African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), said President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against insecurity and corruption had boosted his administration’s performance.
Executive Director of the centre, Dr Otive Igbuzor, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday that the government had fared well at the backdrop of its promises to Nigerians.
Igbuzor said that in other aspects of governance, the government performance was average, especially in socio-political, economy and technology.
“My view is that on the three key areas of promises made, which are economy, anti-corruption and security, the greatest area of performance is in security and anti-corruption fight.
“It has performed above average in these two areas but in economy, it has performed woefully.
“If you look at the different sectors, in the political sector for example, there does not appear to be any political strategy for dealing with the problems confronting the country.
“The talk about restructuring has not happened and there is absence of action in terms of dealing with the challenges of elections and political party organization, whether ruling or opposition party.’’
Comparatively, Igbuzor said that the present administration performed better than its predecessor in the social sector.
According to him, the major achievement is the whistle-blowing policy which has led to the discovery of much allegedly stolen wealth.
He, however, said that there was need to introduce more systematic ways of the anti-corruption fight such as laying more emphasis on ethical infrastructure and prevention rather than focusing only on recovery of loots.
The NGO director also said that in terms of promoting transparency and accountability, the administration made some commendable moves and urged that the process and strategy should be stepped up.
A member of Gombe State House of Assembly, Dr Bature Gwani, also scored the administration average in his assessment of its performance since it was inaugurated.
Gwani said that the performance was however, quite understandable due to the mess the government inherited from the previous administration.
“So, it will be difficult to assess the administration; the economy was very bad.
“Therefore, the little they are doing in curtailing corruption and fighting insurgency to bring about security as well as trying to boost the economy is commendable.
“I think that the administration is doing fairly well but they need to do more so that the normal three square meals can be back on people’s table,” he said.
Gwani reminded Nigerians that the expected change would not be sudden but was something that would be pursued with tact and resilience.
According to him, Rome was not built in a day; you can destroy in a day but it will take a long time to rebuild.
He urged Nigerians to be patient, prayerful and change their attitude to enable the country to move forward. (NAN)
