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Tag: failed state

  • Nigeria: Is it not a failed State already? – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Nigeria: Is it not a failed State already? – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    The Guru – Godwin Etakibuebu, hereby submits to the Nigerian People; ditto the International Community, that the Nigerian Nation State has failed. Or, succinctly put, it has manifested all the indices of a failed State, though it still goes about with the name Nigeria. Going out of the name Nigeria is just a matter of time.

    There was no Nigeria before 1914. It was in that terrible year of 1914, when those traders-predators from the British Isle; conquered without shedding much of their own blood; except blood of the aborigines “around the Niger”, that a country known as Nigeria invaded the world map. A country with that name – Nigeria, was born that year. And who so named us so?

    A working female Journalist; whom history honoured to be the highest paid woman journalist of her era, named “this area of the Niger” as Nigeria. A little odyssey about this highly respected woman of her time, if I am permitted to, should be necessary, please.

    Dame Flora Louise Shaw was born into a very large family on December 19, 1852, and died January 25, 1929. She began her career in journalism in 1886-7, writing for the Pall Mall Gazette and the Manchester Guardian, and became the Colonial Editor of The Times in 1893. 

    She visited Nigeria [though “this area of the Niger” had not been so named when she visited], and met a British Army Officer, by the name Colonel Frederick Lugard, whom was recalled from Ngami in Tanganyika, by the British Government, to take command of its [British interests] in the hinterland of the Lagos Colony and Nigeria, against French aggression.

    Both met here and fell in love because Frederick Lugard arrived Nigeria a very bitter and sorrowful man; having lost his marriage in Tanganyika. This was how Flora Shaw became Lady Lugard. And she gave us the name Nigeria. Every other thing has become documented history from then. 

    So, though it is not what we would have preferred, if Nigeria goes under, after 109 years of being in existence, let it be.

    We can now move to the navigational history of Nigeria being a failed State. I have chosen not to pull the ship into the high Sea for this dangerous navigational venture into a torturous voyage of discovery without attempt at laying out the perimeters or templates of a failed State. Here we go.

    From the Oxford dictionary of languages, a failed State meaning is given as “A State Whose Political Or Economic System Has Become So Weak That The Government Is No Longer In Control”. 

    Is government in control of anything in the country today?

    What is a failed State?

    Failed State is defined as a condition of “state collapse” – eg, A State That Can No Longer Perform Its Basic Security, And Development Functions And That Has No Effective Control Over Its Territory And Borders. 

    Can this fact be assimilated by the reality of Terrorists having almost taken over control of government and governance in Nigeria as things manifest today?

    Failed State can also be categorized as a country whose government is considered to have failed at some of its basic responsibilities: for example, keeping the legal system working correctly, and providing public services, such as electricity, water, education, hospitals, etc. 

    We shall return back to evaluate these templates if they are appropriately applicable in Nigeria of today. But for now, let us move a little further in interrogation of Nigeria’s today trend.

    What is a failed State in international law?

    State Failure Is Best Defined As The Incapacity Of A State To Perform Its Obligations Towards Its Citizens And Towards The International Community In General. This is so defined for the simple reason that for any State that fails, there is that international dimension returning as collateral liability. 

    What causes society to collapse?

    Possible causes of a societal collapse include natural catastrophe, war, pestilence, famine, economic collapse, population decline, and mass migration. A collapsed society may revert to a more primitive state, be absorbed into a stronger society, or completely disappear.

    9 Reasons For Failure

    1. Lack of communications

    Enabling employees to complete tasks properly, and with minimal mistakes, requires time and effort. When people do not understand what they are doing, how to do it optimally, or why they are doing something there is a higher chance of making mistakes or failing to complete tasks altogether. Mitigate this risk by ensuring clear communications on tasks, responsibilities and projects (current and upcoming) that require actions from employees. 

    1. Lack of leadership

    Working without sufficient or proactive leadership is just as bad as not knowing what to do due to a lack of communication. The leadership should be present, providing clear directions and empowering information-sharing across the team so that everyone can complete their work. You need to make sure workers have all the information they need to complete their tasks with confidence.

    1. Lack of vision

    If employees do not have a direction and understanding of the overall vision they are working towards, it will have an impact on the quality of their work and their performance (ie: the number of mistakes they make). The vision and mission goes hand in hand with communication and providing sufficient information, but also includes promoting a culture where everybody feels that they have a purpose behind the work they are doing.

    1. Complex systems

    Some surroundings and functions will have more chance of failure and mistakes than others. This means a failure could be inherent to a system based on its complexity. There is usually a limited set of improvements to reduce the complexity itself, but as general rule of thumb, all steps in a process should be well-documented in order to increase the likelihood of succeeding.

    1. Ill-discipline, lack of trust or negligence

    Other times, failures happen as a result of the employee’s negligence or lack of trust. This involves failure to abide by departmental or operational procedures, or disregarding rules and methods. The root causes vary and might be about organisational problems, individual relationships with supervisors or lack of motivation as a whole. Thus, offering a turnkey solution is impossible but being aware of these issues is always the beginning. To do that, having a low-threshold incident reporting platform helps a lot.

    1. Not learning from past mistakes

    A huge cause of repeated failures and mistakes is that organisations do not address the root causes of failure the first time around. These unaddressed problems are like snowballs starting to roll down from the top of a mountain, getting bigger and bigger as more time passes. To avoid this, push to understand underlying issues, mitigate them, document the corrective actions, and make sure relevant people are being trained based on this new information.

    1. Poor reporting channels

    Poor incident or issue reporting channels and policies can cause blockages in identifying and resolving issues. To learn from past mistakes, you need to enable the possibility for employees to report and notify you when mistakes happen. To do this, you need to have a proper channel, make sure people know how to find it, and make the reporting itself as effortless as it can be.

    1. A lack of business goals overview

    If the strategy of your department or business isn’t communicated properly, employees won’t know their goals, objectives or how to best execute their everyday work. This makes it more likely that they will face problems and failures. To address this, make sure that everybody understands both the bigger scope and how their role plays into achieving it. As an additional tip, we highly recommend organisations to look into both KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).

    1. Lack of employee involvement

    The role of management and a manager is key for minimising failures and mistakes. Managers are responsible for defining clear plans and goals, conducting quality checks, and organising and monitoring their team’s performance. A part of the perfomance success also comes down to how involved and engaged each individual team member is. Employee involvement has a direct impact on the efficiency and bottom-line of the business, as it also includes high levels of productivity. If employees aren’t feeling involved in setting the KPIs, OKRs or strategies for their work, then the team motivation drops. This leaves room for more errors, and slow delivery times. 

    We can continue in interpreting and identifying what it means for a State to fail for the next several days if we may want to go on. But for now, let us wait, and for a moment, throw our collective thought over only one issue; which remains the sword of Damocles hanging over all of us – Nigerians. And that is the Naira Notes redesigned Policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] on October 26, 2022.

    On this policy issue, the CBN has spoken, or putting it more definitely – has decreed [when we are not under military administration – or are we?], some leading politicians have spoken, the Nigerian Apex Court – Supreme Court of Nigeria spoke, then the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces of the Federal Republic spoke.

    In all these, the Nigerian people are dying. They are dying not because they don’t have their own monies in their different banks of choices. They are dying because there is no law and order in the land, to protect and shield them. The Nigerian people must necessarily die And continue to be dying because they cannot access their own monies – courtesy of a government that was supposed to be! 

    We shall return back to this topic in a few days’ time, and we shall be specifically discussing the issue of Naira redesigned Policy and many other topics that justifiably identify the fact of a failed State Nation. 

    Godwin Etakibuebu; a veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.

    Contact:

    Website: www.godwintheguru.com

    You Tube Channel: Godwin The  Guru

    Twitter: @godwin_buebu

    Facebook: Godwin Etakibuebu

    Facebook Page: Veteran Column

    Telegram: @friendsoftheguru

    WhatsApp: @friendsoftheguru

    Phone: +234-906-887-0014 – short messages only. 

    You can also listen to this author [Godwin Etakibuebu] every Monday; 9:30 – 11am on Lagos Talk 91.3 FM live, in a weekly review of topical issues, presented by The News Guru [TNG].

  • Declaring Nigeria a failed state on basis of insecurity preposterous – FG

    Declaring Nigeria a failed state on basis of insecurity preposterous – FG

    The Federal Government says for anyone to declare Nigeria a failed state on the basis of its security challenges, is “preposterous’’.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed stated this in response to a recent declaration by the Council on Foreign Affairs (CFA) in the U.S. that “Nigeria is at a point of no return with all the signs of a failed nation’’.

    In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja, the minister stressed that “Nigeria is not and cannot be a failed state’’.

    Mohammed said the declaration by the Council did not represent an official U.S. policy.

    “This declaration is merely the opinions of two persons, former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations John Campbell, and the President Emeritus of World Peace Foundation, Robert Rotberg.

    “Declaring any nation a failed state is not done at the whims and caprices of one or two persons, no matter their status.

    “Just because Nigeria is facing security challenges, which we have acknowledged and which we are tackling, does not automatically make the country a failed state,’’ he said.

    “Yes, the Council on Foreign Relations is a prominent U.S. public policy Think Tank, but its opinion is not that of the U.S.

    “Like former U.S. Senator Daniel Moynihan said, ”You are entitled to your opinion but not your facts”.

    Mohammed reiterated that Nigeria did not meet the criteria for a nation to become a failed state.

    He listed the criteria to include inability to provide public service and inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community.

    “Yes, the non-state actors may be rampaging in some parts of the country, they have not and cannot overwhelm this government,’’ he said.

    The minister noted that it was not the first time it was predicted that Nigeria would fail or break up.

    “We were even once told that Nigeria would break up in 2015.

    “But their doomsday predictions have all failed and will fail again,’’ he said.

    The declaration by CFA that Nigeria was a failed state and would eventually collapsed was contained in a research finding recently released through Campbell and Rotberg.

  • Nigeria sliding into anarchy, becoming a failed state – Governor Ishaku

    Nigeria sliding into anarchy, becoming a failed state – Governor Ishaku

    Taraba State governor, Darius Ishaku, has said that Nigeria is dangerously sliding into anarchy and becoming a failed state due to increased insecurity.

    The governor raised the alarm in Jalingo, the state capital, on Saturday, during an interview with journalists to mark his sixth year in office.

    He said, “Nigeria is sliding to a failed state, yes of cause Nigeria is sliding into anarchy. Even the blind can see that we are sliding into anarchy and the deaf can hear about that too.”

    According to him, the increasing spate of insecurity across the country and the inability of the military and other security agencies to address the situation were indications of anarchy.

    “The military should be in charge of flushing out insurgents. It is a disgrace if a country’s military cannot flush out insurgents within its territory,” he said, adding that, “we need a state police; we need the constitution to be amended.”

    Ishaku also stressed the need for state police noting that state governors need to be empowered by the constitution in the proper handling of security in their states.

    “I am called Executive Governor, Executive for what? If I cannot implement the decisions I take with the troops under my command? So, the state police is imperative and must come to stay. Without the state police, we are surcharging democracy, it won’t work.

    “The sooner the state police is enacted, the better.”

    The governor said all hands must be on deck for the country to overcome the current challenges by reviewing the country’s security architecture.

    On regional security outfit, he maintained that he is not in support of the establishment of regional security outfit for the North East region as was done in the South West and South-Eastern regions.

    ”On regional security outfit, the northeast is not contemplating it, I particularly do not support it, but I have since assumption of office been supporting the creation of state police.

    ”I have been the first person who said the constitution has been surcharged that is to say that, where we copied the constitution from the United States of America, it is written there that there is local police, state, and federal police and they complement each other.

    ”The issue is, we need state police, the constitution to be amended and I am not in support of regional security outfit, though it can work in other regions, for us here we have grown past that in the northeast, we are battling the insurgency.”

    He adds that Nigeria is a beautiful country that must be well managed to enjoy the beauty.

    He described his six years in office as a tortuous journey, and success with tears which his administration has successfully surmounted the evil days.

  • PDP Governors raise alarm: ‘Nigeria slipping to a failed state under Buhari’s watch’

    PDP Governors raise alarm: ‘Nigeria slipping to a failed state under Buhari’s watch’

    Governors elected on the platform of Nigeria’s major opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have raised the alarm that Nigeria may soon slip into a failed state if the President Muhammadu Buhari led All Progressives Congress (APC) continue to standby and watch things go bad.

    The governors also noted that the country is in dire need of leadership at the Federal level to avert an impending disaster.

    This formed part of the resolutions of the governors on Friday when they met in Makurdi, the Benue State capital to review the state of affairs in the country, including the security challenges among others.

    The governors, who described the present administration as one that lacked the capacity to govern, lamented that their fault lines and differences had been stretched to the limit.

    According to them, this has triggered a rise in ethnic and tribal tensions, religious divisions, and other forms of social and political cleavages in the country.

    The leaders also agreed that the security of lives and property of the people were no longer guaranteed – a situation which they blamed on leadership incompetence and mismanagement of the nation’s affairs.

    They acknowledged that governors have a role to play in tackling the nation’s security challenges, but accused the APC of monopolising the country’s coercive authority.

    The governors, among other demands, asked the Federal Government to take advantage of the ongoing constitution amendment process to decentralise the nation’s security architecture and involve the government at the state and local levels.

    They also stressed the need for an urgent devolution of powers and restructuring of the country to bring various groups together, saying Nigeria cannot afford another civil war.

    Governors present at the meeting included Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Douye Diri (Bayelsa), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), and Nyesom Wike (Rivers).

    Others are Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Darius Ishaku (Taraba), Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa), Godwin Obaseki (Edo), and Bello Mattawale (Zamfara), as well as the Deputy Governor of Bauchi State, Baba Tela.

    Read the communique of the PDP Governors’ Forum issued at the end of the meeting below:

    Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, met in Makurdi, Benue State on 9th April 2021, under the aegis of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum, PDP–GF, to review the state of affairs in the country and common developments in their states and issued the following Communique at the end of their meeting;

    The meeting noted and condemned the alarming drift of Nigeria which if allowed to continue, will make Nigeria a failed state under the watch of the All Progressives Congress, APC, government. They expressed deep concern and alarm at the deteriorating relations between various groups in Nigeria. The Governors were deeply worried that indeed, all our fault lines and differences are being stretched to the limit by a government that clearly lacks the capacity to govern. The meeting agreed that this has given rise to ethnic and tribal tensions, religious divisions, and various forms of social and political cleavages. The Governors concluded that Nigeria is in dire need of leadership at the Federal level to avert the looming disaster.

    The meeting was similarly alarmed that the security of lives and property of Nigerians are no longer guaranteed under the present government as a result of leadership incompetence and mismanagement of the nation’s affairs. While noting that Governors have a role to play in the handling of some of the worsening situations, they regret their hands are tied behind their backs as the entire coercive authority in the country is monopolised by the APC federal government. The time has come to take advantage of the ongoing Constitution Amendment process to decentralise the security architecture of Nigeria and involve States and Local Governments.

    Consequently, the Governors reaffirmed their conviction that an urgent devolution of powers and restructuring of the country in a way that brings together various groups and tendencies in the country appears to have become imperative and timely now as Nigeria cannot afford another civil war.

    We call on the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission to send a new Revenue Allocation Formular that allocates more resources to States and Local Governments to Mr President for National Assembly’s action. It is a scandal that 21 years after the 1999 Constitution came into being, no new Revenue Formular is in place. Furthermore, the meeting called for a more transparent and accountable running and operation of the NNPC.

    The meeting further condemned the intimidation of sitting Governors by the APC administration using all sorts of weapons like security agencies, unequal access to federal resources, promotion of divisions in the opposition political parties with fake promises and falsehoods. We significantly condemn the double standards that are applied by the APC-led federal government to intimidate PDP controlled states. To this end, we call on Mr President to lift the so-called “No flight Zone” and other intimidating tactics, imposed on Zamfara State as similar measures have not been extended to similar states with security challenges like Kaduna, Borno, Katsina, Yobe and others. This is mostly politically motivated to ensure that the Governors move over to APC.

    The meeting noted that the APC has been unable to even have a democratically-elected National Executive Committee as required by the Nigerian Constitution. A Political Party that operates by military fiat with an appointed and unelected Executive Committee at ALL LEVELS from WARD to NATIONAL has no business running the affairs of our country. APC cannot deliver democracy to Nigeria; even to constitute a Board of Trustees has been an impossible task for the party since its inception. It further expressed surprise that the APC is interested in playing politics and jockeying for power in 2023 when they have done an abysmal and terribly poor job of their current questionable mandate.

    The Governors were distressed that Nigeria is now officially the country with the highest unemployment rate in the world at 33% under the disastrous leadership of APC. This is following on the heels of yet another feat of being the country with the second-highest poverty rate in the world. For APC, it is indeed a race to the bottom.

    The meeting received briefings from the National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, and Chairman PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Walid Jibrin, and assures Nigerians that help is on the way as the PDP is primed to offer effective leadership ONCE AGAIN to Nigeria. It enjoined Nigerians to once more place their trust in the PDP as the only effective vehicle to salvage the country.

    The meeting commended the Governors of PDP-controlled states for their innovative approaches to governance in many fields especially infrastructure, education, health, women and youth initiatives and the timely delivery of developmental projects, across the country. It is these LEGACY PROJECTS being undertaken in many PDP-governed states that will be presented to Nigerians as our scorecard at the appropriate time.

    The meeting thanked the Host, His Excellency, Governor Samuel Ortom for hosting the first meeting of the PDP Governors in recent times outside Abuja and for holding the Party together not only in Benue State but in the entire North Central Zone.

    In attendance are:

    Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR – Sokoto State – Chairman

    Gov. Dr Okezie Ikpeazu – Abia State – Vice-Chairman

    Gov. Udom Emmanuel – Akwa Ibom State – Member

    Gov. Sen. Douye Diri – Bayelsa State – Member

    Gov. Samuel Ortom -Benue State -Member

    Gov. Dr Ifeanyi Okowa – Delta State – Member

    Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi – Enugu State – Member

    Gov. Nyesom Wike, CON – Rivers State – Member

    Gov. Engr. Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde – Oyo State – Member

    Gov. Arc Darius Dickson Ishaku -Taraba State- Member

    Gov. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri -Adamawa State -Member

    Gov. Godwin Obaseki – Edo State -Member

    Gov. Bello Mattawale Maradun -Zamfara State -Member

    Deputy Governor Sen. Baba Tela – Bauchi State – Member

  • Why Nigeria does not fit into ‘failed state’ narrative – ADP

    Why Nigeria does not fit into ‘failed state’ narrative – ADP

    The Action Democratic Party (ADP) says Nigeria is not a failed state in spite of its numerous challenges.
    The National Chairman of ADP, Mr Yusuf Sani, made the assertion at a news conference in Abuja on Saturday.
    The conference was organised by the party on the state of the nation.
    Sani, who noted that Nigeria’s challenges included decline in economy and insecurity, said that the challenges were not peculiar to it.
    He said that many developed countries had been confronted with similar or worse situations.
    He said that the manner the Federal Government would handle the issues would determine how the country would progress.
    “Nigeria is not a failed state. It still has all it takes, both the potential and opportunities, to leverage on to get back on its feet.
    “If addressed properly, there would be boost in democracy and governance,” he said.
    He urged intensified efforts at ending killings, devastation of homesteads, displacements and rape.
    Sani said that the nation’s experience with Boko Haram insurgency should be a lesson on how ‘a little flicker of fire must be put out in good time before it develops into a raging inferno’.
    He also urged end to banditry and kidnapping.
    He called for constitution of a judicial panel of equity for probing of all former service chiefs over allegations of misuse of office and alleged misappropriation of funds, especially those meant for purchase of arms and ammunition.
    “We want the president to declare a state of emergency across the country on insecurity; service chiefs should be deployed to the highly disturbed zones.
    “The ADP also calls for immediate probe of the NNPC on subsidy, refineries turn-around maintenance at the projected cost of $1.5 billion for Port Harcourt refinery, among others.
    “The National Assembly should succinctly perform its constitutional oversight function with regard to funds appropriated to the Armed Forces and acquit itself of the perception of complacency and complicity,” he said.
    He recommended massive recruitment and enlistment in the Armed Forces toward safeguarding the territorial integrity of the country.
    Sani said it was time for the nation to consider involving communities in security surveillance and policing.
    He said community security such as the use of hunters and local vigilantes had proved to be rewarding in many instances.
    Sani also called for decentralisation of the police with states and local councils having their police formations.
    “Now that the National Assembly has embarked on another effort at constitutional amendment, the ADP calls on the lawmakers to consider amending relevant sections of the law on the police to make for decentralisation of the force.
    “This is borne out of our conviction that certain forms of crimes are more effectively controlled from the community level due to the advantage of knowledge of their environments.
  • Nigeria on the verge of becoming a failed state – Atiku

    Nigeria on the verge of becoming a failed state – Atiku

    Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has said Nigeria is at risk of becoming a failed state if the foundational challenges preventing the central government from discharging its responsibilities are not resolved.

    Atiku said this in an article titled “Nigeria Needs The Peace Serum of Restructuring” which he shared on social media.

    He called for the restructuring of the country, pointing out that the unitary foundation which Nigeria has been running on has not yielded much change.

    He said, “Nigeria needs to be restructured. Just look at Nigeria today. This truth is staring us in our collective faces.

    “The current ethnic and religious clashes bedevilling Nigeria are symptoms of the disease. They themselves are not the illness. We must address the root causes of the various symptoms of insecurity Nigeria now faces.

    “Nigeria needs peace, unity and prosperity. But all three of these virtues are dependent on Nigeria having social justice. Without justice, there cannot be cohesiveness in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation like Nigeria.

    “Nigeria has foundational issues, which we have to resolve. Until we resolve those issues, our nation may not fulfil its potentials of being the beacon of light for the Black Race, even if we have the most righteous people at the helm.

    “It has been said by many behavioural scientists that ‘the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.’

    “We have been operating from the same unitary foundation, and have given it several names since January 15, 1966. Other than slight name changes, the mould has remained the same, and the yield has changed little.

    “Yes, there will be improvements and retrogressions here and there, due to the character and personality differences of the men and women at the helm. However, until the foundational fault lines are addressed, whatever progress one man makes, can be undone by his predecessor, often in a matter of months.

    “If half of our people expend their energies pulling Nigeria in one direction, and the other half counter by pulling her in the other direction, our motherland will never know peace, unity and prosperity.

    “Nigeria needs to restructure to avoid the various failed state prophecies, first advanced by an American think-tank against Nigeria in 2006. Most recently regurgitated by the Financial Times of London, about a month ago. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

  • Nigeria close to becoming a failed state – Financial Times

    Nigeria close to becoming a failed state – Financial Times

    The Financial Times of London has said if necessary steps are not taking, Nigeria, given its present circumstances may turn to a failed state.

    The UK-based newspaper said this in an editorial on Tuesday titled, ‘Nigeria at Risk of Becoming a Failed State’.

    It said the abduction and subsequent rescue of over 300 schoolboys in Kankara, Katsina State, revived memories of the 276 Chibok schoolgirls abducted in Borno State in 2014.

    According to the newspaper, while the government’s claim that no ransom was paid to the abductors of the schoolboys remains doubtful, other acts of criminality could not be overlooked.

    The editorial read in part, “The government insists no ransom was paid. Scepticism is warranted. In a country going backwards economically, carjacking, kidnapping and banditry are among Nigeria’s rare growth industries. Just as the boys were going home, Nigerian pirates abducted six Ukrainian sailors off the coast.

    “The definition of a failed state is one where the government is no longer in control. By this yardstick, Africa’s most populous country is teetering on the brink.”

    The newspaper also questioned the claim by the President Muhammadu Buhari that Boko Haram had been technically defeated.

    It said contrary to the government’s claim, Boko Haram remained an ever-present threat

    The Financial Times stated, “President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 pronounced Boko Haram technically defeated’. That has proved fanciful. Boko Haram has remained an ever-present threat. If the latest kidnapping turns out to be its work, it would mark the spread of the terrorist group from its north-eastern base.

    “Even if the mass abduction was carried out by ‘ordinary’ bandits — as now looks possible — it underlines the fact of chronic criminality and violence. Deadly clashes between herders and settled farmers have spread to most parts of Nigeria. In the oil-rich, but impoverished, Delta region, extortion through the sabotage of pipelines is legendary.”

    The newspaper said security is not the only area where “the state is failing”.

    The Financial Times added that Nigeria has more poor people than any other country even as Nigeria has the highest number of out of school children on earth.

    The newspaper stated that as oil continues to lose its value, Nigeria’s economy would worsen.

    “The population, already above 200 million, is growing at a breakneck 3.2 per cent a year. The economy has stalled since 2015 and real living standards are declining. This year, the economy will shrink 4 per cent after COVID-19 dealt a further blow to oil prices.

    “In any case, as the world turns greener, the elite’s scramble for oil revenue will become a game of diminishing returns. The country desperately needs to put its finances, propped up by foreign borrowing, on a sounder footing,” it said.

    The newspaper said Buhari, who has less than three years left in office, must use the remainder of his term, to redouble efforts at improving security.

    It advised the government to restore trust in key institutions, among them the judiciary, the security services and the electoral commission, which will preside over the 2023 elections.

    The Financial Times said the #EndSARS protests led by Nigerian youths, signaled a glimmer of hope for Nigeria’s teeming youth population

    It added, “The broad coalition that found political expression this year in the EndSARS movement against police brutality provides a shard of optimism. At least Nigeria has a relatively stable democracy. Now Nigeria’s youth — creative, entrepreneurial and less tainted by the politics of extraction — should use that system to reset the country’s narrative.”

    The newspaper concluded by saying that it was time for Nigeria to restructure its political system and concentrate on security, health, education, power and roads

    “At the present trajectory, the population will double to 400 million by 2050. If nothing is done, long before then, Nigeria will become a problem far too big for the world to ignore,” it warned.

  • Nigeria at 60: Nigeria not a failed country – Abdulsalam

    Nigeria at 60: Nigeria not a failed country – Abdulsalam

    Former Head of State, General Abdulsalam Alhaji Abubakar has frowned at the claims by some notable Nigerians among whom is former President Olusegun Obasanjo who described Nigeria as a failed country recently at a public function at Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory; pointing out that despite the numerous challenges bedevilling the country, Nigeria cannot be regarded as a failed nation.

    General Abubakar noted that despite the myriads of challenges confronting the nation, Nigeria still commands respect in the global community saying that “Nigeria as a country has her ups and downs, stressing that, that does not make her a failed nation.

    Abdulsalam who played host to some select journalists across several media houses in the country in his country home in Minna on the occasion of Nigeria’s 60 year independence anniversary today, conceded that the country has problems arising from insurgency occasioned by Boko Haram terrorist group, in conjunction with Armed Banditry issues, economic recession, and political challenges, highlighting that it did not make the country a failed nation in the true sense of the word.

    The former Nigerian Military Leader and an Elder Statesman, said, “it takes two to tango, adding that when you say a nation has failed, he asked rhetorically that what was responsible for the failure?

    “You points accusing fingers at the government, but who is the government, it is me and you.”

    The retired Nigerian Army Lieutenant General who pointed out that it always good to remain positive about the country, declared that individual contributions were key to nation-building, saying, “what have we contributed to trying to make the so-called failure.”

    He said, “have we done our citizens’rights? have we done our citizens duty? Are we obeying the law of the country and are we paying our taxes?” he queried.

    He, however, conceded that Nigeria has problems, among which was there was insecurity to lives and property of the citizenry, adding that there was also the economic situation and so on and so forth.

    These problems confronting the country according to Lt. Gen. Abdulsalam A. Abubakar “does that make us a failed nation, in a true sense. Rather, I will say we have problems and are we on the way to be becoming a failed nation. It depends on which side you are coming from and where you are looking at. I agree a lot of things could be done better, so if we as a people are having a feeling that we are becoming a failed nation, what are we doing that is making us a failed nation and what is it that we should do to get out of this bad perception,” he submitted.

    He insisted that “despite our problems in the nation, I think we still command a lot of respect in the commit of the nation and we could do more and the only way to do more is for all of us to put out hands on deck to ensure that we do the right thing.

    He said, “what I think we need to do is to sit down and think on how we would work as a nation, how there would be more equity and justice in the Land, as we move forward as a nation and how do we make sure that there is equal representation in all that we do and also how do we disabuse the minds of Nigerians in this issues of religion and ethnic differences.”

    On those who are clamouring for the country to split, General Abubakar counselled them that there was strength in togetherness, stressing that “one thing we should take note of there is an advantage in our unity.

    “Nigeria is being seen today as the biggest black nation in the world and I believe this way, we can make an impact in world politics in ensuring that we represent the black nations in the world and we should have a bigger voice in maintaining this leadership. That can only be achieved when we are together as a nation.

    Accordingly, he said, “when we try to split this country, we just become a nonentity, our voices will not be heard. But for Nigeria to remain as one, we must all ensure that there are equity and justice and to make sure that there is equal representation as we move ahead”.

    To attend greatness as a nation, according to him, “we must be a disciplined society. It is very unfortunate that there is still indiscipline in this country”

    He noted that people did not find it necessary to obey rules and regulations, adding that they also did not obey orders, while they are also in the habits of flouting anything you can think of.

    He said, “so, first of all, you must impose self-discipline, because there is nothing the government can do besides making rules and regulations and it is not the duty of the government or it’s not nice for the government to start chasing us up and down to make sure we do the right thing.”