Boko Haram insurgency and IDP relocation Children at an IDP camp in Nigeria President Buhari promised to end the
Boko Haram insurgency by December 2015, a promise he communicated to the
top brass of the army. However, it is now January, 2016 and bombings
perpetrated by the terrorist group have not stopped. Ventures Africa
spoke to Dr. Joseph Bolarinwa, an expert in Defense Studies and a
Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs,
Lagos, Nigeria. He provided a candid view of the insurgency so far.
“They are inside the forest now or scattered. Though they have bombings
here and there, it’s a testament to their failing strength. Then the
international community is assisting Nigeria in the war. The British
army is currently training the Nigerian army on how to tackle an
insurgency. So, between June 2016 and December 2016, we should be
expecting an end to the problem and then people can return home.” 2. Corruption The EFCC Credit: www.latesttori.comThe new administration’s resolve to
end corruption in Nigeria has given the people a slither of hope.
Already, the country’s foremost agency in the fight against corruption,
the EFCC, has been picking up high profile names implicated in a fraud
case in the last administration. Many Nigerians hope that these people
stand trial and the guilty ones be convicted, a process that has eluded
the EFCC for some time. 3. Diversification of the economy 1,000 naira notes, Nigeria’s highest currency denomination Considering the continuous fall in
the price of oil globally,
However, the how of it all, remains to be seen. Dr. Emmanuel Ani of
the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, mentioned that
corruption could be the only debilitating factor to diversify the
economy since previous administrations had the same plans but the money
for their execution was nowhere to be found. “If Nigeria can get rid of
corruption, then diversification is possible considering the matrix
devoted to it in the 2016 budget,” he said. 4. Agricultural growth Cocoa; once Nigeria’s export commodity Nigeria once had a thriving
agricultural sector with a culture of exporting crop produce. The advent
of oil and the subsequent disinterest in agriculture has lead to a near
death of the sector. Buhari shared plans
to resurrect that culture, in a bid to revive the economy and shift its
dependence on oil to other things. “We will make sure we get the
machinery, fertilizer and other input and ask people to go to the farm
so that we do not import food…” he said. However, asking people to go to
the farm to work might prove a daunting task, considering that most of
the youth population is not used to the culture of agriculture. 5. Disease outbreaks/Health intervention Nigeria had an Ebola scare in 2014
that was quickly nipped in the bud. However, few days into January 2016
and there have been reported cases of Bird flu and Lassa fever in the
country, two diseases that seem to be recurring in Nigeria. The Federal
Government has approved a cash invention of $140 million
to battle this. However, that amount of money glosses over the real
problem which is that the health sector is abysmally underfunded and has
been for some time. 6. Foreign exchange and Nigeria’s currency Credit: www.123rf.comNigeria’s currency, right now, is
free-falling as global oil prices reduce and its foreign reserves become
depleted. . The Naira will continue to rise, but the extent to its rising can only be determined by the CBN. 7. Power supply Nigeria’s epileptic power supply is a
big issue that has affected and stalled the growth of many other
sectors in the Nigerian economy. . It however remains to be seen if he can achieve his goals before the end of his tenure. 8. Petroleum pricing Nigeria’s 2016 budget has an oil benchmark of $38 on which it would be executed. That number is set to be lowed now that analysts have predicted
that oil prices will still go lower in 2016. The global fall in the
price of oil has affected the Nigerian economy in a very big way. For an
economy where 70 percent of its revenue is gotten from oil, this
problem is not likely to ease soon. Nigeria’s borrowing could increase,
while the naira is set to further weaken this year. Nigerians look on to
see how President Buhari’s finance team solves the problem. 9. Unemployment Nigeria’s unemployment rate increased to 9.9 percent in the quarter of 2015
from 8.2percent in the second quarter of 2015. President Buhari’s
solution to this problem this year is to provide more jobs in the
Education and Agricultural sectors. “…We are trying to mop up the
unemployed youths; do a crash programme in teaching; post them to teach
in primary schools and junior secondary schools…” he said last year
December. With the Naira still rising against the dollar, inflation
might arise in the country, and the number of Nigeria’s poor would
increase. The Federal Government should look to make this more than a
stop-gap solution to unemployment and modify it into being a long-term
one. 10. Salaries of Civil workers Nigeria Labour Congress; Nigeria’s foremost labour union Many states last year were unable to pay workers’ salaries as their debt profiles increased and oil revenue from the Federal
Government that accrued to them reduced. This trend could continue this
year if most of these states do not find an alternative source to
funds.one of the alternatives
would be to focus on how to generate more revenue internally; another
would be to merge less viable states with the viable ones. However, the
focus might be placed on the former for 2016.
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