‘Nigeria not becoming a failed state’ — APC tackles Financial Times

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected the position of Financial Times that Nigeria is becoming a failed country under President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a statement on Sunday, the party said contrary to the claim, the Buhari administration is “visibly and frontally” addressing Nigeria’s current challenges.

In an editorial on Tuesday, Financial Times had said “Nigeria will become a problem far too big for the world to ignore” if urgent and drastic measures are not taken by the Buhari administration.

“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 international business newspaper had written.

But in the statement, John Akpanudoedehe, secretary of APC caretaker committee, described the claim and similar ones as “doomsday wishes.”

“While naysayers and opposition partisans chorus their doomsday wishes for Nigeria, our dear country is nowhere close to becoming a failed state,” he said.

“From the economy to security, it is easy to sum up Nigeria with some recent recorded security incidents and the economic downturn. However, this government has displayed the political will and capacity to contain any criminal/terrorist activity and return the economy to growth.

“President Buhari’s administration which sees the urgent need to have a better policing system for the country and is embarking on sweeping police reforms and supporting community policing, is definitely not governing a country close to becoming a failed state.

“Amid the COVID-19 induced economic slowdown, President Buhari’s administration which is stimulating the economy by preventing business collapse; supporting labour-intensive sectors such as agriculture; creating jobs through infrastructural investments in roads, rails, bridges; promoting manufacturing and local production at all levels to attain self-sufficiency in critical sectors of the economy, is definitely not governing a country close to becoming a failed state.”

The party said Nigeria used to have an “ignoble pastime” when previous administrations will rather “bury its head in sand and spin conspiracies in the face of insecurity and engage in voodoo economics to hoodwink Nigerians while national resources were stolen and diverted to political cronies”, adding that “those days are gone.”

“While the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and their hirelings engage in their unfortunate and apparently orchestrated attacks on the Armed Forces and other security services, the APC will rather support their efforts and charge them to do more to further degrade the capacity of terrorists and other criminal elements to attack soft targets,” it’ said.