And how did they arrive at that? US Wall Street Journals shared an
article on its website written by Pete Hoekstra titled “Buhari Is
Nigeria’s Problem, Not Its Solution”. The article accused President
Buhari of Inflexibility, lack of vision and reactive approach to issues.
Read the article below
Nigerian President Muhummadu Buhari writes of building an economic
bridge to Nigeria’s future (“The Three Changes Nigeria Needs,” op-ed,
June 14). It’s hard to see how his administration’s inflexibility, lack
of vision and reactive approach will achieve this. Mr. Buhari notes that
building trust is a priority for Nigeria.
But an anticorruption drive that is selective and
focused on senior members of the opposition party creates deep political
divisions. Meanwhile, members of Mr. Buhari’s own cabinet, accused of
large-scale corruption, walk free. Seventy percent of the national
treasury is spent on the salaries and benefits of government officials,
who make upwards of $2 million a year. As for Mr. Buhari’s ideas to
rebalance the economy and regenerate growth, his damaging and outdated
monetary policy has been crippling.
The manufacturing sector, essential to Nigeria’s diversification, has
been hardest hit, exacerbating an already fast-growing employment
crisis. Foreign investors have started to flee en masse. Mr. Buhari
makes only brief mention of the country’s deteriorating security
situation. But security and stability are precursors to economic growth
and development. Boko Haram has been pushed back for now, but little
attention is paid to the structural issues that have spurred its rise.
Instead, the Nigerian government has diverted much-needed military
resources to the Niger Delta, where rising militancy has reduced
Nigeria’s oil production to less than half the country’s capacity, and
half the amount required to service the national budget. Much of these
tensions arise from Mr. Buhari’s decision to cut amnesty payments to
militants and an excessively hard-line approach in a socially and
politically sensitive environment. Other ethnic tensions are also
growing. In the country’s south, protests have been met by a bloody
response from the Nigerian military, stoking the fire and galvanizing
support for an independent state of Biafra. Rising tensions could again
pose one of the greatest threats to Nigeria’s stability and future.
