Nigerians should be proud of how much progressive politics has helped in tackling our challenges of development in seven years.
It all started when Buhari’s CPC, Tinubu’s ACN and Oyegun’s ANPP as well as others came together to pull off the greatest political coalition in Nigeria’s history.
They, through the ballot, booted out an incumbent president, routed at the 2015 general elections a party that boasted of being the biggest in Africa and had wished to retain power for at least 50 years – in the first instance. Were these coalition men our national heroes? Or was their effort for vainglory?
While we have not arrived where we wanted, we have made progress as a nation in search of direction, development and reforms towards a better and more accountable polity.
For those who forget too easily, in 2015, the federal government and most state governments were borrowing just to pay salaries of their workers. Governments could not meet the burden of their recurrent expenditures alone. This appalling situation necessitated the “state bailout funds” the Buhari administration sourced and disbursed so early in its life. Yet governments had stacked up a debt burden of over $63 billion. To boot, there was no infrastructure, no tangible capital projects on this debt bill and, as we saw, governments at all levels could not pay their workers.
While we have not arrived where we wanted, we have made progress as a nation in search of direction, development and reforms towards a better and more accountable polity. For those who forget too easily, in 2015, the federal government and most state governments were borrowing just to pay salaries of their workers. Governments could not meet the burden of their recurrent expenditures alone. This appalling situation necessitated the “state bailout funds” the Buhari administration sourced and disbursed so early in its life. Yet governments had stacked up a debt burden of over $63 billion. To boot, there was no infrastructure, no tangible capital projects on this debt bill and, as we saw, governments at all levels could not pay their workers.
Our external reserve —that foreign exchange reserve and backup funds, which serves to keep us liquid in case of crises and provide confidence to investors that we can pay for our supplies – was depleted from an all-time-high $58 billion in 2008 to $29 billion in 2015. Yet we were growing exponentially as a net importer of almost all our staple foods and textile products – from rice and maize to clothing materials. Our import bill on rice alone was estimated at over $1 billion a year. We were bleeding; it was just a matter of time before we were comatose.
On security, Boko Haram did not only have their flags hoisted in Nigerian local governments/districts, they could bomb Abuja and neighbouring villages at will. Bomb squads were a constant reminder of their menace in Abuja, the city of our sovereign powers. On the war fronts, our soldiers were recorded periodically fleeing from the terrorists’ acclaimed superior fire power in very embarrassing media exposes.
Nigerians should be proud of how much progressive politics has helped in tackling our challenges of development in seven years.
It all started when Buhari’s CPC, Tinubu’s ACN and Oyegun’s ANPP as well as others came together to pull off the greatest political coalition in Nigeria’s history. They, through the ballot, booted out an incumbent president, routed at the 2015 general elections a party that boasted of being the biggest in Africa and had wished to retain power for at least 50 years – in the first instance. Were these coalition men our national heroes? Or was their effort for vainglory?
While we have not arrived where we wanted, we have made progress as a nation in search of direction, development and reforms towards a better and more accountable polity. For those who forget too easily, in 2015, the federal government and most state governments were borrowing just to pay salaries of their workers. Governments could not meet the burden of their recurrent expenditures alone. This appalling situation necessitated the “state bailout funds” the Buhari administration sourced and disbursed so early in its life. Yet governments had stacked up a debt burden of over $63 billion. To boot, there was no infrastructure, no tangible capital projects on this debt bill and, as we saw, governments at all levels could not pay their workers.
Our external reserve —that foreign exchange reserve and backup funds, which serves to keep us liquid in case of crises and provide confidence to investors that we can pay for our supplies – was depleted from an all-time-high $58 billion in 2008 to $29 billion in 2015. Yet we were growing exponentially as a net importer of almost all our staple foods and textile products – from rice and maize to clothing materials. Our import bill on rice alone was estimated at over $1 billion a year. We were bleeding; it was just a matter of time before we were comatose.
On security, Boko Haram did not only have their flags hoisted in Nigerian local governments/districts, they could bomb Abuja and neighbouring villages at will. Bomb squads were a constant reminder of their menace in Abuja, the city of our sovereign powers. On the war fronts, our soldiers were recorded periodically fleeing from the terrorists’ acclaimed superior fire power in very embarrassing media exposes.
Seven years after, many states are paying their workers’ salaries regularly. The federal government is not defaulting in any of her obligations to workers, whether in service or retired. Nigeria is not defaulting in any of her debt servicing obligations either. On the whole, Nigeria has borrowed extra $68 billion between 2016 and 2020 but now has major roads, economic dams and bridges, several train services, upgraded airport terminals, and an ongoing trans-Saharan gas pipeline project to show for it. These are capital investments that are already solid props for the Nigerian economy. It is more robust and able to sustain fair growth potentials and predictions as well as ward off recessions.
The country’s foreign reserve has been replenished and grown to over $40 billion as at December 2021.
Abiola Taiye Oluwabunmi, an ambitious and driven individual, is currently pursuing her undergraduate degree in Mass Communication at the University of Ilorin. Her journalistic pursuits are evident in her love for reporting, photography, and content writing. She has gained valuable experience in the world of business as a result of her work with X Culture International Organizations, where she excelled in market strategy and analysis, research, SWOT analysis, and various other business-related tasks.
Abiola’s passion and dedication to her work make her a standout among her peers.