Posted by The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, criticized President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday for his 2022 Christmas message, in which he praised himself for making “advances” on the “economic front” and “food security.”
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the National Coordinator of HURIWA, criticized the President in a statement for his self-commendation while his administration’s economic policies and high cost of living had forced 130 million Nigerians into multifaceted poverty.
In his Christmas message on Saturday, Buhari stated, “The progress we have made so far on the economic front, notably in infrastructure; food security, anti-corruption, security, and energy sufficiency, among others, would need to be built on.
The President has, according to HURIWA’s Onwubiko, put Nigerians more behind than when he first saw them in May 2015.
The data unequivocally demonstrates that Buhari’s incompetence in all its manifestations has resulted in the plight of Nigerians. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reports that in May 2015, when Buhari assumed office, Nigeria’s inflation rate was 9.0%.
But according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, the country’s inflation rate increased to 21.47% in November from 21.09% in October, marking the 10th straight month of growth since the year’s beginning (NBS).
“Food inflation increased as too, from 23.72% in October to 24.13% in November 2022. The official rate of exchange between Nigeria and the dollar is currently N446.63, whereas the black market rate is over N700. As opposed to when Buhari took office, which was seven and a half years ago, when it was roughly N150 to $1.
“According to NBS data, nearly 23 million healthy, active adults in Nigeria are unemployed as a result of the Federal Government’s use of numerous taxes to kill firms that have since relocated to neighboring countries.
Of note, Buhari has subjected the country to hitherto unheard-of debt. For the Niger Republic project, he has sanctioned a large number of outside loans. According to reports by the Debt Management Office, Nigeria’s total external debt increased by more than 288.18% in just seven years, from $10.32 billion on June 30, 2015, to $40.06 billion on June 30, 2022.
“Buhari has no moral right to tell Nigerians that he has advanced the citizens’ fortunes on the economic fronts because HE HAS FAILED WOEFULLY. Therefore, his Christmas message to the same people his government pushed into poverty makes no meaning and is simply a mere propaganda.”