Nigeria On The Verge Of Becoming A Pariah Nation

The Financial Times says Nigeria stands the risk of becoming a failed state as it teeters on the brink of collapse.

In a trenchant and dispassionate editorial on Tuesday, the renowned business and economy newspaper, said something drastic has to be done to address the myriad of challenges bedeviling the country.

According to the newspaper, perennial insecurity, stalled economic growth and weak institutions are  the biggest challenges impeding the country’s growth and development.

It decried the abduction of 344 schoolboys in Katsina, an incident that compelled Nigerians and many around the world to relieve the horror of 2014 when more than 276 schoolgirls were abducted at Chibok, in Borno state. Some of the girls are yet to be accounted for as they languish in Boko Haram den.

It said reoccurrence of incident akin to the Kankara abduction was a stark indication of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration inability to rout Boko Haram, a group which has “remained an ever-present threat.”

It noted that the group responsible for abduction of the Kankara Schoolboys was immaterial, adding that the very fact that such abduction took place in the first instance with little or no resistance reinforced the assertion of  pervasive violence and criminality in the country.

“The definition of a failed state is one where the government is no longer in control. By this yardstick, Africa’s most populous country is teetering on the brink,” the newspaper wrote.

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“If the latest kidnapping turns out to be its work, it would mark the spread of the terrorist group from its north-eastern base. Even if the mass abduction was carried out by “ordinary” bandits — as now looks possible — it underlines the fact of chronic criminality and violence.

“Deadly clashes between herders and settled farmers have spread to most parts of Nigeria. In the oil-rich, but impoverished, Delta region, extortion through the sabotage of pipelines is legendary.”

Financial Times added that aside from festering sore of insecurity, other indices of development under the present government are troubling and abysmal.

It averred that Nigeria has been battling with extreme poverty and out-of-school children mostly girls.

It said many citizens have suffered a dip in fortune as their standard of living had plummeted in the face of economy that had been in doldrums since 2015.

It added that Nigeria “desperately needs to put its finances, propped up by foreign borrowing, on a sounder footing” to survive the shock of its dwindling resources as “the elite’s scramble for oil revenue will become a game of diminishing returns.”

It implored Buhari administration to, in the three years it had left, set a realistic target for itself one which would allow it permanently stem the tide of insecurity and criminality in the country.

“In its three remaining years, the government of Mr Buhari must seek to draw a line in the sand. It must redouble efforts to get a grip on security,” the newspaper wrote.

“It also needs to restore trust in key institutions, among them the judiciary, the security services and the electoral commission, which will preside over the 2023 elections”

The newspaper opined that the country needs a “generational shift” regarding the manner the affairs of the country are being managed.

It cited the achievement of the demonstration against police highhandedness and indiscretion in October, noting that broad coalition that found political expression and social agitation “this year in the EndSARS movement against police brutality gives” a shard of optimism”

“At least Nigeria has a relatively stable democracy. Now Nigeria’s youth — creative, entrepreneurial and less tainted by the politics of extraction — should use that system to reset the country’s narrative.”