As one year approaches

Many political commentators and supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are reluctant to highlight the shortcomings of President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) and his administration. In just over a month they will celebrate one year in office and in true Nigerian style the media will be overflowing with congratulatory messages. It’s become almost taboo to […]

Many political commentators and supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are reluctant to highlight the shortcomings of President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) and his administration. In just over a month they will celebrate one year in office and in true Nigerian style the media will be overflowing with congratulatory messages.
It’s become almost taboo to criticize PMB under any circumstances. Yet despite a general consensus that he hasn’t had enough time to solve our major problems and make a marked difference, there is no excuse for things getting worse. One of the tests of good leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency, and PMB increasingly appears to focus on the anti-corruption war to the detriment of everything else that requires urgent attention especially the economy which is in a mess. Everyone agrees that all is not well.
The micro-economic indicators are not looking good, our currency is becoming worthless, and with a quarter of the year gone the 2016 budget is yet to be signed. President Goodluck Jonathan (GEJ) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) may be responsible for the present economic mess, but they are not responsible for the shortcomings of this administration.
Nigerians would have re-elected GEJ if they wanted to keep blaming him for their problems. Having got rid of him, there is nothing to celebrate almost one year after his departure. In the 2015 election there was an “us” and “them” scenario in which the APC campaigned as if they were morally superior to the PDP. It seems this administration believes good intentions and solid reputations are all that is required to run a successful government. They are mistaken. The latest World Bank analysis of our economic prospects indicates that as commendable as it may be, recovering looted funds shouldn’t be our priority. According to the analysis for every N1 lost on corruption, the nation has lost N10 to what they term “legal sovereign incompetence”. (e.g. Ajaokuta, NITEL, Nigeria Airways etc.).
In other words government habitually squanders far more than is being stolen. A cursory examination of the proposed 2016 budget confirms that the squander-mania continues. There is work to be done. The current crisis has been exacerbated by the fact that when APC came to power they had no economic roadmap, no council of economic advisors and basically no plan other than winning the election. It took PMB five months to assemble a cabinet and five months later they are yet to start meaningful work. It was a serious mistake to think a new cabinet could author a meaningful budget in under two months. New ministers proved no match for long term civil servants. PMB’s anti-corruption war concentrates on recovering looted funds rather than actually stopping corrupt practices.
The 2016 budget fiasco is evidence that this administration had no plan to deal with long entrenched selfish interests in the civil service which frustrate probity and progress. For Nigerian bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing, they habitually incur expenditure with no tangible results. Fortunately for PMB one year after the elections the opposition is in disarray. In spite of his reputation for integrity he reneged on both the APC’s “100 Days” campaign promises and the September 30th Cabinet deadline.
He is also guilty of arbitrary handling of monetary policy; issuing policy statements through foreign media; imposing stamp duties on bank transfers; a whimsical and unprofessional reform of ministries, and a disdain for the rule of law in anti-corruption matters. However no one sees a PDP government as a viable option. The nation urgently requires the appointment of an experienced economic management team to resolve the many contradictions in our economic policies.
Government imports petrol from nations where the government doesn’t regulate the price of fuel. Government wants to increase internally generated revenue, but fails to provide necessary infrastructure for business to thrive. Nigerians live, work and study abroad enjoying all the benefits of free open markets, but our government prescribes “banning” and “import substitution” as the remedy to providing a better life for our citizens. Whatever seems important to PMB he wants to take care of personally.
As Minister for Petroleum he must accept responsibility for the mess in fuel supply. The buck stops at his table because responsibility cannot be delegated like authority. To avoid such unnecessary embarrassment in future he must embrace the concept of delegation and stop micromanaging. Nigeria has become a never ending tale of failed leaders and failed expectations.
It is hoped that PMB will break the jinx but personal integrity and probity are not enough. The nation requires a president who understands modern economics and how free markets work. To all intents and purposes the plans and targets being articulated by this government are no different from the 1970’s era plans that failed.