A daily newspaper published in Lagos State, Nigeria by an acclaimed national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and 2023 presidential hopeful, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has published a damning article on the President Muhammadu Buhari led government.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the article titled “Buhari administration’s failed promises”, written by Agunloye Adewunmi Bashiru, lambasted the Buhari government for not fulfilling promises made to Nigerians.
The article, published by The Nation, which has largely maintained absolute silence on the failures of the Buhari’s administration, showed how the government made things worse since Buhari took over the reins of the country in 2015.
“Before this administration came to power in 2015, the price of a bag of rice was N8,567; now the price is N27,000. A bag of beans sold for N23,000 now it sells for between N40,000 to N50,000. The Naira was N199.0151 to the US Dollar now it is N414.924 at the official rate, while in the parallel market is beyond N570 to a dollar. Petrol pump price was N97 per litre and now sells for N165 per litre. Factually, prices of all commodities, transportation fare, electricity tariff, rent for accommodation and many others continue to skyrocket out of the reach of most Nigerians.
“Universities were closed for nearly one year in 2020 due to strike by the Academic Staff of Universities (ASUU). The union in February this year again proceeded on what it called a four-week “comprehensive and total” strike. If care is not taken, another long strike is looming because the government is yet to find a solution to all issues at stake.
“In 2015 Nigeria’s external debt was $7.35 billion in 2015 but in 2021 our external borrowings stood at $37.96 billion.
“There is no equal distribution of our commonwealth because some sections of Nigeria are enjoying more government patronage in the area of juicy federal appointments,” the article reads.
Continuing, the article quoted a report carried out by Business Day newspaper in 2017 tagged “81 of Buhari’s 100 appointees are Northerners” that accused President Buhari of nepotism.
“Some agencies of government like Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and many others are headed by people from a section of the country,” it added.
The article also lambasted Buhari for failing to address the issue of security as he promised during campaigns running into the 2015 general elections, and highlighted how the majority of Nigerians are suffering and dying of hunger.
The article reads in part: “With less than 16 months to the end of the tenure of this administration, the country continued to be enmeshed in unending insecurity which includes terrorist attacks and killings by the notorious Islamic States West Africa Province (ISWAP), Boko Haram and bandits. Also, corruption in different forms in the government institutions have increased, prices of foodstuffs have skyrocketed, electricity supply is at a low ebb, unemployment rate is alarming, the value of the naira has dropped beyond imagination and rate of armed robbery is alarming to mention but few.
“Majority of the people are suffering, people are dying of hunger, lack of good and adequate health care. The rate of crime is alarming, the future of Nigerian youths is at stake because of the high rate of unemployment in the country; companies are closing because of the cost of production and operation. It is only the politicians and their cronies who have easy access to public funds that are comfortable because they can steal public funds as much as they want”.
TNG reports Tinubu, after recently meeting with Buhari, has been circling Nigeria campaigning to become the next president of Nigeria in 2023, promising to make the country better and not give excuses for failure.