Presidency Dismisses FT’s Claim of Nigeria Being Near Failed State

The presidency yesterday dismissed an editorial in Financial
Times, an international daily newspaper based in Britain, which
described Nigeria as a country that is gradually inching closer to
becoming a failed state.

Reacting to the editorial following a THISDAY inquiry, Special
Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr. Femi Adesina,
said: “Who makes Financial Times a ruler and judge over us?”

In the editorial, The Financial Times said Nigeria is going
backwards economically and plagued with terrorism, illiteracy,
poverty, banditry, and kidnapping.

It advised that if things don’t take a drastic turn, the country
risks becoming a failed state soon.

In the editorial yesterday titled, ‘Nigeria at Risk of Becoming
a Failed State,’ the FT urged President Muhammadu Buhari to draw
the line in the sand and strengthening his grip on the country’s
security in order to be able to stem the tide of insecurity in
Nigeria.

The newspaper, which 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, warned
that Nigeria would become a problem far too big for the world to
ignore if nothing is done to redress the country’s economic,
security and population challenges.

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 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 editorial also highlighted Nigeria’s standing as the country
with the highest number of poor people in the world that live on
less than $1.90 a day and the country’s fast growing population
that is estimated to reach 400 million in 2050.

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

It said: “Extortion is a patent symbol for a state whose modus
operandi is the extraction of oil revenue from central coffers to
pay for bloated, ruinously inefficient political elite.

“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.”

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.

The newspaper also called for an urgent need for Nigeria to
restructure its political system and concentrate on security,
health, education, power and roads.

The Financial Times also warned that Nigeria is in a desperate
need to put its finances, which are propped up by foreign
borrowings, on a sounder footing.

The newspaper, however, observed that the country has an
opportunity to achieve a generational shift in its leadership by
exploiting the broad coalition that found political expression this
year in the #EndSARS movement against police brutality.

The presidency yesterday dismissed an editorial in Financial
Times, an international daily newspaper based in Britain, which
described Nigeria as a country that is gradually inching closer to
becoming a failed state.

Reacting to the editorial following a THISDAY inquiry, Special
Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr. Femi Adesina,
said: “Who makes Financial Times a ruler and judge over us?”

In the editorial, The Financial Times said Nigeria is going
backwards economically and plagued with terrorism, illiteracy,
poverty, banditry, and kidnapping.

It advised that if things don’t take a drastic turn, the country
risks becoming a failed state soon.

In the editorial yesterday titled, ‘Nigeria at Risk of Becoming
a Failed State,’ the FT urged President Muhammadu Buhari to draw
the line in the sand and strengthening his grip on the country’s
security in order to be able to stem the tide of insecurity in
Nigeria.

The newspaper, which 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, warned
that Nigeria would become a problem far too big for the world to
ignore if nothing is done to redress the country’s economic,
security and population challenges.

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 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 editorial also highlighted Nigeria’s standing as the country
with the highest number of poor people in the world that live on
less than $1.90 a day and the country’s fast growing population
that is estimated to reach 400 million in 2050.

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

It said: “Extortion is a patent symbol for a state whose modus
operandi is the extraction of oil revenue from central coffers to
pay for bloated, ruinously inefficient political elite.

“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.”

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.

The newspaper also called for an urgent need for Nigeria to
restructure its political system and concentrate on security,
health, education, power and roads.

The Financial Times also warned that Nigeria is in a desperate
need to put its finances, which are propped up by foreign
borrowings, on a sounder footing.

The newspaper, however, observed that the country has an
opportunity to achieve a generational shift in its leadership by
exploiting the broad coalition that found political expression this
year in the #EndSARS movement against police brutality.