Not everyone agrees with the All Progressives' Congress' (APC) notion that Nigeria is nowhere close to being a failed state under President Buhari. It's just false notion that every average Nigerian can attest to. The ruling party call themselves "progressives" but in reality, most of its powerful members are regressives who have drawn and continue to draw us back in every aspect. It has been five years since Muhammadu Buhari clinched power and things have only gone from bad to worse.
Tackling insecurity was the central message of Buhari's campaign in 2015. Being a northerner, he didn't miss any opportunity to criticize the then President Jonathan-led federal government's response to the level of insecurity in the north. Today, Buhari is president and has totally failed in ending insecurity. The Boko Haram insurgency, by far, remains an undefeated threat. Nigerians have never felt insecure than they are right now. Buhari used to command a strong and loyal following among northerners, but now they have lost faith in him and are openly coming out to speak against him.
"Next Level," that was Buhari's second term campaign slogan. Well, he has been fulfilling that promise. Less than a year after his re-election, our economy slipped into the worst recession for the first time since 1984, as well as the second recession since Buhari has been in office. It is noteworthy to mention that Buhari was the military head of state from 1983-85.
While Buhari has left the country's economy in shambles, he has continued to enrich himself, his family and his cronies. Recently, the 2021 Appropriation Bill was passed in the National Assembly and it says a quarter of the budget will be funded by loans. The cost of governance is just mind blowing. Of the N13 trillion budget, the presidency and the federal ministries altogether will receive N3.3 trillion, while the two houses of the National Assembly will receive N128 billion. Meanwhile, some states are still struggling to pay a meager minimum wage of N30000 to workers, poverty and unemployment rate is on the rise.
While I'm not an ardent supporter of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), I do believe Nigeria was in a much more better shape during their rule. However, not all of the members of the APC are terrible, there are some members with goodwill who are really progressives and put the interest of the people first. Take state governors like Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara, Babagana Zulum of Borno, for instance. They are epitomes of what good leadership is.
Nevertheless, Buhari will still be the president for the next three years. We can only hope for better things to happen during that time.
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