President Buhari should pay attention to this poll

This past week was notable for some who supported Buhari’s campaign having to come out openly to apologise for that support, and apologise to anyone they helped convince along the way.

It is a sign of how bad the Buhari administration has performed since coming to power in May 2015 and how much support he has lost. By any measure, he is much less popular. In November, his job approval rating according to NOI Polls was at 80%, but by June, it had fallen to 39%. Even this YNaija Poll shows the same shift, with only 13% saying the President is ‘carrying the youth along’.

Were once many quoted his ‘I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody’ line in his inauguration speech, some are already speaking openly of replacing him in 2019.

Those who still defend the administration reflexively point to the crash in oil prices – with no obvious improvement on the way – the corruption and the insecurity left behind by the Jonathan administration, as the reasons things are still so bad.

They say that in a sense, Nigeria is like a patient rushed into the emergency room for surgery, with multiple organs failing at once.

They are right, but here is the problem: the first rule is to ‘do no harm’, and plenty of harm has been done already.

A generation ago, it was the management of the economy after a crash in oil prices that made the problem worse, leading to a lost generation. Many went abroad then as the economy suffered and industries closed up. Buhari’s policies as head of state were significantly to blame then, and they are significantly to blame now.

Given the collapse of oil prices from June 2014, a senseless policy of defending the Naira’s value predictably failed in spectacular fashion, and was abandoned soon after a similarly ill-advised petroleum subsidy was also discontinued. Both of these moves were obvious, but only happened after stubborn rhetoric met with the full force of economic reality. There is also a list of items that are not eligible for foreign exchange and import bans on several items, like rice.

The sum total of these policies have led to rising inflation which hurts the poor the most, a drying up of foreign investment and an economy in recession. Many people are losing their jobs as firms are forced to cut staff to stay afloat, or are folding up altogether.

Young professionals are leaving the country in droves, with places like Canada a very popular destination. To be fair, this emigration has been a feature of Nigeria for decades, but if things were really getting better over time, would so many still be leaving?

On top of this, Buhari displays the same aloofness many accused Goodluck Jonathan of showing. Just like Jonathan’s response to Boko Haram was seen as tepid by many and lacking in the necessary concern, Buhari is perceived as not viewing the violence by Fulani herdsmen as a priority, making him appear increasingly sectional in his approach.

This is a President that doesn’t talk to his people, who doesn’t go among them to listen to them, first hand, without the filter of his aides in the villa. Having ministers do town hall meetings is great, but it is not quite the same thing as the President himself speaking directly to the people. When he does speak, it is often through foreign news media. The Nigerian people seem to be an afterthought.

All the while, the Jonathan administration is still mentioned as if it were still in power. The Buhari administration and those who support it have forgotten that it is precisely because the last government wasn’t deemed to be doing enough, that they were replaced.

As such, constant references to the past are beginning to grate, and this government does itself no favours by such references. What people care about is the here and now: the power situation, the tanking economy, and a President that is cold and distant.

All three can be made much better, and there is not a moment to lose.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

cool good eh love2 cute confused notgood numb disgusting fail