The Economist To Buhari, Leave Economy To ‘Market-Friendly’ Osinbajo
Revered British newspaper, The Economist has slammed President Muhammadu Buhari over his ‘tyrannical’ style of governance, saying he should “leave economic policy to market-friendly Osinbajo”
The London based magazine, which fingered Buhari as Nigeria’s reason for economic stagnation, further advised the president to face corruption fight and allow the Acting President to run affairs of the economy as things seemed to be better in the Vice President’s care.
The Economist made the declaration in one of its articles titled ‘Get Well Soon, Mr Buhari’.
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While noting that President Buhari’s “Government moves at a glacial pace, earning him the nickname ‘Baba Go Slow’, he (Buhari) has wrested back control of the main towns in three states overrun by Boko Haram.
“Yet the jihadists still control much of the countryside, and the government has been slow to react to a looming famine that has left millions hungry.
“On corruption, Mr Buhari has made some progress. A former national security adviser is on trial in Nigeria for graft, and a former oil minister was arrested in Britain for money laundering. So far, however, there have been no big convictions.
“Mr Buhari’s main failures have been the economic damage caused by a fall in the price of oil, Nigeria’s main export, has been aggravated by mismanagement. For months Mr Buhari tried to maintain a peg to the dollar by banning whole categories of imports, from soap to cement, prompting the first full-year contraction of output in 25 years.”
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“With Mr Buhari in London, the country’s economic stewardship has, whisper it, improved a bit. Mr Osinbajo has allowed a modest devaluation and started on reforms aimed at boosting growth. This is already paying off.
“If his health recovers, Mr Buhari still has two years left in office. He should focus on doing what he does best: providing the leadership his troops need to defeat Boko Haram and the moral authority to clamp down on corruption.
“And, noting how much better the economy is doing without him trying to command it like a squad of soldiers, he should make good on a long-forgotten electoral pledge to leave economic policy to the market-friendly Mr Osinbajo,” the article read.
