Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has dropped one of those lines he does regularly: “What this government must realise is that the unprecedented insecurity Nigeria is facing is the result of youth unemployment”. The man who is certainly going to contest for the Presidency again is making his mind known. But do not be carried away, Nigerian politicians are the same: once they get to power, they wipe their brains. Because they know that the citizens have short memories, and that means no consequences at the polls -reelected irrespective of job score sheets – all the nice theories disappear.
I hailed Prof Yemi Osinbajo the day he spoke in Washington DC as he explained how a Buhari Administration would fix electricity in Nigeria. Today, it is evident that after 6 years, Nigeria will continue to scale darkness.
People, hoping for any politician to fix Nigeria now is a malaria dream. The playbook needs to come from outside because the problems are now very complicated. As I write, Boko Haram has started sabotaging power infrastructure in some parts of northern Nigeria. If they follow that playbook, expect a severe economic distortion that will re-shape every aspect of Nigeria.
Barely 72 hours after electric power was restored in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, Boko Haram insurgents on Saturday blew up another transmission tower in the city.
Sources said the insurgents planted explosives on each leg of the tower, which they detonated at about 6 a.m.
On Wednesday, jubilant residents of Maiduguri were seen in a video that trended on social media as they celebrated the return of electricity after nearly two months of blackout.
The leaders need to do their jobs – and I am hoping the media houses will push more. The nation is dying!
And with the paucity of funds, we continue to ramp up government involvement in sectors that ought to be left to private sector, with the latest being the ill advised $1.5 billion so called rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery that has failed to turn a profit for years.
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) March 28, 2021
“This will not only free the government of needless spendings but also clean up the infrastructure mess in the petroleum downstream sector,” he said.
“In a situation where we are simultaneously the world headquarters for extreme poverty, the world capital for out-of-school children, and the nation with the highest unemployment rate on Earth, there is a very real and present danger that we might slip into the failed states index,” he warned.
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