Following an editorial by the Financial Times titled "Nigeria is at risk of becoming a failed state", presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, has claimed an international gang up against his boss, president Muhammadu Buhari in cohort with "disgruntled political elements in the country” who would rather destroy the country than watch Buhari succeeds.
The acclaimed international news agency, in it's piece, cited insecurity, stalled economic growth and weak institutions as some of the country’s biggest challenges. It said Nigeria will soon 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 newspaper wrote.
“If the latest kidnapping turns out to be its (Boko Haram's) 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.”
The publication said in addition to insecurity, Nigeria has been struggling with extreme poverty and out-of-school children mostly girls.
With the country’s population now over 200 million, the newspaper said the living standards of citizens “are declining” while “the economy has stalled since 2015.”
It added that Nigeria “desperately needs to put its finances, propped up by foreign borrowing, on a sounder footing” to survive the shock of its dwindling resources as “the elite’s scramble for oil revenue will become a game of diminishing returns.”
“In its three remaining years, the government of Mr Buhari must seek to draw a line in the sand. It must redouble efforts to get a grip on security,” the newspaper wrote.
But the Presidency in its response said, the publication by Financial Times has shown how far enemies of the Buhari administration are willing to go to paint the administration black in the eyes of the global community.
Speaking in a statement on Wednesday, Adesina said there is a “game plan” to launch “orchestrated campaign of calumny in the days ahead” in which President Muhammadu Buhari “would be portrayed as not being in charge of the country.”
He said the narrative had already “started from a procured offshore medium by the instigators”.
Adesina said “the smear campaign in the works against the President and his office would be launched by “disgruntled political elements in the country” who had been shopping for “pliant online media that will serve as accomplices in their nefarious act.”
He said the plot was to cook up stories with “jejune and unsubstantiated allegations” to sow seeds of discord and discontent in the country.
The presidential spokesman urged Nigerians to be wary and discerning in what they consumed as news and special reports from such “online media, as they are in cahoots with agents of destabilization, seeking ultimate political gains.”
He said President Buhari remained focused and single-minded in his determination to serve the country to the best of his ability, bringing change to different facets of our national life.