By Mike Ebonugwo

ON a slightly wet morning made sombre by cloudy weather, opinions were sharply divided during an impromptu debate at a recent news-stand gathering in Ikeja, Lagos.  The bone of contention for this mixed gathering of individuals from different socio-political and economic backgrounds was a statement credited to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, government headed by President Muhammadu Buhari, was proud of its scorecard after three years in power. “What is there to be proud of when nothing appears to be working in this country?” angrily queried one parliamentarian who hissed to underline his disgust.

President Buhari

“What is it that this government has done that we should clap for them and say, well done?” he continued heatedly, adding: “Is it the economy that we should praise them for when the cost of living is so high with the prices of essential goods and services going up almost everyday?

Blowing their trumpet

“They should tell us why the prices of foodstuff and other things we need to survive have refused to come down and what they are doing to bring everything to normal.”

It was sentiment shared by some of those present as they also gave vent to their feelings. But there were many in the gathering who spoke in support of the Minister. According to a parliamentarian who led discussion in this regard: “I totally agree with Oga Lai. This Buhari regime has done very well, only that they don’t like blowing their trumpet. They are just quietly doing their thing without too much publicity. I have travelled around this country and have been impressed by the number of federal roads either being constructed or rehabilitated. Again, for the first time in many years, public office holders who looted the treasury have been exposed and are being called to account. At the same time, government is responding to the security challenges in different parts of the country.”

However, in response to this, another fellow had grumbled that the pro-Buhari contributor was “speaking as if he is Femi Adesina or Garba Shehu by saying that this government has performed well when we all know that is not the case.” Indeed, in spite of contrary views in some quarters, the Buhari administration continues to insist that it has lived up to expectation, performance-wise, in the past three years and so deserves praise from the populace.

Celebrating achievements

While it has not rolled out the drums to celebrate its achievements, the administration passionately maintains that the change mantra which was its selling point during the general elections of 2015 has been successfully brought to bear in transforming the country and setting it on the path of sustainable growth and development “after years of unconscionable looting and plundering by previous administrations.”

Indeed, officials, especially spokespersons, argue that Nigerians should not be deceived by what they see as the propaganda campaign orchestrated by the detractors and enemies of the administration to discredit and demystify President Buhari.

For Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, the administration has excelled in the three planks of its change agenda, namely: the economy, anti-corruption war and security.

According to him, the administration has done creditably well in resetting the economy for sustainable growth, upping the tempo in the anti-corruption war, maintaining military offensive against Boko Haram terrorists and responding effectively to other security challenges in the country. Apart from that, other concrete evidences of government performance, he said, include continuing investment in infrastructure development encapsulating key projects in roads, agriculture, health, education, power, oil and gas, among others.

Reacting to complaints and criticisms made against the administration over its alleged poor performance, Adesina said it is a case of the Biblical prophet not being recognised and celebrated in his home town. According to him, in spite of “the misguided claims of some detractors, this administration has achieved so much in three years”, adding that these achievements have earned for the Buhari administration the respect and commendation of many reputable international bodies. He said this explains why it has received multiple awards from these bodies, especially for its capital raising activities.

Apart from winning three awards from EMEA Finance and one award from Global Capital, he listed other awards to include: Best Sovereign Bond in Africa (Nigeria’s US$3 billion Dual-Tranche 10 and 30-year Eurobonds issued in November 2017); most Innovative Bond (Nigeria’s US$300 million Diaspora Bond issued in June 2017); best Naira Bond (Nigeria’s N100 billion seven-year Inaugural Sukuk issued in September 2017); and Global Capital Award (Best African Borrower).

On the economy, he has this to say: “The economy is back on the path of growth after the recession of 2016-17 (1.95 per cent growth in Q1 2018),” while the administration’s “priority sectors of Agriculture and Solid Minerals maintained consistent growth throughout the recession.” He also pointed out that between January 2017 and April 2018, inflation has fallen for the 15th consecutive month, from 18.7 per cent to 12.5 per cent. Also worthy of mention, according to him, is the fact that External Reserves had climbed to US$47.5 billion, the highest in five years, double the size as of October 2016. He said the administration is also happy with the fact that total exports in 2017 were 59.47 per cent higher than for 2016, with agricultural exports rising to 180.7 per cent above the value in 2016.

For Lai Mohammed: “I think the good story is that when Nigeria went out of recession, it was not led by oil. It was led by agriculture, mining, the creative industry, industry, manufacturing and the rest. So, clearly today, the strength of Nigeria’s economy is not just on oil… So, we are not only relying on agriculture but in the last two years, the government has invested about N2.8 trillion in infrastructure. That is the best way to actually revamp your economy.”

Taking it up from there, Adesina mentioned as worthy of celebration the fact that “the new FX Window introduced by the CBN in April 2017 now sees an average of US$1 billion in weekly turnover, and has attracted about US$25 billion in inflows in its first year (and a total turnover of $47.14 billion) – signaling rising investor confidence in Nigeria.” He also did not fail to mention that “the contribution of Solid Minerals’ to the Federation Account rose five-fold from N700 million in 2015 to N3.5 billion in 2017.”

Fiscal and trade policies

On monetary, fiscal and trade policies, he identifies landmark initiatives recorded to include:

• The creation in April 2017 of a New FX Window for investors and exporters has helped stabilise the market. The new window has attracted inflows of more than US$45 billion in its first year of operation.
• The implementation of a new Debt Management Strategy which targets a ratio of 60 per cent to 40 per cent between Domestic and External Debt. The other objectives of the strategy are to moderate growth in Debt Service Costs, free up space in the domestic market so that the private sector can have increased access to loans, and to shore up External Reserves.

Infrastructure: On infrastructure development, the President’s spokesperson informed that the administration has demonstrated a single-minded commitment to upgrading and developing Nigeria’s transport, power and health infrastructure and cited some examples to buttress his point: “In May 2018, the Federal Government launched the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund, PIDF, under the management of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority. The PIDF is kicking off with seed funding of US$1.3 billion,” he said.

He also cited ongoing road projects across every state of the country; adding that many of these projects had been abandoned in recent years because of mounting debts owed by the Federal Government to contractors. According to him: “The Buhari administration issued a N100 billion Sukuk Bond in 2017, Nigeria’s first sovereign Sukuk Bond. Proceeds from that Bond are funding 25 major road projects across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

“Upgrade of Nigeria’s 3,500km network narrow-gauge railway network has commenced, with the signing, in April 2018, of the interim phase of a concession agreement between the Government of Nigeria and an International Consortium led by General Electric, GE.

“The target of this Interim Phase is that within the next 12 months, passengers will experience reduced travel time by rail between Lagos and Kano, and, for the first time in over a decade, contracted and scheduled freight rail services will be available.

“Abuja’s Light Rail system has been completed and will go into operation in 2018. The first line to be launched will connect the city centre with the airport, with a link to the Abuja-Kaduna Railway Line. “The Buhari Administration successfully completed the reconstruction of the Abuja Airport runway within the scheduled six-week period (March – April 2017)”.