Among other findings, the survey found that a majority of Nigerians believe the country is "on the right path."
A survey conducted by the Governance Accountability Initiative for Nigeria (GAIN) for the country's 56th anniversary found that a slight majority of Nigerians believe the country has a better future lying ahead, despite the challenges it currently faces.
Read the full results and analysis of the survey below:
Highlights of the survey
51.4% agree Nigeria has challenges, but the nation is on the right path
52.4% Believe Change Begins with Me Campaign is a necessary initiative
83.1% overwhelmingly reject sale of national assets
Nigerians acknowledge challenges, believe nation is on right path
Nigerians were asked to provide their views on the nation’s progress at 56 years. A slight majority expressed optimism about Nigeria’s future, while acknowledging that the country still has many challenges to overcome. A significant number of respondents expressed worry about Nigeria’s future, and only a tiny minority (2%) agreed that Nigeria was absolutely on the right path.
The relatively large number of Nigerians expressing optimism for the nation’s current trajectory despite the challenges of the current time is encouraging. However, clearly, more work needs to be done to enhance the confidence of the Nigerian people in the ability of the current government to move the nation forward.
Slight majority supports 'Change Begins With Me' campaign
The “Change Begins with Me Campaign” has emerged as a major platform for the Buhari Government. 52% of the respondents believe that the “Change Begins with Me Campaign” is a necessary initiative at this point in Nigeria’s history. 41% of respondents were very skeptical of the initiative.
The government still has a lot of work to do in convincing the large majority of Nigerians who remain unconvinced of the necessity for, or the importance of the initiative that this is a worthy national project for Nigeria to be committing time and resources to.
Nigerians overwhelmingly reject sale of national assets
Over the last few weeks, calls by Aliko Dangote for the sale of public assets as a means for raising funds to address budgetary shortfalls have been amplified by a number of government officials. A national debate has resulted. In our poll, we sought to know the views of Nigerians on the subject. An overwhelming majority of Nigerians rejected the sale of national assets as a fund raising strategy.
Opposition to the sale of national assets cut across party lines as 76.3% of respondents who self-identified as supporters of the APC also expressed opposition to the sale of assets.
Methodology and disclosure
The survey was administered using electronic media between October 1st and 3rd, 2016. A total of 1,052 complete responses were received. The survey results have a 3% margin of error at a 95% confidence level. The Governance Accountability Initiative for Nigeria (GAIN) Poll is a public service survey intended to track the performance of government at all levels and provide feedback from the public to their elected officials. GAIN also periodically publishes policy statements to provide perspectives on key policy and governance areas.
This survey was conducted by Dr. Malcolm Fabiyi, Coordinator, GAIN Nigeria. You can reach Dr. Fabiyi at [email protected] and [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter @malcolmfabiyi.
