Buharinomics: From Economic Recession to Citizens’ Depression and Finally, Capital Flight.

From two recessions in four years to the mass slaughter of its citizens during the end Sars protests, in October 2020. The Nigerian President is widely seen as catastrophic failure, quite possibly the worst ever, in the country’s troubled post independence history. where did it all go wrong for the erstwhile military dictator turned civilian leader?

When the national elections in 2015 were postponed by six weeks from the 14th of February to the 28th of March, political pundits and naysayers saw this as a sign of panic, that the gods of change were about to strike the polity. The Incumbent, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on a visit to a southern power plant, two weeks prior to the election, had spoken of a great fatigue to the Chief Executive Officer and a general lack of motivation to fight the re-election campaign.

By the time the results began pouring in on the 30th and 31st of March 2015, it was clear that a political earthquake of seismic proportions had taken place. The Nigerian voters, completely exasperated by the inertia of the Jonathan administration, in its failure to account for $50 billion, later reduced to $20 billion, in remitted funds to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, saw its Petroleum minister- Alison Madueke-Diezani as a lightening rod for its problems and were determined to make the ruling party (PDP) pay heavily at the polls.