In its latest news report on Nigeria and its February 2023 presidential election, the London-based The Economist magazine has described the retired General Muhammadu Buhari presidency as “eight dismal years”
Complaints of insecurity and unemployment are made additionally remarkable by the fact that Buhari’s political party All Progressives Congress’ Vice-Presidential candidate in the general election, a former Senator and former Governor Kashim Shettima, concedes that Mr. Buhari has done only “modestly well”.
The Economist which endorsed Buhari during the polling when was first elected in 2015, stated pointedly that “he has floundered on almost every measure. Between 2015 and 2020 the average income per person (adjusted for local purchasing power) slid from $5,400 to $4,900 a year. The share of Nigerians living on less than $1.90 a day, which had fallen from about 43% to 37% in the previous five years, increased to almost 40% in 2019, before covid-19 hit. Violence has spread across the country. Last year jihadists, bandits, and separatists hit at least 550 of the country’s 774 local government areas (see map.) More than 3,000 people were kidnapped last year, an almost 30-fold increase on 2016. Many were children.”
USAfrica magazine and USAfricaonline.com have cited severally the seemingly intractable problems for Buhari in the areas of insecurity, jihadists attacks, ethnic and religious bigotry. Those are drowning and destroying any viable, significant and credible legacy claims by Buhari. By Chido Nwangwu, Founder & Publisher of USAfrica multimedia networks, Houston. Follow him @Chido247
