Half year: The joys and the blues

Nigerians entered the year 2015 with so much apprehension and fear that things may go terribly wrong with the country. Besides the economic woes brought about by the declining prices of crude oil in the international market, there were the issues of security and the 2015 general elections that hung like a dark cloud over the country with fears that the peace, stability and even the corporate existence of the country could be jeopardised – that is, if the rampaging Boko Haram terrorists operating largely in the North East of the country allowed the elections to hold at all.

The year begun as feared. The insurgency was at its peak and politicians were adopting bellicose rhetoric as usual and signalling that they may not accept election results that do not favour them. On the economic front, the prices of oil continued its free fall, and the CBN, incapable of defending a continually weak naira, devalued the currency, raising the official exchange range to close to N200 to a dollar. Fears were heightened when, citing security reasons, the general elections were postponed by about five weeks.

Fortuitously, the five weeks’ window proved effective as the Nigerian Army, almost commando-like, displaced the Boko Haram terrorists from most of their bases, recaptured and liberated most of the territories (a larger part of Borno State with large chunks of Yobe and Adamawa States) hitherto under the terrorists’ control, and put the terrorists on the run such that they could not recover to disrupt the general elections. More fortuitously also, the postponement allowed INEC to firm up its preparations, got more PVCs (Permanent Voter Cards) distributed, and had more time to test and prepare for the usage of the electronic verification of voter cards – an innovation designed to check fraud and election rigging.

The first set of the elections (the presidential) was conducted in a largely peaceful atmosphere, and, in what was a watershed in the history of elections in Nigeria, the sitting president and a contestant in the elections promptly conceded defeat and congratulated his opponent even before the final results were announced. That singular act removed the dark clouds and tensions hovering over the country, restored investor and business confidence in Nigeria, facilitated the peaceful and rancour-free conduct of the next batch of elections, and ensured a most peaceful transition and alternation of power from one party to another, thus cementing the country’s democratic credentials.

However, as the euphoria over the successful conduct of the elections and the peaceful transition of power begins to subside, the worsening economic situation and the unsustainable nature of our laggard and unproductive federal system has come to the fore again. The naira has continued to struggle against major currencies and attempts by the CBN to exclude importers of some items it terms ‘unessential’ and ‘frivolous’ from accessing foreign exchange has only increased pressure on the naira and fear that another devaluation is imminent. Meanwhile, one of the consequences of the collapse of oil prices and the consequent decline in federally distributable revenues is the inability of most states to pay their workers’ salaries, some for upwards of eight months now.

We believe that ordinarily, a successful and peaceful transition from one regime and/or political party to another would have been enough achievement for a year for a country like Nigeria. But these are extraordinary times where Nigerians are clamouring not only for political change, but also socio-economic change.

We, therefore, urge the new governments at all levels to build on the existing peace and momentum generated by the peaceful transition to get to work on the economy so as to realise the wishes and aspirations of Nigerians.