PDP’s 16 years of ruling: How Nigeria fared

By Mark Maya

Today, Nigerians can look back and count their gains and pains after sixteen years of democratic rule by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and Dr Goodluck Jonathan.

After many years of military rule, democracy was finally restored as the then military ruler, General Abdulsalam Abubakar handed over power to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, at a colourful ceremony in Abuja, the nation's capital.

The era of President Olusegun Obasanjo was full of many challenges such as the huge debts owed the Paris Club, World Bank and other multilateral agencies, high level of corruption in both the private and the public sectors, impunity at highest level by ruling class, poor electricity supply, bad roads, among others. Chief Obasanjo was able to address few of these problems and passed on the rest, including those he created, to Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

President Musa Yar'Adua did his best before the untimely death after which Dr Goodluck Jonathan, his deputy then, came over through the doctrine of necessity, to complete Yar'Adua's term. He was re-elected in 2011 through the general election with high expectations but peoples' hope and aspirations were dashed as not many of the challenges he met were solved.

The emergence of All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of March 28, 2015 general election however, put an end to PDP government and now we can comfortably examine the performance of the party in government in 16 years, as APC takes the mantle of leadership today.

Economy

Chief Obasanjo inherited a bad economy and managed to make positive and significant change in various sectors of the economy to stabilise the system. The efforts of his economic team did a lot for the country and improvement in human development, business environment and investors' confidence in the  macro-economic performance of the country. Consequently, substantial part of our external debts was paid, steps were taken to deal with corruption and private investors were allowed to buy government-owned companies.  However, the economy remains comatose, most especially under the administration of President Jonathan, who also supervised substantial part of the sixteen years of PDP's administration as poverty rate increases by the day while unemployment was the order of the day. This was because he took no meaningful steps to address these issues. Records show that about 70 per cent of Nigerians still live below poverty line while unemployment rate is put at 21 per cent, placing Nigeria at the 166th position in the world.

Corruption

The setting up of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissioner (EFCC) was the most important creation of Obasanjo's administration as the commission was adjudged effective, though has been accused of being selective as only few cases were opened and concluded under his administration. The Obasanjo administration made strong effort to fight corruption and ensured good governance through the establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the EFCC under the leadership of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who was quite commendable even though there were criticism that he fought selectively and that he was used by the government to haunt some political opponents. In spite of these pitfalls, the report from Transparency International indicated significant progress in the fight against corruption.

Despite the claims by the Jonathan administration that it has zero-tolerance for corruption, it was clear that the president never for once descended on any of his appointees or governor for any corrupt allegations, an indication that he encouraged corruption unlike the Obasanjo government that descended heavily on some of his ministers and governors for being corrupt.

The administration of President Obasanjo failed to instill confidence in governnance especially the way and manner the 2007 elections were conducted, which international observers said greatly diminished confidence and trust in his government.

Security

The 16 years of the PDP administration from 1999 to 2015 has not given due attention to the security situation in the country as the police under Jonathan's administration was under-funded and ill-equipped to remain largely ineffective in preventing crime and ensuring security of lives and properties. In fact, violent crimes and insecurity were the order of the day during his regime as ethnic insurgents such as the Niger Delta militants were ravaging the oil rich zones to prevent oil exploration by foreigners and kidnapping.

The Ya'Adua administration that came in briefly could not carry out any reforms in the security sector before his untimely death except amnesty he granted the Niger Delta militants.

The administration of President Jonathan failed woefully in the area of security as the government was unable to put an end to the violence from the Boko Haram, a violent group in the North that fought the federal government's security men (police and military)to standstill to the extent that some parts of the northern states of Nigeria were taken over with bombing and suicide taking place daily.

Former member of the House of Representatives from Benue state, Hon Godfrey Ikyereve explained that the present government has not done enough to protect the security of lives and properties of Nigerians especially in the north but he praised the military for the success recorded so far against the Boko Haram in the northern part of the country.

Today, Nigerians can look back and count their gains and pains after sixteen years of democratic rule by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and Dr Goodluck Jonathan.

After many years of military rule, democracy was finally restored as the then military ruler, General Abdulsalam Abubakar handed over power to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, at a colourful ceremony in Abuja, the nation's capital.

The era of President Olusegun Obasanjo was full of many challenges such as the huge debts owed the Paris Club, World Bank and other multilateral agencies, high level of corruption in both the private and the public sectors, impunity at highest level by ruling class, poor electricity supply, bad roads, among others. Chief Obasanjo was able to address few of these problems and passed on the rest, including those he created, to Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

President Musa Yar'Adua did his best before the untimely death after which Dr Goodluck Jonathan, his deputy then, came over through the doctrine of necessity, to complete Yar'Adua's term. He was re-elected in 2011 through the general election with high expectations but peoples' hope and aspirations were dashed as not many of the challenges he met were solved.

The emergence of All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of March 28, 2015 general election however, put an end to PDP government and now we can comfortably examine the performance of the party in government in 16 years, as APC takes the mantle of leadership today.

Economy

Chief Obasanjo inherited a bad economy and managed to make positive and significant change in various sectors of the economy to stabilise the system. The efforts of his economic team did a lot for the country and improvement in human development, business environment and investors' confidence in the  macro-economic performance of the country. Consequently, substantial part of our external debts was paid, steps were taken to deal with corruption and private investors were allowed to buy government-owned companies.  However, the economy remains comatose, most especially under the administration of President Jonathan, who also supervised substantial part of the sixteen years of PDP's administration as poverty rate increases by the day while unemployment was the order of the day. This was because he took no meaningful steps to address these issues. Records show that about 70 per cent of Nigerians still live below poverty line while unemployment rate is put at 21 per cent, placing Nigeria at the 166th position in the world.

Corruption

The setting up of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissioner (EFCC) was the most important creation of Obasanjo's administration as the commission was adjudged effective, though has been accused of being selective as only few cases were opened and concluded under his administration. The Obasanjo administration made strong effort to fight corruption and ensured good governance through the establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the EFCC under the leadership of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who was quite commendable even though there were criticism that he fought selectively and that he was used by the government to haunt some political opponents. In spite of these pitfalls, the report from Transparency International indicated significant progress in the fight against corruption.

Despite the claims by the Jonathan administration that it has zero-tolerance for corruption, it was clear that the president never for once descended on any of his appointees or governor for any corrupt allegations, an indication that he encouraged corruption unlike the Obasanjo government that descended heavily on some of his ministers and governors for being corrupt.

The administration of President Obasanjo failed to instill confidence in governnance especially the way and manner the 2007 elections were conducted, which international observers said greatly diminished confidence and trust in his government.

Security

The 16 years of the PDP administration from 1999 to 2015 has not given due attention to the security situation in the country as the police under Jonathan's administration was under-funded and ill-equipped to remain largely ineffective in preventing crime and ensuring security of lives and properties. In fact, violent crimes and insecurity were the order of the day during his regime as ethnic insurgents such as the Niger Delta militants were ravaging the oil rich zones to prevent oil exploration by foreigners and kidnapping.

The Ya'Adua administration that came in briefly could not carry out any reforms in the security sector before his untimely death except amnesty he granted the Niger Delta militants.

The administration of President Jonathan failed woefully in the area of security as the government was unable to put an end to the violence from the Boko Haram, a violent group in the North that fought the federal government's security men (police and military)to standstill to the extent that some parts of the northern states of Nigeria were taken over with bombing and suicide taking place daily.

Former member of the House of Representatives from Benue state, Hon Godfrey Ikyereve explained that the present government has not done enough to protect the security of lives and properties of Nigerians especially in the north but he praised the military for the success recorded so far against the Boko Haram in the northern part of the country.

- See more at: http://www.newsdirectonline.com/newstory.php?ID=11679#sthash.9LNKiCYF.dpuf

Today, Nigerians can look back and count their gains and pains after sixteen years of democratic rule by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and Dr Goodluck Jonathan.

After many years of military rule, democracy was finally restored as the then military ruler, General Abdulsalam Abubakar handed over power to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, at a colourful ceremony in Abuja, the nation's capital.

The era of President Olusegun Obasanjo was full of many challenges such as the huge debts owed the Paris Club, World Bank and other multilateral agencies, high level of corruption in both the private and the public sectors, impunity at highest level by ruling class, poor electricity supply, bad roads, among others. Chief Obasanjo was able to address few of these problems and passed on the rest, including those he created, to Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

President Musa Yar'Adua did his best before the untimely death after which Dr Goodluck Jonathan, his deputy then, came over through the doctrine of necessity, to complete Yar'Adua's term. He was re-elected in 2011 through the general election with high expectations but peoples' hope and aspirations were dashed as not many of the challenges he met were solved.

The emergence of All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of March 28, 2015 general election however, put an end to PDP government and now we can comfortably examine the performance of the party in government in 16 years, as APC takes the mantle of leadership today.

Economy

Chief Obasanjo inherited a bad economy and managed to make positive and significant change in various sectors of the economy to stabilise the system. The efforts of his economic team did a lot for the country and improvement in human development, business environment and investors' confidence in the  macro-economic performance of the country. Consequently, substantial part of our external debts was paid, steps were taken to deal with corruption and private investors were allowed to buy government-owned companies.  However, the economy remains comatose, most especially under the administration of President Jonathan, who also supervised substantial part of the sixteen years of PDP's administration as poverty rate increases by the day while unemployment was the order of the day. This was because he took no meaningful steps to address these issues. Records show that about 70 per cent of Nigerians still live below poverty line while unemployment rate is put at 21 per cent, placing Nigeria at the 166th position in the world.

Corruption

The setting up of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissioner (EFCC) was the most important creation of Obasanjo's administration as the commission was adjudged effective, though has been accused of being selective as only few cases were opened and concluded under his administration. The Obasanjo administration made strong effort to fight corruption and ensured good governance through the establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the EFCC under the leadership of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who was quite commendable even though there were criticism that he fought selectively and that he was used by the government to haunt some political opponents. In spite of these pitfalls, the report from Transparency International indicated significant progress in the fight against corruption.

Despite the claims by the Jonathan administration that it has zero-tolerance for corruption, it was clear that the president never for once descended on any of his appointees or governor for any corrupt allegations, an indication that he encouraged corruption unlike the Obasanjo government that descended heavily on some of his ministers and governors for being corrupt.

The administration of President Obasanjo failed to instill confidence in governnance especially the way and manner the 2007 elections were conducted, which international observers said greatly diminished confidence and trust in his government.

Security

The 16 years of the PDP administration from 1999 to 2015 has not given due attention to the security situation in the country as the police under Jonathan's administration was under-funded and ill-equipped to remain largely ineffective in preventing crime and ensuring security of lives and properties. In fact, violent crimes and insecurity were the order of the day during his regime as ethnic insurgents such as the Niger Delta militants were ravaging the oil rich zones to prevent oil exploration by foreigners and kidnapping.

The Ya'Adua administration that came in briefly could not carry out any reforms in the security sector before his untimely death except amnesty he granted the Niger Delta militants.

The administration of President Jonathan failed woefully in the area of security as the government was unable to put an end to the violence from the Boko Haram, a violent group in the North that fought the federal government's security men (police and military)to standstill to the extent that some parts of the northern states of Nigeria were taken over with bombing and suicide taking place daily.

Former member of the House of Representatives from Benue state, Hon Godfrey Ikyereve explained that the present government has not done enough to protect the security of lives and properties of Nigerians especially in the north but he praised the military for the success recorded so far against the Boko Haram in the northern part of the country.

- See more at: http://www.newsdirectonline.com/newstory.php?ID=11679#sthash.9LNKiCYF.dpuf