Effectively, President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term started on Wednesday, October 30, 2019. Although he was declared winner of the Presidential election of February 23 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), President Buhari’s position was hanging in the balance as the victory was a subject of litigation. Even after the Presidential Election Tribunal upheld his victory, the decision of the main challenger, Atiku Abubakar, to go to the Supreme Court, meant that it was not eureka for Buhari. But it could be said that the President won the election last Wednesday after the apex court ruled that INEC was right to declare him winner.
Popular opinion is that Nigeria has not fared well in the last five years; it is now incumbent on the President to truly and positively take the country to the Next Level as promised. This, observers say, is the real burden the ruling has placed on President Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The economic fortunes of Nigerians have deteriorated so fast in the last five years. According to the World Poverty Clock and the Brookings Institute, Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world with nearly 100 million of its citizens living below the poverty line.
Nigeria’s inflation figures remain at double digits of 11.24percent, a very harsh reality for the hapless masses. Unemployment has jumped to 23percent from 18percent in the last five years. The gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate is barely 1.9percent annually for a country whose population grows at 3.4percent per annum.
Foreign Direct Investment has plummeted as well as capital inflow by at least 50percent. Naira, the nation’s currency has lost almost 80percent of its value in the last five years, which has severe consequences on the disposable income of the masses. Successive federal budgets have suffered poor implementation as the government has gone into a borrowing binge to service budgets deficits. These developments have deleterious effects in the hapless Nigerian citizens, who had placed much hope on the Buhari administration and APC government.
Critics have alleged that the current administration has slept on guard all through five years, calling on the President to make haste and redeem his electoral promises.
Before the Supreme Court verdict last Wednesday, some politicians and other interest groups had claimed that the litigation was slowing down the speed of the administration and was also a huge distraction. Hence, they urged the main opposition to accept defeat and let the sleeping dog lie.
Shortly after the ministerial list of President Buhari became public, attracting negative comments on account of some names that appeared therein, it was touted that the list was a temporary one, and that the real list would be released after the President must have scaled all the legal hurdles.
Now that the election has been won and lost, the expectation is that Nigerians should begin to reap the gains of going to the poll.
Speaking with BDSUNDAY on the expectations of Nigerians, Alphonsus Mgbede, a chartered accountant, said that the country had drifted sharply in the last five years and urged government to halt its further drift.
“I think what has happened in the last five years has been mere politicking. Governance has eluded the country. There has been a high dose of propaganda. Everything about Nigeria is in the negative. Now that the legal tussle is over, the Buhari administration, if indeed it is serious about governance, should begin to undo all the negative things it has done. Only this can enable the President regain the confidence of Nigerians he has lost, and I suggest that he has to do it as urgently as possible,” Mgbede said.
On the likely impact of the Supreme Court verdict in relation to the Next Level agenda on the lives of the average Nigerian facing enormous economic hardship and other threats such as growing insecurity, crime and unemployment, Buba Galadima, a prominent politician and social commentator, advised Nigerians not to place any hope on Buhari, saying, “There is no plan in the next level, except hardship for Nigerians.” He asked Nigerians to brace up or their right will be trampled upon by the Buhari government.
He also alleged that President Buhari is not going to quit power in 2023, stressing that his men are already planning a six-year single term for him. “This is not for the good of Nigerians but only to benefit those in power, since there is not going to be any election. I challenge Buhari to sign the Electoral Act once he comes back from his holiday in London, which he said was perfect and only needs the next government to sign. He is now the next government, he should be bound by his words if he is man of integrity,” Galadima said.
He also lampooned the judiciary for affirming Buhari’s victory, stressing that the court decisions allegedly will continue to haunt the judiciary, continue to haunt the Buhari government and will continue to haunt whosoever has a hand in truncating democracy and setting the hand of the clock back.
“What the judiciary has done was to take back Nigeria back to the Stone Age. I don’t believe that the judiciary really looked at what the future of this country would be. Having now said that you don’t need to conduct election, but you can announce results and once you are strong, you will prevail, that is what the judiciary has said.
“The judiciary has also affirmed that you don’t need to go to school; all you need to do is to swear an affidavit that you hold a PhD in whatever discipline you want and it should not be inquired into and you should be entitled to any job. I think we Nigerians should be crying for now rather than jostling for 2023 because there will be no 2023 because they have now affirmed that Buhari can continue as President for life,” he said.
Katch Ononuju, a public affairs analyst, asked Nigerians to perish the thought of any positive thing happening under the Buhari Government as his government is filled with people with the wrong mindset about Nigeria.
“Buhari did not come to govern Nigeria; Buhari is an angry Fulani irredentist, who is reacting in the same way as the Sunnis of Iraq. The Sunnis of Iraq are reacting due to the loss of previously held advantages that were available under the previous arraignment under Saddam Hussaein, where the Baath Party was led by the minority Sunnis who, though are minority, dominated and lorded it over the minority Shiites population.
“In Nigeria, democracy came and that was what made the Fulani lose the total control they had all over Nigeria- advantages gained through the colonial period and under the military dictatorship but could be sustained under democracy. This is the reason Buhari does not yet have a plan; he is simply reacting to those consequences of democracy.
“Buhari is angry that market competition has removed all those strengths from his people and that is why you see him react this way. So, every single action that Buhari takes you can interpret it in terms of the reaction towards the consequences of democracy,” Ononuju said.
He accused Buhari of moving to seize control of the judiciary, judging by the Supreme Court decision. “What he has done has now exposed the Supreme Court as being conquered and that is the important thing about contesting everything in court, that is the good thing about what the PDP has to expose the institutions that have been damaged by state capture. The state capture of the judiciary means the judiciary dies and what you get is what you saw. So, nothing is going to change,” he said.
He also accused President Buhari of selective closure of borders in the South while the borders in north are open. He charged Nigerians to retrieve their country from Buhari through a concerted national effort as he alleged that “Buhari does not believe in Nigeria”.
Another politician and the National Chairman of the National Unity Party (NUP), Perry Opara advised that Nigerians should move forward because there is nothing anybody can do about Supreme Court ruling. “The supreme court of Nigeria is the last hope of every Nigerian both common man and politician. Since they have taken the decision we should abide by their decision and respect their decision. I am aware that they said they will give reasons for their decision; I am also aware that members of the Supreme Court are perhaps the most qualified members of the jury in Nigeria,” he said.
He also admonished President Buhari to be very proactive, so that issues of the suffering, insecurity, and unity of the country should be in the front burner to enable Nigerians, who elected him have dividend of democracy.
“Most decisions of government should be people-friendly decisions not minding what the sentiments may be. Any decisions that is seen to be draconian, any decision that is seen not to be people –friendly, Nigerians would not want it. I would want to advise that the best way to say thank you to Nigerians is to come up with policies that will take Nigerians to the next level,” Opara added.
Also contributing from the intellectual angle, Nafizi Abdullahi Garba, a professor from the Department of Economics, University of Abuja, called for the adoption of the Chinese Model of development that is all encompassing, all-embracing and all inclusive, that incorporates every aspect of the social, economic political life of the country.
He urged for a serious reform in the leadership recruitment, adding that development can only be possible when Nigeria reforms the Electoral Act to ensure that every member of a political party contributes certain amount to fund that party and to put a threshold, a maximum amount that anybody can provide as funding for the political party and link the political party register to the BVN. He also advised that any political party that wants to contest election must do direct primary instead of the indirect primary that is subject to manipulation.
He also called for the inclusion of academics and intellectuals in decision making process of the country, stressing that “Every aspect of the economy, politics and social life should be subjected to thorough intellectual analysis and evaluation.’’
Garba also harped on issue of inculcating nationalism, self-discipline and patriotism at all levels of government.
Leke Ogunbanke, lawyer and activist, urged President Buhari to immediately prioritise tackling worsening security challenges bedeviling the country as it was crucial for any meaningful development.
“You would notice that it is the same security chiefs that were there with him when he assumed office in 2015 that are still in office. These people have lost touch with what to do. Personally, I have lost hope in them; most of them are overwhelmed with the security challenges facing Nigeria; they have no clue,” Ogunbanke said.
According to him, “Security should be Buhari’s focus for now, because you can’t achieve anything without it. People are afraid to travel; we are in December now; Buhari should bring in new people with fresh ideas on how to tackle the security problems in Nigeria.”
Innocent Odoh and Iniobong Iwok
