Financial Times of London says Nigeria as a country going backward economically and plagued with terrorism, illiteracy, poverty, banditry, and kidnapping risks becoming a failed state if things don’t take a drastic turn.
The UK-based newspaper expressed its fears about Nigeria’s continued existence in an editorial on Tuesday titled, ‘Nigeria at Risk of Becoming a Failed State’.
Financial Times 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.
It said 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.
According to the editorial, “The government insists no ransom was paid. Scepticism is warranted. In a country going backward 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.”
Financial Times also questioned the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s claim that Boko Haram had been technically defeated.
The newspaper argued that 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.”
It noted that security is not the only area where “the state is failing.”
The Financial Times added that the population of people in Nigeria has increased more than that of any other country while the country’s number of out of school children remains the highest in the world.
It further stated that as the demand for oil on the global market continues to ebb, Nigeria’s economy would suffer its worst consequences.
It noted, “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.”
Financial Times, therefore, enjoined President Muhammadu Buhari to spend less than three years remaining of his tenure to redouble efforts at improving the security situation in the country.
It also urged the Nigerian government to restore trust in key institutions such as the judiciary, the security services and the electoral commission charged with the conduct of the 2023 elections.
The newspaper added that the recent #EndSARS protests gave a glimmer of hope for Nigeria’s teeming youth population.
“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,” it said.
Financial Times further stated 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.