Former President Muhammadu Buhari says his successor President Bola Tinubu is doing very well despite public outcry over increased economic hardships and insecurity in the country, adding that the country is so complex and there is nothing much anyone can do to save the country.

“I thank you very much for coming. I very much appreciate it. I thought Tinubu has done very well,” Mr Buhari said. “Nigeria is so complex. Really, there isn’t much anybody can do.”

The former president made this statement at the weekend when he received the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, and other officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in Daura, Katsina state.

Mr Buhari, who presided over the country for eight years, from 2015-2023, handed over the leadership of the most populous African country to Mr Tinubu on May 29. At that time, Nigeria’s inflation was 22 per cent, and its debt profile was over N46 trillion, according to the Debt Management Office.

Since Mr Tinubu assumed office, he has announced the removal of fuel subsidy and the end of the dual exchange rate. The Nigerian economy has spiralled downward, while insecurity has taken a frightening trajectory.

With inflation at 29.9 per cent as of January and the naira trading for over N1,600 against a dollar, Nigerians have cried out over spiking food prices, staging protests in Niger, Kano Osun, Ibadan and Lagos States.

In Abuja, a government-owned warehouse was raided and food items looted by residents, while in Suleja, Niger state, and Zaria in Kaduna state, trucks carrying foodstuff have need attacked and looted over worsening economic situation. 

Mr Tinubu, however, has said the sufferings of Nigerians is for a better future. While his government has blamed Mr Buhari’s regime for causing Nigeria’s hyper-inflation with “aimless” printing of trillions of naira,” Mr Tinubu has ordered the release of grains from food banks to ameliorate hunger in the country.

Under Mr Tinubu’s watch, gunmen raided communities in Plateau State on 2023 Christmas Eve, killing over 200, while kidnapping for ransom has also not abated. 

Last week, Boko Haram terrorists raided an Internally Displaced Persons camp in Borno, abducting over 400. Similarly, a public school in Kuriga, the Chikun Local Government of Kaduna state, was attacked by armed bandits who abducted 287 schoolchildren, while another 15 Tsangaya students in Sokoto were also abducted.

On Sunday, Mr Tinubu-led government blamed the latest kidnappings in the North on political forces in the northern region plotting to destabilise the country.