Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari took office a month ago on a wave of
\nhope that he would quickly deal with a deepening economic crisis and an
\nIslamist insurgency in the north. So far, he hasn\u2019t met those
\nexpectations.<\/p>\n
While Africa\u2019s biggest oil producer has been hit by a 40 percent fall in
\npetroleum prices in the past year that has slowed economic growth and
\nweakened the currency, Buhari, 72, has delayed naming a cabinet until
\nSeptember. As the momentum of being the first opposition candidate to win
\npower at the ballot box fades, critics are mocking him as a sluggish
\nelderly man, or \u201cBaba Go Slow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buhari has acknowledged the crisis, saying last month that his government
\nis facing severe financial strain, with a Treasury that\u2019s \u201cvirtually
\nempty,\u201d and his party is calling for patience. Yet his lack of urgency in
\ntackling economic woes could leave Nigeria badly adrift, said John
\nAshbourne, an economist at Capital Economics in London.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery week that Nigeria goes without a cabinet increases the chance that
\nit will face a dangerous shock — whether a revenue collapse or a currency
\ncrisis,\u201d Ashbourne said by phone Tuesday. \u201cLeaving the federation without
\na finance minister would be a questionable choice at the best of times;
\ndoing so during a period of economic instability is difficult to explain.\u201d
\nInvestor Displeasure<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s currency, twice devalued in the past year in an attempt to cope
\nwith lower oil income, has weakened 7.7 percent against the dollar this
\nyear on the interbank market. The International Monetary Fund estimates
\nthat growth will slow to 4.8 percent this year from 6.1 percent in 2014.
\nThe naira was trading at 198.85 against the U.S. dollar at 2.38 p.m. in
\nLagos.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian Stock Exchange Index hit its 2015 peak of 35,728.12 on April
\n2, the day after Buhari was declared the election winner. Since then it
\nhas fallen 8 percent.<\/p>\n
The cabinet delay won\u2019t please investors, said Alan Cameron, an economist
\nat Exotix Partners LLP. They\u2019re expecting tighter fiscal policy, a
\ncurrency devaluation and a greater focus on tax collection after the drop
\nin oil prices, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was initially some hope that Buhari would be able to tackle these
\nchanges more quickly and with more credibility, but the time line has now
\nbeen pushed back,\u201d Cameron said by phone from London. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a
\ndifficult pill to swallow for foreign investors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inertia Concern<\/p>\n
The central bank has banned importers from using the foreign-exchange
\nmarket to buy certain goods as it seeks to stabilize the naira and hold on
\nto external reserves, which are down 16 percent this year to $29 billion.
\n\u201cEven what little could have been achieved so far, such as the nomination
\nof ministers, has not been addressed, and there is a sense of inertia,\u201d
\nFolarin Gbadebo-Smith, managing director of the Center for Public Policy
\nAlternatives, a Lagos-based research group, said by phone Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Buhari\u2019s own party, the All Progressives Congress, has recognized the
\ngrowing public disenchantment and pleaded for patience.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigerians are right to demand even a faster pace. Nigerians are right to
\nask that a government be quickly put in place,\u201d party spokesman Lai
\nMohammed told reporters at a June 30 press conference in Lagos, the
\ncommercial capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll we ask for is a little more patience, a little more understanding.\u201d
\nGovernment Change<\/p>\n
Buhari is facing a unique situation because his victory over the
\nincumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, ended 16 years of rule by the Peoples
\nDemocratic Party, his spokesman Femi Adesina said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a normal changeover, it is from one government to another,\u201d
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Buhari, who previously governed Nigeria as military ruler in the 1980s,
\nhas moved more quickly in the fight against the Islamist militant group,
\nBoko Haram, which has waged a violent six-year campaign in the north.<\/p>\n
He ordered the army to move its headquarters from Abuja, the capital, to
\nthe northeastern city of Maiduguri, the scene of some of the worst
\nfighting, and has traveled to neighboring countries such as Chad and Niger
\nto discuss cross-border military cooperation.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the \u201cone area in which the Buhari administration has hit the ground
\nrunning,\u201d Mohammed said.<\/p>\n
Yet, while troops from Nigeria and Chad have largely dislodged Boko Haram
\nfrom its self-declared caliphate in the northeast this year, the
\ninsurgents have stepped up hit-and-run attacks.<\/p>\n
Corruption Fight<\/p>\n
Buhari will also have to deal with shortcomings in his own army, which
\nAmnesty International said last month should be investigated for war
\ncrimes, including unlawful killings.<\/p>\n
In a step toward meeting his campaign promise to attack corruption that
\nhas crippled Nigeria for decades, Buhari disbanded the board of the
\nstate-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. The National Economic Council
\non Monday set up a four-member panel to probe its accounts.<\/p>\n
Even some opposition lawmakers say Buhari needs more time.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis approach may be different, but I am patient, I will give him some
\ntime,\u201d Ben Murray-Bruce, a PDP senator, said in a June 29 interview in
\nAbuja.
\nWhere Buhari has come up short is communicating a sense of engagement to
\nthe public, said Gbadebo-Smith.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t say anything about anything,\u201d he said. \u201cThe public would be
\nsatisfied with signals that say we are doing something about this, we are
\non top of this.\u201d
\n-Bloomberg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari took office a month ago on a wave of hope that he would quickly deal with a deepening economic crisis and an Islamist insurgency in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n