Now that Buhari’s second term has commenced

A few days ago, President Muhammadu Buhari took oath of office for a second term. In his first tenure in office, President Buhari was criticised for what many saw as the slow running of the country’s affairs. It took the president six months to form his cabinet and though Buhari’s administration inherited a battered economy as a result of alleged massive corruption in the previous government and the fall in crude oil price, it failed to improve the situation. Sadly under his watch, reports have it that over 87 million Nigerians languish in abject poverty. Despite this, the government has been busy blowing its trumpet over what it called the successful implementation of its social investment programmes such as; N-power,school feeding, Anchor borrowers and conditional cash transfer. But in truth, these programmes have failed to impact positively on the lives of majority of Nigerians. It was not a surprise to hear the wife of the president criticise the implementation last weekend.

The Buhari government was able to downgrade Boko Haram and that is commendable, but the country is still not safe. The insecurity situation across the country appears to be worsening. Banditry and kidnapping have become the order of the day. The activities of these groups of criminals have resulted in the death of thousands of Nigerians. So, as Buhari commences his second term in office, I urge him to change the narrative. Unlike in the last dispensation where Buhari spent about six months without a cabinet, it is hoped that he will speed things up this time around. The social investment programme should also be reviewed to address the persistent rise in poverty level in the country, because it appears as if the billions of naira channelled to these programmes are not getting to those who really need it.  In the area of insecurity, there is a need for massive shake-up. Some officers have over stayed and outlived their usefulness. The defence budget should also be properly monitored to ensure that funds meant for the procurement of arms and ammunition are judiciously utilised.

Ibrahim Mustapha wrote this piece from Kaduna State.