In an article published on its website, the Economist says the Nigerian economy has grown since acting
president Yemi Osinbajo took over the mantle of leadership over a month ago. In
the article, the International business website called on President Buhari to
leave the economy to Osinbajo to run once he recovers and comes back to
Nigeria. Read the article after the cut...
EVER since word
trickled out that Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s 74-year-old president, was not
just taking a holiday in Britain but seeking medical care, his country has been
on edge. Nigerians have bad memories of this sort of thing. Mr Buhari’s
predecessor bar one, Umaru Yar’Adua, died after a long illness in 2010, halfway
through his first term. During much of his presidency he was too ill to govern
effectively, despite the insistence of his aides that he was fine. In his final
months he was barely conscious and never seen in public—yet supposedly in
charge. Since he had not formally handed over power to his deputy, Goodluck
Jonathan, his incapacity provoked a constitutional crisis and left the country
paralysed.
There is nothing to
suggest that Mr Buhari is as ill as Yar’Adua was. But that is because there is
little information of any kind. His vice-president, Yemi Osinbajo, insists that
his boss is “hale and hearty”. Mr Buhari’s spokesman says his doctors have
recommended a good rest. Yet even members of Mr Buhari’s cabinet have not heard
from him for weeks, and say that they do not know what ails him or when he will
return.
Such disclosure would
be expected in any democracy. In Nigeria the need is even more pressing.
Uncertainty is unsettling the fractious coalition of northern and southern
politicians that put Mr Buhari into power. Nigeria is fragile: the split
between northern Muslims and southern Christians is one of many that sometimes
lead to violence. The country also faces a smouldering insurrection in the oil-rich
Delta and an insurgency in the north-east by jihadists under the banner of Boko
Haram (“Western education is sinful”).
Mr Buhari, an austere
former general, won an election two years ago largely because he promised to
restore security and fight corruption. Although his government moves at a
glacial pace, earning him the nickname “Baba Go Slow”, he has wrested back
control of the main towns in three states overrun by Boko Haram. Yet the
jihadists still control much of the countryside, and the government has been
slow to react to a looming famine that has left millions hungry.
On corruption, Mr
Buhari has made some progress. A former national security adviser is on trial
in Nigeria for graft, and a former oil minister was arrested in Britain for
money laundering. So far, however, there have been no big convictions.
Mr Buhari’s main
failures have been economic (see article). The damage caused by a fall in the price of oil,
Nigeria’s main export, has been aggravated by mismanagement. For months Mr
Buhari tried to maintain a peg to the dollar by banning whole categories of
imports, from soap to cement, prompting the first full-year contraction of
output in 25 years.
First, do no harm
With Mr Buhari in
London, the country’s economic stewardship has, whisper it, improved a bit. Mr
Osinbajo has allowed a modest devaluation and started on reforms aimed at
boosting growth. This is already paying off. In February the government sold
$1bn-worth of dollar-denominated bonds, its first foreign issue in four years.
Demand was so great that investors bid for almost $8bn-worth of the notes,
raising hopes of a second bond sale later this month. If his health recovers,
Mr Buhari still has two years left in office.
He should focus on
doing what he does best: providing the leadership his troops need to defeat
Boko Haram and the moral authority to clamp down on corruption. And, noting how
much better the economy is doing without him trying to command it like a squad
of soldiers, he should make good on a long-forgotten electoral pledge to leave
economic policy to the market-friendly Mr Osinbajo.
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