By Moboluwade Tobiloba
The President Muhammadu Buhari administration has been berated as being incapable, high-handed, and failing to eradicate corruption in the country.
London-based news magazine, The Economist, made this known in an editorial published in its October 23, 2021 issue.
The editorial titled, ‘The Crime Scene at the Heart of Africa’ explained in detail how Buhari’s mismanagement of the economy, food prices had risen while life had become more difficult for Nigerians.
It read in part, “Economic troubles are compounded by a government that is inept and heavy-handed. Mr Buhari, who was elected in 2015, turned an oil shock into a recession by propping up the naira and barring many imports in the hope this would spur domestic production.
“Instead he sent annual food inflation soaring above 20 per cent. He has failed to curb corruption, which breeds resentment. Many Nigerians are furious that they see so little benefit from the country’s billions of petrodollars, much of which their rulers have squandered or stolen.”
The editorial went further to reveal that even before COVID-19 in 2020, Nigeria was already witnessing unprecedented poverty.
The news magazine then described The Nigerian Police Force as understaffed, demoralized and poorly trained.
It further explained the protests held in 2020 and the reactions of soldiers towards the protesters as unruly.
“Soldiers and police who murder or torture should be prosecuted. That no one has been held accountable for the slaughter of perhaps 15 peaceful demonstrators against police abuses in Lagos last year is a scandal. The secret police should stop ignoring court orders to release people who are being held illegally. This would not just be morally right, but also practical: young men who see or experience state brutality are more likely to join extremist groups,” it said.
The Economist also noted that Nigeria was home to one of the largest film industries in the world and had the most successful start-ups in sub-Saharan Africa.
It argued that despite the great potential of the country, youths were beginning to emigrate in droves and getting involved in wrong means of getting money because of the pitiful state of nation.
