congress) political party of ‘change’ ascended to power. Nigerian are blinking twice, many are asking questions confused on what is going, but some are still hopeful of the prospects of the government.
Assessing the President Buhari’s administration one year in office based on the table at the bottom, we can see the the government has tried in fixing major issue the country has faced over the year but still has other critcal to tackle.
INSURGENCY
As part of his election campaign, president Buhari promised to crush to terror group Boko Haram which has been terrorizing the country since 2007. So far, he has restructured the military put them on their toes; the president relocated the Nigerian Military Command Centre to Maiduguri, since May 2015, which has contributed to the success in the fight against insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country. There has been a Prioritized regional cooperation in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency and violent extremism, through the operations of the 8,500 strong Multi-National Joint Task Force in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, currently headed by a Nigeria military general.
The ever active Nigerian Navy has recorded tremendous success lately in apprehending vessels used by oil thieves. This operation has improved security on our water ways and it has also helped improve the revenue of government.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Part of the presidential campaign pledge was to create a stable and vibrant economy for the country, an economy that would attract investors with an attractive currency exchange regime.
The president continued the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) which was also started by the former President Jonathan’s regime, the TSA has provided greater visibility of government revenues and cash flows. In order to promote the economy and reduce poverty, in April, 2016, President Buhari approved deferment in the payment of the bailout as states were still reeling under the burden of the fall in commodity prices, but so far with the economic plans of the government the Nigerian economy has greatly dwindled with foreign reserves falling to about 27 billion dollars, there has been scarcity of foreign currency in the country which has led to difficulty in business in business sourcing for foreign cash to import, parent unable to pay school fees of their wards abroad; with inflation all over.
DIPLOMATIC TIES
Ever since the inception of the present administration, president Buhari has travelled to over 10 countries in order to build better ties with them and also polish the already stained image of the country, he has also signed agreements with most of this countries for better trades, double taxation and so on. President Buhari has continually pushed the agenda for enhancing Nigeria’s global image by always demonstrating Nigeria’s credentials in the 2015 general elections, which saw the country scoring high on peaceful transition.
FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION
Over the years, Nigeria has been eaten up by massive corruption in all sectors, and part of the president campaign promise in 2015 was to deal with this menace, and he has taken the bull by the horn. from the moment he won the Presidential Election in 2015, there has always been that impression of the President as a ‘‘no nonsense and incorruptible leader’’ and this sent very fearful signal to looters of public funds, with many of them returning funds that had been stolen under the previous administration. With all the anti-corruption agencies fully at work, it has been though times for looter, in the first quarter of 2016, the President embarked on trips to the Middle East in order to sensitize the governments on the need to repatriate stolen assets and hand over the looters for trial in Nigeria. In January, Nigeria and UAE signed Judicial Agreements on Extradition, Transfer of Sentenced Persons, and Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters.
| POOR | FAIR | WELL-DONE | |
| INSURGENCY | * | ||
| ECONOMY | * | ||
| DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS | * | ||
| FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION | * |
It has been a very difficult job for the present administration as the masses feel that the government cares less, the delay in the passing of the national budget got people thinking as it almost brought the country to a halt, also the fall in oil prices has greatly affected the country as it has suffered from the “Dutch disease” with its over dependence on oil, though this present administration is putting mechanisms in place in order to diversify the economy but this hasn’t been an easy task.
There are rising security threats from the Niger delta region of the country, with new militant groups springing up and blowing up oil pipelines, the government is left with much heavy decision to make of how to handle the issue as it’s a very delicate one.
On the 29th of May the president still reiterated some of His campaign promises, assuring Nigerians of a better Nation to always smile and he promised to deliver all this; though some Nigerians have lost hope, many are still optimistic and ready to support this great country Nigeria.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Daniel OPARA
