IF there is one single issue which can easily turn even the most ardent supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari and his government against the ruling APC, it is that of insecurity and the continuing operation of Boko Haram suicide bombers in the North-east of the country.
Take it or leave it, beyond the seemingly unbridled corruption that is believed to have largely drowned the PDP ship of state in the 2015 presidential election, the then growing insecurity in the country and the unrelenting march of the Boko Haram terrorists was one of the “the final straws” that convinced many well meaning Nigerians to vote out the then president, Goodluck Jonathan, and take their chance with a new president in the person of Muhammadu Buhari. The expectation then was that Buhari would be able to do what Jonathan could not do – that is, bring the Boko Haram sect to its knees.
To this category of Nigerians, the prospect of a country in which people in a certain part of it could not live in peace, and its people had actually been largely displaced by bloodthirsty terrorists, was not at all acceptable. Hence, their decision to take the bull by the horns and install a new government that would be able to solve the problem.
One thing is clear from this scenario. And, that is that if the Boko Haram insurgency and the inability of the then Jonathan government to end it was one of the major factors that influenced the voting out of that regime, the self same problem could easily turn the hearts of the people against the Buhari governemt and the APC if they do not quickly get a handle to the problem and bring it to an end.
Already, the claim by the government that the insurgency had been surmounted has been debunked by the sect, which launched a number of deadly attacks in Borno and Adamawa States during the yuletide. Without a verbal response to the government’s victory song, the attacks left no one in doubt that Boko Haram was still able to launch bombing attacks whenever it desired to do so. This is certainly not a good testimonial and the government will do well to find a solution to this problem, whether it is via dialogue or the battlefields.
Looking beyond insecurity, one other nasty fly dangerously perched on the APC’s sensitive parts in this new year is the seemingly growing avalanche of media critics of this government who are fast trying to cast on its struggling shoulders the garment of “cluelessness” that was the precursor of the demise of the Jonathan regime.
It is apparent that a band of persons with strong media access, very much in the manner of a baby from whom its feeding bottle has been yanked, appears to have sworn to give Buhari and the APC government no respite. Virtually every move by the government has been condemned and held up as evidence of the president’s (again!) cluelessness. It would thus appear that Nigeria has a surfeit of clueless leaders who do not know how to go about solving the nation’s problems. The challenge before the APC in this regard is to double up and solve these problems before it finds it impossible to cast off this infernal “clueless” garment.
On the economy, beyond the questionable workability of the plan to pay N5000 stipends to unemployed youths which was mentioned here last week, is also the plan to provide one free meal and a pint of milk each to Nigerian children. This plan, like the one on unemployment stipends, is in good faith and should actually have been widely applauded by all Nigerians but for the auguries of these times. Providing free meals and milk are good indications of a government that has the welfare of the citizens at heart. But, the timing of the initiative does not appear quite right on account of the dire economic times facing the country.
This is more so as the actual number of children that are to benefit from this initiative have not been determined and the modalities for getting the food and milk to the children are yet to be worked out.
Again, as argued in the case of the N5000 stipends, getting these benefits to the beneficiaries could be more problematic and subject to corruption than the government can ever imagine. In short, it is an initiative best implemented when government finances are okay, and not at a time that money is to be borrowed to finance about a third of the budget. These initiatives and the plan by the APC government to borrow about N2.2 trillion to finance the infrastructural development aspect of the budget have fuelled criticism from those who believe that government should not be planning to borrow more and spend more money on social welfare at a time of declining revenue.
Talking of national revenue, one of the strongest winds raging against the Buhari-led APC government at this time is the crash in the price of crude oil in the international market. The price of a barrel of the product has been hovering around $35 while the oil price benchmark in the 2016 budget is $38.
All indications point to the fact that the price will go much lower and money that the government hopes to raise through oil sales may be a fraction of its projections. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), for instance, has (God forbid!) said the price could go as low as $5 or stop somewhere around $20 if the country is lucky. The impact of any such crash of oil price on the economy will be serious, even though the government has not premised much of its revenue projections on oil. But then, one can only imagine what will be the fate of the economy and many of the states that are still grappling with the payment of salaries. How would the budget be fully implemented in the face of such a serious crash in crude oil prices?
Beyond this seeming pessimism, however, is that the government appears to be working in good faith to provide a better life for the people, but it would appear that the problems are gargantuan.
This calls for realism and a rolling up of sleeves by our present crop of leaders, and the support of all Nigerians.
Instead of the present gloating by some Nigerians on the nation’s many problems, the best way to go is for all hands to be on deck and all minds deployed to how to put these problems behind us.
•concluded
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