Coming to power on the mantra of change, President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress, made a lot of promises. As they mark one year in office, Nigerians expresses themselves and voice out their opinion over the present administration, written and piled up by Punchng.
It has been one year of excuses -Spokesperson, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin
What we are seeing now is a crisis foretold. Some of us saw these things coming and that was why before the election we raised the alarm that if he was elected into office Nigeria was going to experience economic crisis. But the All Progressives Congress because of their lust for power claimed that they could change everything overnight.
APC came to power without any clear-cut vision on how to rule this nation. They just got into office and realised that all they had promised Nigerians were no longer possible within the arrangement on ground. They have spent one year without achieving anything. Until we go back to restructure this country, things are bound to get worse.
I think this administration should stop making excuses of one rot or the other and focus on how to move this country forward. Nigerians are tired of hearing all these excuses. This administration was voted into power because it said it had the solution to the problems facing the country. People trusted for this reason and gave them their mandate, so they should get to business.
In the last one year this administration has not done anything tangible. Nigerians want solutions to their problems, not excuses, so this government must live up to all the promises it made to the people.
There is a lot to be done- Lawyer, Fred Agbaje
The government told us that it would fight corruption and insecurity and in the last one year, it has made a significant headway. But that is not all. It must look into the economy and the socio-economic aspect of the nation. There is no money for people; people want to invest and trade, but there is no money. It should find a way to improve on the lives of people after the hike in fuel price. Before increasing the fuel price, it should have provided more buses, train services, power supply, and so on. In other words, there is a lot be to done by the government. The amount we read every day that is being looted; you will know that if not for the intervention of this government in the last one year, nobody would have survived under the weight of financial recklessness by the previous government. I will give this government 50 per cent.
The success of any government is hinged on the economy- Economist, Henry Boyo
I’m hesitant to answer your question because if someone asks how would he cure his malaria and he takes drugs for headache, joint pains and so on, it will not cure until he takes the one that kills the malaria parasites. It is the same thing with an economy.
A lot of people see the sectors of the economy as discreet but in reality, it is not so, everything is intertwined and galvanised by an appropriate operational system for growing the economy. If the fundamentals of your monetary and fiscal policies are wrong, anything you build on top of that will be ultimately defective, including the issues of unemployment, power, poverty and so on.
If you have the markers of monetary policy indicating that things are not well and not going to be well very soon, you have to know that something is wrong. For instance, inflation rate was about 8 per cent last year and it is about 13 per cent today. That means that every five years, any income that is static will lose about 60 per cent of its purchasing value. People who earn N18,000 minimum wage have earned it for the past five years without salary increase. So basically, they are getting poorer. Inflation should not be 13 per cent, when the ideal situation is 2 per cent or 3 per cent. If your cost of funds in your economy is such that banks can make virtually free money by lending excess cash in the system back to government in terms of liquidity mop up and in terms of dollar sales and auction, why would they want to go to the real sector or loan out money, especially when the interest rate being paid by government for easy money is as high as 12-13 per cent? Meanwhile, the real sector that is supposed to increase the employment rate finds it difficult to exist.
This government is a blessing- Lawyer and lecturer, Wahab Shittu
The Buhari-Osinbajo Administration, in spite of what anyone might say, remains Nigeria’s greatest blessing at this point in time.
In assessing the Buhari administration, one should focus on the extent of the rot that has been in the country before the advent of this administration. Given the fact that the British Prime Minister recently described Nigeria as fantastically corrupt, despite that, he reserved a pride of place for our President because he is different and hardworking.
Many Nigerians do not appreciate this kind of international endorsement.
For me, if we are to benchmark our developmental progress, the starting point is for the leadership to have moral standard. I see Buhari as someone who will necessarily provide the necessary foundation, moral authority for the potential of this country to be realised.
I think the best way to look at it is that the last one year has been spent to clean up the rot and decay that has been the hallmark of previous administrations. In a cleanup exercise, you have to take time to identify the areas of rot and generally lay a solid foundation before you begin to put in place structures for growth and development.
Without sounding apologetic, we need to be patient and trust in the leadership. The change the administration spoke about should be understood in its context. The change they preach which we all know we require is in us all.
For the first time in the country, we have a President who will not steal and a Vice-President who will not steal. If that is so, then who are you to steal?
Nigerian economy is under tremendous stress-Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria, Chief Tony Okoroji
There is no doubt anymore that the Nigerian economy is under tremendous stress as a result of the steep fall in the price of crude oil which has been the mainstay of the economy. The government has made it clear that it counts on the entertainment industry to play an important role in stabilising the nation’s economy. I believe that it is our duty to do what we can to save our country. At COSON, we are ready to work with the government to build a world class music industry in Nigeria that contributes meaningfully to the national economy and provides good paying jobs to hundreds of thousands of our citizens.
For us to play our role effectively however, the government cannot pretend to understand our problems because it does not. The government must engage us closely, listen to our issues and then take action instead of just talking. In other words, the actions of the government must match its words.
For instance, the government cannot say that it wants the entertainment industry to grow and yet looks the other way while government agencies engage in horrendous copyright infringement.
Since the present government took over, we have repeatedly called for the activation of the private copy levy scheme provided for under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We have received no reaction whatsoever from a government that says that it is interested in growing the entertainment industry.
Around the continent, pirated Nigerian music dominates the airwaves and music shops. We believe that a government which wants to grow our entertainment industry must take interest and engage meaningfully with these nations at the diplomatic and international trade levels and ensure that these national assets are not frittered away.
I continue to believe that if Nigeria does not deal decisively with corruption, there will be no hope for the Nigerian nation. On that I am completely in support of President Buhari’s war against corruption and I urge every other Nigerian to support him.
The situation will get better- Comedian, Gbenga Adeyinka
I believe things will get better. Nothing good comes easy in life. But with patience and dedication, we will surly get there. It has been a little rough but I have so much faith in this government.
One year of mixed feelings – National President, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Malachy Ugwummadu
We have to recognise that it has been one year of mixed feelings by Nigerians. But for those of us who understand the variables, even before the election of the current administration, we could understand what the problems were.
On the twin-pronged issue of insecurity and anti-corruption, the government has done a lot. If the funds being recovered from looters are properly channelled into strategic developmental projects, it means that borrowing, which the government has anchored its budget funding on, can be drastically reduced. When you borrow, you mortgage the next generation.
In terms of the anti-corruption war, the government and the respective anti-corruption agencies have to be strategic in ensuring that the Nigerian people own the battle. The legitimacy of the battle will be achieved when the Nigerian people do not just key into it but own it. At the moment, the legality of the campaign has only been sustained by the laws creating anti-graft agencies in the country.
Looking back at the last one year, I believe the government needs to focus on the prosecution so that the deterrent which they meant to serve will be clearly achieved. That is when people will know then that it is no longer business as usual. There will be specific cases to show that the government is serious.
The argument that the corruption war is lopsided but it is a regular refrain that lacks rigorous intellectual reasoning. What will make sense is if there is categorical denial and they are exonerated in the court of law. But if they are actually corrupt and some are complaining it is lopsided, that is not a categorical denial of the allegation.
The government has obviously invested a lot to combat insecurity in the country. It was challenging to the sensibilities of Nigerians that funds meant for the fight against insurgency were diverted and in the process, exposing the military to unimaginable danger.
Buhari should drive reforms- President, Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Austin Alegeh
President Muhammadu Buhari has done fairly well. In everything we do in life, we can do something better, but in all, we believe that the President has done reasonably well.
The only thing for me to say is that there is still room for the government to do more.
We want the government to specifically drive reforms in all fronts because reform is the foundation in everything that we do.
If the government can drive reforms, things will get better; that should be the concern of the current government.
We need more patience with Buhari- Physicist, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof. Anthony Nwokoye
The present government is doing well presently. Lots of damage was done by the previous governments. I think the challenges of Nigeria cannot all be solved in one year. We just need to re-organise ourselves and have some patience. The rot in the system shows that there were no plans by the previous administration, but things are being put in place now. For example, the deregulation of the oil sector and the development of the natural resources sector are commendable. Let us be patient with the present administration. I think it will do well in the long run.
No one forced this government to take up Nigeria’s challenges – Rights activist, Annkio Briggs
There is no way you can assess the performance of the current government without actually looking at the three basic shopping meal with which the All Progressives Congress came into power. For instance, if you look at the economy today, you can no longer run away from the reality on ground. When this government was coming in, the writing was on the wall in terms of fall in the price of oil. You can’t run away from the fact that the rate of dollar to the naira was going up and that there was not enough dollars to do personal things or business. Those writings were on the wall and it is not Buhari’s fault or Goodluck Jonathan’s fault, but all of these things should have been taken into consideration.
The high level of suffering is much, there is poverty. We have a minimum wage of N18, 000 and the pump price of fuel has risen to N145. The issues of poor power supply and high cost of transportation are there. School fees have also gone up. So, how do you run your home? This current government came to power with the promise to do better than the last administration. Nobody forced the government to come to power.
Buhari needs our support -Former Super Eagles coach, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde
I have a serious pity and concern for Nigerian citizens. We are easily taken in by negative thinkers. All this rot we are talking about didn’t start today.
President Muhammadu Buhari is going through a lot now. Since he came into office, we have seen the level of calamity that has been exposed. A single person has been discovered to hoard an amount of money worth the five-year budget of a state. The government is trying to recover all these stolen funds, and even some may not be fully recovered in the next two to three years. So, where do Nigerians want the man to start from?
Things have been distressed to an extent that only God can save us in this country. Each time I see Buhari on television, I feel like shedding tears for him because of the enormity of the task ahead of him. Unfortunately, we have Nigerians who cannot see anything positive in what he is doing. Things are not easy, so we must give him a lot of credit for the steps he has taken so far.
Buhari is highly systematic in his approach and when you have someone in that frame of mind, you only need to exercise patience otherwise you’ll be distorting things. He is going to do well if Nigerians give him the right type of support. If we all play our individual roles, Nigeria would become a better place in the very near future.
We need more patience- Musician, Capital F.E.M.I
I think Nigerians should be a bit more patient with this government because it is moving in the right direction. It is in the process of making Nigeria great but before that can happen we need to go through some things. I think the people should be patient because the government is going in the right direction. I don’t think it can do it in one year but it is a start. Nigerians just need to understand that everything is going to be alright. We would find out very soon because if we do not like this government, we have the power to vote it out. We have to understand that Nigeria has been bad for a long time and nobody can just turn it around in four years, but it is a start.
This government has no clear-cut policy- Film maker, Fidelis Duker
If we would be objective, the government has not really given us a clear-cut policy as regards the economy. The economy is at its lowest point and some would ascribe it to corruption on the part of the previous government, but I think it goes beyond that. I think the government has to engage with the people if we must understand their policy. I think the situation management has not been too good. People do not understand the direction of this government. Beyond that, I think it is too early to criticise it. In the area of fighting corruption, it has done very well. As regards growing the economy beyond where it was before it came in, it has not done too well. In the political arena, we have had several inconclusive elections. I think the electoral commission should sit up and get its acts together during the forthcoming governorship polls in the various states. As regards, Arts and Culture, I would say that the government understands that this sector can be a major revenue earner for the country. A culture summit took place in Abuja and we must commend the government for recognising other avenues where it could generate resources and employ youths. I hope the papers from that submit would be implemented. For me, the power sector has been very unimpressive for it to have gone down to 0 megawatt generation this year. It is quite appalling. We are hoping that with the signing of the budget things would be better. I hope that the budget would be implemented, at least to 80 per cent as previous governments did not implement it to up to 50 per cent. I expect that the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway would be completed.