The Nigerian economy has being struggling for years now, a struggle that got worse when President Muhammadu Buhari took over in 2015.
The economic downturn has reflected in an exponential drop in the value of the Naira, from N190 per $1 to N620 per $1.
In addition, Nigeria’s debts are well over N34 trillion, with the debts growing more than 176% since Buhari assumed office. In that six year period, between 2015 and 2021, N20.8 trillion has been borrowed. That figure is very high especially when you consider that before his tenure began, the country’s debt was just N12.12 trillion.
To put it into perspective, below are some of the ways the Nigerian economy has being shredded during Buhari’s tenure:
- Excessive printing of money. During the current administration, the Federal Government led by the former General has authorised excessive printing of the Naira, thereby causing inflation.
- Expropriated billions of $ from the biggest foreign investor in your country. Foreign investment plays a measure role in developing a nation’s economy, and for a nation like Nigeria, so much depends on it. Yet during Buhari’s regime, Nigeria’s biggest investor at the time was pushed out.
- Buhari also allowed proceeds from the sale of huge volumes of Nigeria’s primary export (crude oil) to disappear daily into private illegal accounts. Despite the President’s public tone of being against corruption, there has been a lot of embezzling and siphoning of public funds under his watch. And the EFCC, the nations foremost antigraft agency does nothing because it is controlled by the Commander in Chief.
- Closed land borders to foreign exchange earning export trade, thereby shutting the gateway for locally made goods to be exported.
- Created a dual exchange rate, promoting huge corrupt arbitrage.
- Allowed the central bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele to introduce the most ridiculously profitable currency swaps for foreign investors which sucks all the cash that could have been Foreign Direct Investment(FDI). According to Nairametrics, the last time Nigeria recorded lower FDIs, was in Q1 2010 when it managed to attract foreign direct investments valued at $73.93 million. According to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), FDI is an integral part of an open and effective international economic system and a major catalyst to a country’s development. However, Nigeria has failed to attract foreign investments in form of FDIs to its local businesses in recent times, which is a cause for worry especially for a country in dire need of an economic boost.
- Allowed massive insecurity all over Nigeria, disincentive to capital formation. The Nigerian economy has been ravaged by a number of problems, ranging from macro-economic factors such as inflation, unemployment, ease of doing business to socio-economic factors such as banditry, kidnapping, and insurgency, hence affecting the sentiments of foreign investors towards the economy.
- Buhari also allowed Nigeria’s most important seaport to become congested by the equipment imports of Aliko Dangote to build his refinery, bottlenecking everybody else. Buhari assumed office on the back of a campaign manifesto to revive Nigerian refineries. 7 years in and none is working. Now, the hope of the Nation hangs on the refinery Dangote has built, which will not be enough.
- Buhari also created an anemic rice production industrial policy that diverted huge amounts of Central Bank cash into private pockets .
- The President also refused to obey the rule of law, attacking judges, freezing accounts illegally, shooting protesters, and doing all sorts of things, disincentive to capital formation.
- He also ruined the nation’s fiscal credibility and credit rating with a hugely corrupt fuel subsidy regime, despite series of warnings.
