It was a mixed bag of knocks and kudos as socio-cultural organisations such as Arewa Consultative Forum, Ohaneze Ndigbo and Afenifere gave a mid-term assessment of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Prominent Nigerians including lawmakers also scored the administration’s performance.

While commending the administration for its strides in tackling corruption and the Boko Haram menace; ACF knocked the administration over its failure to fix the power sector.

ACF suggested that the administration should, as a matter of urgency, reverse the privatisation of the power sector because it had become glaring that those who bought the nation’s power assets lacked the capacity to deliver.

National Publicity Secretary of the Forum, Muhammad Ibrahim, said, “ACF had earlier called on the Federal Government to take necessary and practical steps to improve the power supply including reviewing the privatisation.

“The Senate has of recent taken the same position by asking the government to reverse the privatisation of the power sector in view of the inability of the private entrepreneurs to improve power supply and distribution.”

ACF lauded the administration for degrading Boko Haram militants in the North-East and for the release of over 100 out of the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by the terrorists three years ago.

It’s been two years of disappointment – Afenifere

However, National Publicity Secretary of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, described Buhari’s first two years in office as disappointing.

He said, “In the last two years, there have been clear gaps between promises and delivery, expectations and actualisation.

“We have seen a situation where all indices today are worse than they were before the 2015 elections.

“The economy is in a terrible and bad shape; more and more people are losing their jobs and the rate of suicides has increased in the country. So many companies have died and Foreign Direct Investment has dropped.

“Manufacturers are finding it difficult to cope because of the exchange rate regime.

“The herdsmen used to rear their cattle using sticks but now they are armed with AK-47s and no one is there to caution them. They are killing people and raping women in the southern and middle belt communities.”

Nigerians are suffering- Ohaneze Ndigbo

Deputy Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mr. Chuks Ibegbu, while assessing the administration, said in terms of the economy, Nigerians are suffering, and hungry.

He said, “There is hunger in the land and people are complaining yet not much has been done to address their sufferings. What we only get from the government are claims that things are getting better. The recession is still here, but the government has continued to tell us it will be over very soon.”

On the issue of security, he said, “We all are aware of what is happening in this country. The government said Boko Haram has been defeated, but nearly every day we record Boko Haram attacks on soldiers, and suicide bombings. To a very large extent, the President has reduced the insecurity in the Niger Delta; we are no longer recording attacks on oil installations, kudos to him.”

He also condemned the excessive use of force against MASSOB and IPOB agitators in the South East as well as “the Shiites in Kaduna.

Nigeria’s economy is like that of a failed state- Ango Abdullahi

For elder statesman, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration scored low in the areas of economy and infrastructure.

He said, “Corruption, not insecurity, was the greatest problem this administration inherited in 2015. People had stolen the country dry and the economy was near zero. But till now, this administration is still grappling with the economy.

“The economic policies adopted by the Federal Government are not encouraging; the economy is in dire need of a change of direction. Poverty is devastating our people and no matter what the Minister of Finance comes to talk about coming out of recession; she has not her ears to the ground to hear the penury of Nigerians.

This economy is in a failed state, even though security has improved.”

Reps knock, praise Buhari

Some members of House of Representatives knocked President Buhari over some of his policies, which they said failed Nigerians in the last two years. They however praised him in some areas.

A member from Lagos State, Mr. Oghene Emma-Ego, carpeted Buhari over his economic policies, particularly the restriction of access of certain Nigerians to foreign exchange.

He argued that the policy was counter-productive as it merely drove foreign currencies, especially the US dollar underground.

Emma-Ego, a Peoples Democratic Party member, said, “Nigerians were made to suffer; people with health challenges couldn’t secure funds for medical trips overseas.”

Emma-Ego, who represents Amuwo/Odofin Federal Constituency, said on the anti-corruption war, while Buhari could be rated to have made “commendable strides”, the fight remained lopsided.

However, his counterpart from Adamawa State, Mr. Adamu Kamale, gave kudos to Buhari for what he considered to be the ability of the government to stabilise the economy after the initial fears caused by recession.

Kamale, a member of the All Progressives Congress, said, “At first, I must confess that we were very much afraid, especially with the way our naira fell to over N500 against the dollar. But, they have been able to gradually pull the economy out of recession within the same two years that it went into recession. That is commendable.”

Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Muda Yusuf, said the government had a slow start after its challenges were compounded by the fall in global oil prices and militancy in the oil rich Niger Delta area of the country.

He said, the “Absence of an economic blueprint was one of the concerns of the private sector in the early days of the administration.  However, the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, launched recently by the President, has provided a clearer economic policy direction of the administration.”

He, however, faulted the rising debt profile in the country, saying, “Evidently, the debt profile of the government is not sustainable.”

Buhari should resign - Middle Belt group

Coordinator of Federation of Middle Belt Groups, Mr. Manasseh Watyil, said, “There is very low economic growth in the country as there is serious recession whereby people can hardly feed, parents cannot afford school fees for their children.

“On security, to be fair to Buhari’s government, peace has gradually returned to the troubled areas, especially the North-East Zone. Our people can now travel there with little fear. We can sleep with our two eyes closed. Normal businesses have fully returned.

“When it comes to employment, there have been many anomalies in some agencies. The latest recruitment by the Department of State Services showed that there is no fairness.

“Ultimately, the Middle Belt is of the opinion that President Buhari should resign since he is incapacitated. The government will continue.”

We are all going through the same thing - Yakassai

Elder Statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, who is also Chairman, Northern Elders’ Council said, “Of course, the country is now gaining the upper hand in the fight against Boko Haram, that is something that we should congratulate one another for and give credit to this administration for.

“If the anti-corruption fight is going to be pursued, it should be done holistically because like they say ‘Justice must not only be done but must be seen to have been done.”

Punch