Nigerians confident Buhari can fix country’s problems – Survey

Eighty-six percent of Nigerians are confident that President Muhammadu Buhahi can improve the state of the country and the wellbeing of the populace, a  a survey conducted by TNS, a prominent research firm indicates.

In the poll, Buhari scores impressively among Nigerians who rate his performance high and think he is going in the right direction.

The TNS report, conducted in the third week of August 2015 among a representative adult population in the six geo-political zones further shows 55 percent of Nigerians think that the country is headed in the right direction while 74 percent think that the president has performed well so far.

With the outlook of hope among Nigerians and the international community about Nigeria, following the emergence of Buhari as president, most Nigerians (84 %) expressed trust in the president as 84 percent of Nigerians believe that the present administration can win the war against Boko Haram.

According to the poll, 91 percent of Nigerians support Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade, while 86 percent are optimistic about how they will fare financially in 12 months time. On the administration’s pace of work, 45 percent think his is slow but steady, 31 percent disagree that he is slow, while 19 percent say Buhari is slow. The poll also stated that 59 percent of Nigerians endorse the cabinet formation date fixed for this month, three months after the president was sworn in. Nineteen percent agree that the date is far, but necessary, while 15 percent say the date should have been earlier.

Assessing the effects of the value of the naira, more Nigerians say the drop in the value of the currency to the US dollar is bad for the economy and responsible for the rise in the price of consumer goods.

In the same vein, 66% households say the increase in dollar value at the expense of the naira has a negative impact on them.

“This present financial realities notwithstanding, Nigerians remain optimistic about the future”, the report says.

On the electricity situation, 74 % of Nigerians report improved electricity supply, while 78% also reported improved fuel supply.

According to the survey, Nigerians (74 %) are more confident that their state governments can better deliver good governance than their national assemblies, while 65 percent expressed confidence in the Senate.

The survey which interviewed 1001 Nigerians, showed that people are resolute against legalisation of gay marriage in the country. According to the poll, while three percent support gay marriage, 96 percent are against it.

The poll sought respondents’ opinion on four key areas, which include their views on the country and personal financial situation, assessment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s performance and key state institutions, economic, fuel and power issues, as well as terrorism.

Daniel Obi