After eight dismal years, Nigeria prepares to replace President Buhari
His failure to bring peace or prosperity offers lessons for his successor
“Buhari has given us very big wahala (trouble),” says Usama Sani, a student in Kano, the biggest city in northern Nigeria. “There is insecurity and unemployment,” he complains, before shouting: “We are going to kick Buhari aside!” President Muhammadu Buhari used to be popular in Kano; he won landslide support there in two presidential elections. Now, says another student, Umar Garba Umar, “we are so hungry for change.” Even members of Mr Buhari’s own All Progressives Congress (APC) are down on the outgoing president. Kashim Shettima, the APC’s vice-presidential candidate, concedes that Mr Buhari has done only “modestly well”.
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This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Buhari’s dismal legacy”
Middle East & Africa January 14th 2023
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- Protests have subsided in Iran, but clerics cannot yet proclaim victory
- A century-old choice created one of the Gulf’s oddest geopolitical features
- The Arab world’s rulers have turned journalists into courtiers
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