the more things change, the more they stay the same

Nigeria: Buhari’s legacy is one of ‘missed opportunities and inaction’ says analyst

By Ruth Olurounbi

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Posted on March 23, 2021 17:26

Nigeria Boko Haram School Attacked
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, centre, speaks during a meeting with the freed schoolboys on Friday Dec. 18, 2020 in Katsina, Nigeria. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

29 May 2021 will mark six years since Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari took office with a promise to safeguard the lives of the electorates, fight crippling corruption and improve livelihoods in Africa’s most populous nation. More than half a decade later, analysts have scored the president’s performance as “weak” and see him as having “failed” in his mandate.

When President Buhari came to power in 2015 after “many years of lackluster governance,” the expectations were, within the domestic and international audiences, that the new administration could potentially turn things around and deliver progressive “change” that would propel the nation forward, says Matthew Page, an associate fellow, at the Africa Programme at Chatham House.

Among the many failures of the past administration led by former President Goodluck Jonathan was security of its citizens. This led to the kidnapping of the Chibok girls, Boko Haram insurgency and Yobe school shootings among other incidents. Another failure was corruption, which eventually became the hallmark of Jonathan’s presidency.

Failing security

The recent abductions of schoolboys in Kankara community, Katsina and in Niger state, kidnapping of more than 300 schoolgirls in Zamfara state, as well as other

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