A data and media company has claimed that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s rigid leadership style has made Nigeria’s economic situation very difficult to resolve.
In an editorial, Bloomberg said Nigeria being the most populous black nation on the earth cannot afford to have a failing economy.
The editorial reads: “Africa and the world cannot afford a failing economy in the continent’s most populous nation.
“Yet that is exactly what Nigeria might be getting: Its economy is on track to shrink by 1.7 percent this year, the official unemployment rate has more than doubled over the last two years, and inflation is at an 11-year high.
“One concrete step President Muhammadu Buhari could take to address the crisis would be to eliminate the country’s disastrous foreign exchange controls. Instead, Buhari has made no secret of his desire to defend Nigeria’s currency.
“And the central bank has mostly gone along. Despite allowing the devaluation of the naira in June, it is continuing to manipulate the exchange rate — discouraging foreign investors, creating a crippling shortage of dollars for businesses that need to import, and feeding a currency black market. To keep down the street price of vanishing dollars, Buhari’s government has arrested informal money-changers. More capital controls are in the works.”
Bloomberg noted that, “Buhari faced an ugly circumstances when he took office in May 2015″.
“The plunge in oil prices had left the economy reeling and government coffers bare, and attacks by Boko Haram were ravaging the country. Yet while some progress has been made fighting both terrorism and corruption, Buhari’s rigid leadership style has made the country’s economic problems harder to solve.”
It observed that for Buhari to fulfill his campaign promises of restoring hope and good governance, “he will have to demonstrate more flexibility.”
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