3 weeks ago
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Major opposition parties in the country have openly berated President Bola Tinubu and his predecessor, former President Muhammadu Buhari, over the fallen standard of governance and consistent violation of the citizen’s rights in the past decade.
The opposition vented their anger in separate interviews with The PUNCH.
But the ruling All Progressives Congress kicked, saying Nigeria is gradually on its way to full recovery, following the reforms put in place by the current administration.
The exchange of brickbats is coming in the wake of Wednesday’s report by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation ranking Nigeria among one of the 11 African nations with the worst record of bad governance since 2014.
The 2024 Ibrahim Index of African Governance published by the foundation saw Nigeria, once touted as the giant of the continent, slumped three places from 30th on the continent to 33rd.
The IIAG report, which has been consistently published since 2007, assesses the performance of 54 African countries every two years over the last available decade.
The current report posited that 33 countries had a remarkable improvement in terms of good governance while 21 nations seriously retrogressed from where they were in 2014.
Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, was grouped alongside Sudan, Senegal, Tunisia, Uganda, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Eswatini, Guinea, Mauritius, and Mozambique as countries that deteriorated in governance.
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation report has since gone viral and generated mixed reactions among Nigerians.
Reacting, the Deputy National Youth Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, Timothy Osadolor, said the report was a true reflection of what Nigerians were going through.
He said, “It is unfortunate that despite the humongous and diverse resources that God and nature have blessed us with as a people, the leadership in the past years, with the inclusion of President Bola Tinubu’s one-year, has been terrible, underwhelming, and unbearable.
“One would expect that with all the intellectuals available to us, we would be at a stage where the whole world would want to copy our model just like those of the Koreans and Singaporeans, but our leaders are very adept in stealing rather than giving opportunities for development for the people.
“You would have expected that the insecurity and the hunger in the land, the ailing economy would be addressed or a marshal plan would be drawn out.
“That report, if it is completed, should be sent to the President for him to read and address the hunger and the sorrow. I think that report would have served its purpose.”
The National Youth Leader of the Labour Party, Kennedy Ahanaotu, lamented that it was unfortunate the country had consistently ended up having bad leaders running its affairs in the last two decades.
He said, “Nigeria has enjoyed and tolerated the worst of leadership in Africa. So, for me, I feel that Nigeria is practising what we call Kakhistocracy and Kleptocracy, where the less qualified are ruling the qualified.
“According to one of my mentors, Abraham Lincoln, no man is too good to lead another.
“Here in this part of the world, we elect people who will turn back to become our god. The moment we elect them, we begin to worship them. So, that is an unfortunate situation and so we will continue to pray until the day we comparatively begin to select patriotic leaders.
“But practically speaking, there are certain people who are not expected to be in a position of power by virtue of their record, current position and disposition to national policy and politics. So, I don’t think it is biased in any way.”
The New Nigeria People’s Party also decried the report, saying it was a slap on the face of the nation.
In an exclusive phone chat, the National Publicity Secretary of NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, noted that the incompetence and cluelessness of successive governments in Nigeria were glaring for all to see.
“It is unfortunate. At the same time, it is a true reflection of where the country is. The administration has been inept at best.
“With the recent appointments of new ministers and reshuffling of cabinets, it has been obtuse. This administration has been inept at best.
“This government has repeatedly failed to listen to the voices of the people. But we hope that with the reshuffling of the ministers, we will begin to see a reset of the policies of governance, so that by the time it hits mid-term of next year (May 29), its scorecard will be better,” he stated.
The APC, however, disagreed with the submission of the opposition.
In an exclusive phone chat with The PUNCH, the National Publicity Director of the party, Bala Ibrahim, insisted that it would be unfair to use a particular indicator to measure the progress of a country when it was obvious that every country across the globe had its domestic challenges.
He said, “When people sit in the comfort of a foreign environment and theorise things that are the domestic challenges of another country, I think they are not being fair.
“No one is saying Nigeria or Africa is not facing challenges. But these countries and continents are not living in isolation from other situations abroad.
“Though we agree Nigeria is not where it ought to be yet, it is unfair to say it has not moved from where it doesn’t want to be. There are challenges. The opposition needs to revisit their conscience for saying these challenges are not being addressed.
“Some of these challenges are bequeathed to the country as a result of their mismanagement. They misruled the country for so long. Now that the country is gaining momentum in the right direction, they are saying the effort in getting the country back on its feet is at a snail speed. That is very wrong.”
