- We Have Added 200,000 Jobs
- $500 Million to Sovereign Wealth Fund
- And $87 Million to the Excess Crude Account in 2 Years – Osinbajo
By ‘Dotun Akintomide
Two years after President Muhammadu Buhari took charge at the Aso Villa, Nigerians have given their appraisal of the current administration’s actions and inactions in critical areas of national life, The New Diplomat summarizes their narratives.
According to a performance survey released by the NOIPolls, Nigeria’s main polling agency, Nigerians believed President Buhari might have delivered on decimating the Islamist’s terrorist organization, Boko Haram in a way, as well as thrown everything he’s got at the anti-graft war, though without landmark conviction of offenders yet, but the economy has remained the toughest one and perhaps the albatross of the current decision makers in government.
From the survey, the current administration got the highest approval rating put at 47% on the Boko Haram’s anti-insurgency operations in the northeast with the return of 106 kidnapped Chibok girls and got 45% on the fight against corruption, though opinions remain divided on the manner and approach of the fight.
Whereas, economy put at 14%; job creation at 13% and poverty alleviation at 9% got the lowest approval rating among Nigerians.
In other strategic areas, the score card for the Buhari’s administration was delivered as: On Agriculture and Food Security, 40%; Power, 28%; Health Care, 27%; Infrastructure, 23%; and Education, 19%.
According to NOIPolls, the polls involved telephone interviews of a proportionate nationwide sample of 24,000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above (1,000 completed interviews per month), representing the six geopolitical regions and 36 states and the FCT of the country.
In the poll results, NOIPolls also stated that results came from interviews conducted in 5 languages – Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Pidgin and English to get opinions from Nigerians within a margin of error of plus or minus 3%.
Recall, two years ago President Muhammadu Buhari who was elected on the mantra of change promised to completely wipe out the Boko Haram terrorists, fight corruption to a stand still as a man revered by many as almost incorruptible, as well as restore an ailing economy.
In series of tweets Monday morning, the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo admitted that, “the economy has proven to be the biggest challenge of all.”
“We have taken seriously our promise to save and invested for the future even against the backdrop of our revenue challenges.
“We are also institutionalizing safeguards and deterrents. We have expanded the coverage of the TSA and introduced efficient budgeting systems,” he said.
On the Boko Haram insurgency, he said, “In the North East of our country, Boko Haram that openly challenged our sovereignty has been put on the back foot by our gallant military.”
Osinbajo further tweeted, “in the fight against corruption, we have focused on bringing persons accused of corruption to justice. We will not relent in our efforts.”
However, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed speaking in Abuja on Monday at an event organized to assess the performance of the social investment programmes rolled out by the current administration said the economy has improved better than it was two years, dismissing the claims that the current government is all about propaganda.
Also, at the event, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo said the economy has added about 200,000 jobs in the last two years through the N-Power programme and other deliberate interventions by the current administration.
“We have also in the last two years added $500 million to our Sovereign Wealth Fund and $87 million to the Excess Crude Account,” he said.
