ASSESSMENT OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI’S

PERFORMANCE AND LEADERSHIP STYLE (2015-2019)

Dr. Meenu Sharma, Assistant Professor, History, BDS School of Law, Meerut
ABSTRACT
During President Buhari's tenure, which extended from 2015 until early 2019,
Nigeria had a multitude of obstacles including abduction, political instability,
unemployment, economic instability, poverty, and other related issues. President
Buhari assumed office with a pledge of "Change," a commitment that garnered
public support due to his established reputation as a military officer. The objective
of this study is to evaluate the performances of the individual in question
throughout the period spanning from 2015 to 2019. The present research used the
Paternalistic leadership paradigm. Paternalistic leadership is a management
strategy characterised by the presence of a strong authority person who assumes
the role of a patriarch or matriarch. In this style, workers and partners are treated as
if they were members of an expansive extended family. The research effort uses a
historical research technique. The efficacy of a leader is contingent upon their
chosen style of leadership. Therefore, the objective of this research study is to
evaluate the efficacy of President Muhammadu Buhari's performances and
ascertain their consequential effects. The research findings revealed that there were
several areas in which the administration of President Buhari did not fully address
the issues at hand, despite some notable achievements. The study also put forth
recommendations aimed at aiding the subsequent administration in improving its
performance. These recommendations include the imperative of generating
employment opportunities for the large number of unemployed young individuals
scattered across the nation, as well as effectively combating the pervasive and
deeply entrenched corruption that has permeated all levels of society. Moving
forward, it is essential to consider the following steps as part of the proposed
course of action. The objectives include the execution of a zero tolerance policy
against bribery and corruption, addressing the prevalent issue of insecurity within
the nation, and actively pursuing measures to stabilise the economy.
Keywords: paternalistic, leadership style, insecurity, Corruption, Nigeria and
Economy
INTRODUCTION
Nigeria is a nation endowed with a rich array of diversity, talent, population, and
natural resources. Its estimated population stands at approximately 220 million,
and it is home to over 250 distinct ethnic groups, each with its own unique
language. However, it is worth noting that the English language serves as the
universally recognised official language spoken throughout the country. Nigeria
has earned the distinction of being recognised as the "giant of Africa" due to its
substantial population and formidable economic prowess. Nigeria is renowned for
being the domicile of a significant number of young individuals, as it has the third-
largest youth population globally, behind only China and India.
The path towards democracy in Nigeria has been fraught with challenges, as it has
been marred by military coups and counter-coups that have hindered the nation's
progress in terms of democratic development. President Muhammudu Buhari, a
four-time contender for the presidency of Nigeria, ultimately emerged victorious in
March 2015 by defeating the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. This
outcome resonated with the citizens, who sought a leader like President Buhari,
known for his disciplined military background, to assume the helm of affairs. The
populace yearned for a transformative shift, and President Buhari became
emblematic of the change that the nation urgently sought during that period. The
leadership style of President Muhammadu Buhari has been selected for evaluation
due to the many problems and hurdles associated with running a multifaceted
nation such as Nigeria. The study endeavour will furthermore function as a
scholarly resource for individuals within the realm of political science.
AIM AND OBJECTIVES
The Objective of this research work is to determine the leadership style of former
President Muhammadu Buhari and access his performance between 2015 to 2019.
PURPOSE OF RESEARCH
This research work will serve a lot of purpose, the research work will reveal if
indeed President Buahri performed well in his Office as the president of Nigeria
between 2015 to 2019 or not, the result obtained in this research work will help to
guide the new government properly and ensure that the new government corrects
the mistakes the former administration made, observe and detect the loopholes and
areas the government failed so as to improve on them in the near future.
HYPOTHESES
The research work will proceed on the following hypothetical assumptions: 1.
President Buhari’s administration from 2015 to 2019 tackled and fulfilled all his
campaign promises.
REVIEW OF EXISTING LITERATURE ON ACESSMENT OF PRESIDENT
BUHARI’S PERFORMANCE ANS LEADERSHIP STYLE
Definition and Importance of Leadership:
The significance of leadership cannot be overstated, as it plays a crucial role in the
effective functioning of a society. A nation without competent leadership is very
susceptible to descending into a state of chaos and disorder. Leadership, in essence,
refers to the capacity of an individual to guide and direct others. The fundamental
principles of leadership include the notions of respect and valuing others,
regardless of their differences. This entails treating others with dignity,
demonstrating succinct respect, exhibiting empathy and compassion, and effecting
positive change in others via one's actions and exemplary conduct. Integrity refers
to the unwavering commitment to uphold a rigorous set of moral or ethical
principles. The term "purity" refers to the state or characteristic of being entirely
free from impurities or contaminants. According to Daft (2005), leadership may be
seen as a dynamic interaction between leaders and followers, characterised by their
mutual commitment to generating shared value and working together towards
common goals and objectives (Lee, 2008). Furthermore, leadership may be defined
as the act of a leader serving as an exemplar or role model for workers, so enabling
them to emulate the leader's actions in order to successfully complete their
assigned responsibilities (Knab, 2009).
According to Knab (2009), the effectiveness of leadership is contingent upon the
leaders' ability to cultivate and sustain staff engagement via proficient monitoring
and encouraging. In their study, Mazutis and Zintel (2015) investigated the
relationship between several attributes of leaders and managers, such as
demographic factors, using data obtained from Web of Science (WoS). In their
comprehensive research, Marques et al (2018) focused only on a broad responsible
leadership style and conducted a bibliometric analysis of scholarly articles indexed
in the Web of Science (WoS) database, published throughout the timeframe of
2006 to 2016.
Leadership Styles:
Bedeian (1986:470) defines leadership style as the method in which a leader
conducts themselves within a work environment.Fielder (1967) proposed two
primary leadership styles: There are two primary orientations when it comes to
human behaviour: task-oriented and relationship-oriented. The task-oriented
leadership style is characterised by a leader who derives pleasure from effectively
completing tasks, prioritising them above interpersonal relationships. The
relationship-oriented approach is characterised by a leader who prioritises the
establishment and maintenance of positive interpersonal relationships. The
aforementioned notions are delineated and scrutinised in order to comprehend and
evaluate the efficacy of President Muhammadu Buhari's tenure in Nigeria. The
evaluation of effective and high-quality leadership is contingent upon strong
performance, while ineffective leadership is attributed to poor performance. This
study focuses on the evaluation of President Buhari's tenure as the President of
Nigeria, specifically analysing the performance of his government throughout the
period from 2015 to 2020.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The present research used the Paternalistic leadership paradigm. The concept of
paternalism emerged during the latter part of the 19th century (Britannica, n.d.).
However, it was not until 1939 that psychologist Kurt Lewin, together with a team
of researchers, formulated Lewin's Leadership Theory, aiming to discern various
leadership styles (www.britannica.com). (Leadership and Performance, 2022).
Paternalistic leadership is a management strategy characterised by the presence of
a strong authority person who assumes the role of a patriarch or matriarch. This
method entails treating workers and partners as if they were members of an
expansive extended family. In reciprocation, the boss expects loyalty, trust, and
obedience from workers. In this particular work setting, it is anticipated that
employees possess a comprehension of the leader's expertise and exercise faith in
their decision-making for the betterment of the organisation. While employees are
have the opportunity to voice their opinions, it is ultimately the leader who has the
authority to make final decisions.
A proficient paternalistic leader should have a capacity for strategic thinking,
taking into account the broader implications of their decisions and their potential
impact on the organisation as a whole. Paternalistic CEOs prioritise the importance
of education and social aptitude, offering their staff opportunity to enhance their
commercial acumen and interpersonal abilities. One advantage of effectively
implementing this management approach is that it may motivate staff to exert more
effort in order to accomplish assigned tasks within specified timeframes. This
heightened motivation may enable them to not only meet but even beyond their
objectives, driven by a desire to satisfy the authoritative figure and enhance the
reputation of the organisation. The citation provided is from the Research Journal
of Humanities, Legal Studies, and International Development, Volume 3, published
in July 2019.
One potential drawback associated with paternalistic leadership is to the potential
disruption of the hierarchical framework within an organisation, particularly in
times of crisis, which may occur unintentionally by the authoritative person. When
a parental figure exhibits perceived favouritism towards some individuals, it may
lead to the emergence of jealously and resentment within the workplace.
Consequently, this can have a detrimental influence on the overall work
environment, ultimately hindering the effectiveness of the patriarch or matriarch as
a leader (Rouse, 2018).
APPLICATION OF THE THEORY
The relevance of paternalistic leadership to this study lies in the perception of
President Muhammadu Buhari as a paternal figure, characterised by honesty, and
the recognition of him as a paternal leader by the Nigerian populace, particularly
those from the Northern region. This is the reason why the political parties that
Buhari affiliated himself with gained significant popularity. The general public
held the belief that President Buhari, given his background as a retired Nigerian
Army general and former military Head of State, exhibited a modest financial
lifestyle. The researchers arrived at the determination that there was no evidence of
embezzlement or misappropriation of public money by the individual in question.
Consequently, they deemed him to be trustworthy and suitable for participation in
the political party election. However, it is worth noting that the elites in Nigeria
may have alternative viewpoints or interpretations of his character and integrity.
This is the reason why Buhari had to participate in the Presidential election on four
separate occasions prior to achieving victory. The individual in question
participated in the electoral contests of 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015, becoming
victorious in the latter. The citation provided is from the Research Journal of
Humanities, Legal Studies & International Development, Volume 3, published in
July 2019.
METHODOLOGY
The research methods used in this study involves historical research utilising
secondary sources of data collecting. These sources include a range of materials
such as textbooks, historical documents, observations, journals, internet sources,
newspaper articles, and others. Historical research has significant importance since
it facilitates the documentation of historical events and allows researchers to
formulate broader assertions, so enhancing our understanding of both the present
and the past. This will undoubtedly provide a succinct understanding of the subject
matter.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This research study examines the performance and leadership style of former
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria over the period of 2015 to 2019. Based
on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that former President Buhari's
performance fell short of the established standards and failed to meet the
anticipated level of achievement. President Buhari's administration fell short in
effectively addressing the issue of corruption, while placing significant emphasis
on combating it. The prevalence of corruption remained alarmingly high
throughout his term.
President Muhammadu Buhari, the former president of Nigeria took power in 2015
after four attempts, one would have thought that he came prepared to tackle the
many challenges that Nigeria faced before he assumed office, rather, it took him
more than six months to create a working team, his administration was slow to
tackle the numerous challenges facing Nigeria, Nigeria suffered untold hardship,
corruption sky rocked under his watch, insecurity tripled under his administration
and the economy was at its lowest, cost of living was at its worst, the “Change” he
promised Nigerians was nowhere to be found.
In May 2018, a survey known as the Buharimeter Opinion Poll was undertaken to
evaluate the perception of Nigerians on the performance of President Muhammadu
Buhari's government after a three-year tenure. According to a survey issued by the
Centre for Democracy and Development, it was found that 40 percent of Nigerians
expressed approval of the Presidents' performance, whilst 44 percent expressed
disapproval. The remaining 16 percent neither liked nor disapproved of his
performance. As to Idayat Hassan, the Director of the centre for Democracy and
Development (CDD), the ranking suggests that Nigerians perceive the President's
performance to be below average. The speaker placed significant emphasis on the
fact that the President's approval rating, which was at 40 percent, had a notable
decrease of 17 percent when compared to the last Buharimeter poll conducted in
2017, when it was recorded at 57 percent on a national scale.
The survey findings also indicated that the federal government's performance fell
below average in relation to the three key campaign pledges, namely corruption,
security, and the economy. When Nigerians were surveyed about their assessment
of President Buhari's economic performance, it was found that 67 percent of
respondents assessed it unfavourably, while 21 percent and 12 percent regarded it
as average and satisfactory, respectively. In contrast to the findings of the 2017
National Survey, a significant proportion of respondents, namely 39 percent,
expressed a negative assessment of the economic performance. This observation is
noteworthy considering the country's economic recovery, which was characterised
by an increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and a fall in the inflation rate.
The citation provided is from the Research Journal of Humanities, Legal Studies &
International Development, specifically Volume 3, published in July 2019.
In terms of geographical zones, the economic performance of the current
government was regarded as bad by 71 percent, 82 percent, and 80 percent of the
sampled population in the North Central, South-South, and South-West regions,
respectively. The largest percentage of dissatisfaction was seen in the South-East
region, with 85 percent of the population rating the economic performance as
poor.In the northeastern and northwestern regions. According to the data provided
by buharimeter.ng in May 2018, the economic performance of the government led
by President Buhari was evaluated as subpar, with ratings of 47 percent and 48
percent.
Table 1: Buhari’s Administration Opinion Poll Performance, May 2018
Poor Rating by Zones Economy % Corruption %
North West 48 30
North East 47 34
North Central 71 61
North Central 80 84
South East 85 84
South – South 82 75
Source: (www.buharimeter.net) May, 2018
According to the poll findings, it was observed that a mere 21 percent of the
Nigerian population surveyed expressed satisfaction with the government's
performance in the realm of security. Conversely, 24 percent of respondents saw
the government's performance as average, while a majority of 55 percent evaluated
it as unsatisfactory. In contrast, the Economy scored the lowest mean score of 1.99,
followed by Corruption with a score of 2.24. On the other hand, Security had the
highest average rating of 2.33 out of 5 among the three primary campaign promises
made by the government. It is vital to acknowledge that a higher proximity of the
average score to 5 corresponds to a superior score. In relation to sector-specific
performance, President Buhari's government received unfavourable ratings in all
six areas, namely Electricity, Education, Housing, Oil and Gas, Transportation, and
Health. Nevertheless, the efficacy of the Buhari administration in the Agriculture
sector was deemed satisfactory, as shown by its attainment of the highest average
score of 2.65.
The Buharimeter website (www.buharimetyer.ng) served as an autonomous
monitoring instrument that facilitated the assessment of the fulfilment of campaign
commitments made by President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressive
Congress (APC) during the lead-up to the 2015 general elections. This evaluation
was conducted by Nigerians, scholars, and political analysts, as highlighted in the
Research Journal of Humanities, Legal Studies & International Development,
Volume 3, published in July 2019.
A group of Nigerian individuals were surveyed to express their perspectives on the
performance of the Buhari administration from 2015 to 2019. Initially, it was
posited by some respondents that Nigeria has not yet achieved a real democracy,
but rather has a civilian government in operation, since the defining features of an
authentic democracy have not yet been seen in Nigeria.
Conversely, the President's performance had its lowest rating during his fourth year
in office, averaging at 41.3 percent. In general, it has been observed that the
president's average approval rating throughout their first term in office is 49.3
percent. However, it is worth noting that in May 2019, this number dropped to 36
percent, as reported by NoiPolls (www.noipolls.com).
Likewise, Nigerian citizens evaluated President Buhari's performance on several
metrics on a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5. In this scale, a rating of 1 signifies
'Very Poor' while a rating of 5 signifies 'Excellent'. Commencing with three
fundamental policy priorities, the president's performance was evaluated as 36
percent in the domain of Security, 27 percent in relation to Corruption, and 16
percent with regard to the Economy. The individual achieved a score of 37% in the
domain of Agriculture and Food Security, 26% in Power, 25% in Healthcare, 24%
in Education, 22% in Infrastructure, 15% in Job Creation, and 13% in Poverty
Alleviation. The President had below-average ratings across all variables examined
during his first time in office, as reported by a reputable polling organisation
(www.noi-polls.com).
CONCLUSIONS
The performance of former President Muhammadu Buhari from 2015 to 2019 was
below standard, insecurity sky rocketed, inflation was not left behind, it escalated
and the economy was left in shambles, the international image of Nigeria was
severely battered. The former president was rated poorly on some specific
indicators in his first four years in office which includes the economy, corruption
and insecurity.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The study gave the following recommendations:
1. Diversification of Nigeria economy, Agriculture should be taken seriously,
information, communication and technologies (ICT) should also be improved
because the world has already gone global. Oil should not be Nigeria’s only major
source of income, coal and other mineral resources should also be harnessed so
that the Nigeria economy will blossom.
2. The government should take the corruption menace very seriously, they
should set up panels that consists of credible personalities to try and convict
corrupt official who embezzle the nation’s funds, this should serve as a detriment
to officials. Nigeria should clean its public image and rid herself of corruption.
3. Security of lives and property should also be one of the major concerns of
the government. Many lives are lost in Nigeria on a daily basis because of poor
security of lives and property and this hinders foreign investors from coming to
Nigeria to invest.

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