Who will laugh last; President Buhari or these five national problems?

– President Muhammadu Buhari is seen by some sections of the country as a man who is fighting so many battles

– The president rode on the mantra of ‘Change’ to win the 2015 presidential election

– President Buhari’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) sold the Change revolution to the electorates prior to the general elections last year

– Buhari’s government is still preaching ‘Change’ through the various government institutions without the lives of the citizens faring any better

Critics of President Muhammadu Buhari think he is a disaster to the country. They see no good in him. They believe he has seriously under-performed in the one year plus he took over the mantle of leadership. How true these are, the different national problems on ground tell the story.

On the other hand, die-hard fans of the former military ruler believe he is the best thing that could ever have happened to Nigeria at this time. They based their argument on the fact that he is insulated from corruption and all forms of corrupt practices.

These Buharists also say their hero inherited a 16-year-collapsed building from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Therefore, he needs more time.

The truth about all these for and against arguments is that President Buhari will become a hero or a villain at the end of 2019 if the five major monsters threatening Nigeria’s unity are not tackled headlong.

1. Corruption/bad leadership

The bane of growth and development in Nigeria is corruption. This behemoth has given birth to other evils in the country after devouring a good number of people who stand for justice and truthfulness.

Presently, the toxic odour of corruption is choking almost everybody to death.

Bad leadership and corruption are both synonymous. Since 1960 that Nigeria gained her independence from British, out of all the people that have led the country in one capacity or the other since then, the number of leaders who stood out are not up to three.

Nigeria has had executive presidents/Head of States who spent more than seven years in office without any tangible developmental effects on the poor masses. They even left the country poorer than they met it.

Buhari himself is familiar to the leadership terrain. This is his second time he is leading the country and Nigerians are eager he provides the kind of leadership which has eluded the country for more than half a century.

Senate president Bukola Saraki and deputy Senate president Ike Ekweremadu

Time will tell if Buhari will be a part of the solution or part of the problem of bad leadership

2. Battered economy and unemployment

Why can’t President Buhari fix the economy? Is he that he has no economic experts to work with?

Early in February this year, Nigeria’s inflation rate hit an all time high of over 13%. Then, one economic expert even said the country was suffering from ‘economic ebola.’ In addition, many local investors said early 2015 was one of the worst they ever witnessed.

At the parallel market, a dollar is exchanged at N345. This is rather absurd. It is much on the high side. There is no country in the world which will have a prosperous economy when the foreign exchange rate is totally not in favour of the local currency.
Talking about buying goods and commodities at the market, prices have hiked and are beyond the reach of the common man. People starve to death everyday.
The army of unemployed youths is scary. Nobody seems to know what is being done to salvage the nation’s battered as the government should works towards preventing a situation whereby Nigeria does not become present day Venezuela where citizens have become food robbers due to food shortage...

To be continued...