One fact that is indisputable about Buhari is that he is not a visionary leader. For his Vision 2050, Nigerians should expect mass cruelty wrapped in Buhari’s selective, one-sided authoritarian vision: suppression of press freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to protest, freedom of association, illegal arrest and detention of critics, nepotism, lawless and disorderly country.
In 1996, General Sani Abacha launched Vision 2010. It was a total failure. In 2005, President Olusegun Obasanjo came up with Vision 20:2020. President Umaru Yar’Adua launched the blueprint in 2009.
According to the goals of Vision 20:2020, “Nigeria will be among the 20 largest economies of the world by 2020. By 2020, Nigeria will have a large, strong, diversified, sustainable and competitive economy that effectively harnesses the talents and energies of its people and responsibly exploits its natural endowments to guarantee a high standard of living and quality of life to its citizens.”
What happened to Vision 20:2020?
Vision 20:2020 somersault with Nigerian people as collateral damage. Nigeria is not among the world’s top 20 economies in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to World Bank report, Nigeria is the 31st economy in the world. Nigerians witnessed the worst socioeconomic conditions. The World Poverty Clock estimates that 86.9 million Nigerians live in extreme poverty. WPC notes that the figure increases every six months.
Nigeria is hugely endowed with human and natural resources. The potential for growth has never been in doubt. But Nigeria’s history is full of economic stagnation and declining welfare. Vision 20:2020 was derailed because of misplaced priorities, one-sided vision, no progress review or assessment, abandoned projects, corruption, and clueless leadership.
Last week, General Muhammadu Buhari launched Vision 2050. Buhari said: “The main objectives of these Successor Plans are to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within 10 years, particularly given the World Bank’s projection that Nigeria will become the world’s third most populous country by 2050 with over 400 million people.”
As Buhari launches Vision 2050, the socioeconomic outlook of Nigeria looks grim: long-running insecurity, antiquated infrastructure, epileptic power supply, acute and terminal unemployment, comatose healthcare system, brazen corruption, indiscriminate carnage, widespread kidnapping, and famished hunger ravage the land.
Buhari’s Vision 2050 to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within ten years sounds like comical nonsense. The facts are overwhelmingly against him. He failed to create two million jobs every two years as promised. He lied that he would provide two million housing units for the poor every two years. He lied that Boko Haram terrorists would be history within a year.
He lied that we would have 24/7 uninterrupted supply of electricity in six months. If two million jobs in every two years were created, by now he would have created five million jobs in five years. Corruption has metastasized like no other time in our history. Nigeria is both the world’s corruption and poverty capital.
A visionary leader must be able to see and create a brighter and better future. He must be able to invent, innovate, create, build, improve, transform education, healthcare, business, government, technology, and all aspects of lives of his citizens.
One fact that is indisputable about Buhari is that he is not a visionary leader. For his Vision 2050, Nigerians should expect mass cruelty wrapped in Buhari’s selective, one-sided authoritarian vision: suppression of press freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to protest, freedom of association, illegal arrest and detention of critics, nepotism, lawless and disorderly country.
Nigerians, fasten your seatbelts for the disaster ahead. You ain’t seen nothing yet. The worst is yet to come!