Haiti Under the Duvalier’s, comprising “Papa Doc” and his son “Baby Doc”, ruled Haiti from 1957 to 1986 after Papa Doc won a controversial election. Their kleptocratic regime was marked by extreme corruption and systematic brutal plundering of national wealth. Under their rule, the economy deteriorated, poverty became widespread, and public funds were diverted for personal enrichment, leading to a severe decline in public services and a growing gap between the wealthy elite and the impoverished masses. They also led an extravagant lifestyle, contrasting starkly with the poverty of most Haitians, and invested minimally in education, healthcare, and essential services. The Duvalier era remains one of the most damaging periods in Haitian history to date! – (Papa Doc, Baby Doc: Haiti and the Duvalier’s).

Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, gained independence from Britain in 1980, with Robert Mugabe becoming the country’s first Prime Minister and later President. Initially, Zimbabwe experienced economic growth and was considered one of Africa’s most prosperous nations. However, Mugabe’s tendencies and policies such as Corruption, Mismanagement, Increased Borrowing, Capital Flight,Inefficiency & Printing of Money led to economic decline, with the worst period being the 2000s hyperinflation crisis,when Zimbabwe’s inflation rate reached 89.7 sextillion percent (89,700,000,000,000,000,000%) per month making the Zimbabwean DollarWorthless and In 2009, Zimbabwe officially abandoned its currency and adopted a multi-currency system.(The Economic Decline of Zimbabwe: Neither Growth nor Equity​)​

As Nigeria hurtles towards the path of Haiti or Rhodesia or both, lets delve into the issues that will help us decide.

The VPs House
According to Worldometer (A United Nations real-time estimate data centre)., the current population of Nigeria as of April 11, 2025, is estimated at 236,413,198.The Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF), Country Profile for Nigeria, highlights the housing deficit as at 2023 to be28 millionhouses and growing,requiring an estimated sum of NGN35.5 trillion to finance the housing deficit.

On Friday, June 7, 2024, after 14 years, the official residence of the Vice-President was commissioned. The cost of this remarkable Heaven on Earth House is a staggering obscene amount of NGN21 billion, amidst a struggling populace, skyrocketing prices for basic utilities, electricity now rationed, often on an apartheid-like basis, a plummeting naira, and the removal of essential subsidies.
They said, providing a suitable residence for the Vice-President is not merely a matter of convenience, it is a symbol of respect for the office and the individual who occupy it.They also said, it is a commitment to transparency, accountability, and efficient resource utilization.

That’s how sadistic and morally bankrupt they are!
The 73rd Birthday Bash
No one, none at all has a hand in the presence of commercial crude oil in Nigeria yet they said they have removed subsidy from our God- given oil before 12 pm on that fateful day! And to add salt to injury, at “a sight to behold”73rd birthday party of the president they referred to him as courageous for removing the subsidy.

Now our question is ”is it culturally, morally and politically right” for a country’s president to use state resources for personal celebrations before or after removing subsidy from petrol and electricity especially with the current economic challenges where multitudes of citizens did not see food to eat that fateful day, while all that grace the occasion have foodstuff busting at the seams, in their houses. May be it is a State Event!

The True Value of Life and That of The Naira
To understand how the naira is becoming a Zimbabwean currency, let’s take a look at the report of the National Moon-sighting Committee of Nigeria, based on the value of gold as at March 28, 2025.

Zakat Nisab is NGN12,921,120​,00.To put it graphically, in Islam, a person that has NGN12,900,000.00untouched for a whole year, is poor and is not expected to pay zakat on that sum of money.

Theft Threshold is NGN161,514​.00.To illustrate, in Islam, a person that unjustifiably consume an amount/resource that belongs to someone or some people equivalent to NGN161,514.00upon conviction, is liable to have his/her hand cut off.
Blood Money (Diyyah) is NGN646,056,000.00.Also to illustrate, the cost of a life in Islam is over half a billion naira. Meaning any one that kills an innocent soul, upon conviction is liable to pay that amount to the family of the deceased.

The 2025 Budgetand the Excessive Borrowing
The approved budget for 2024 was NGN27.5 trillion (let’s assume it is not padded), and if we may dare ask, what was the budget performance in 2024?

The 2025 approved Nigerian Budget of Restoration (minus padding if any)isNGN54.99trillionfrom NGN49,7trillion earlier presented. Debt servicing is NGN14.32trillion. Meanwhile the projected deficit is NGN13.08 trillion, to be financed through borrowing!

The precise total borrowing by the present administration from May 29, 2023 to datecan safely be said, is none existent or at best it shows incompetency as neither theNational Bureau of Statistics (NBS): “Nigerian Domestic & Foreign Debt Q1 2024” report.and Debt Management Office (DMO): “Nigeria Public Debt Statistical Bulletin Q3 2023” can give one asensible figure.However,based on the latest complete breakdown (Q3 2023) and the total debt figure for Q1 2024, the Federal Government’s debt stock, excluding that of the sub-nationals, is estimated to be around NGN114 trillion as of the first quarter of 2024.This is aTicking Time Bomb.

The Erosion of Democratic Principles and Human Rights
The suppression of dissent, as exemplified by the #EndBadGovernance and other protests, highlights the government’s disregard for democratic principles and human rights. The use of excessive force and the fresh-in-our-mind arrest of innocent children yet to reach puberty and peaceful protesters are a grave violation of fundamental freedoms as stated in Chapter IV (Sections 33 – 46) of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) and Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

The Naira-For-Crude Deal
​The Federal Executive Council (FEC) in July 2024 directed the NNPCL to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery in naira. This FEC directive is essentially more like a scam on Nigerians or the height of impunity of government.

In Nigeria, the use of foreign currencies for domestic transactions is generally prohibited, with specific regulations reinforcing the primacy of the Naira as the sole legal tender. This is anchored on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 2007 Act,Section 20(1), which stipulates that the Naira is the only legal tender in Nigeria. Any pricing or payment for goods and services in foreign currencies within the country contravenes this provision. ​Furthermore, Section 20(5) of the Act, criminalizesand stipulates that any person(s) who contravenes this provision is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a prescribed fine or six months imprisonment. Additionally, the CBN has issued directives through its circulars, warning individuals and businesses against denominating or demanding payments in foreign currencies for domestic transactions. Violations are to be reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the CBN for appropriate action.

Certainly, a government official or officials who refused to abide by this law should face the consequences of his or their actions.

Dumping the National Power Grid for a NGN10bn Solar Grid
Nigerians, don’t forget, in late December 2022, someone promised Nigerians that, “If I don’t give you constant electricity for four years, don’t vote for me when I come back for second term.”

The abandonment of the national grid by the by the Aso Rock Occupants is nothing short of impunity, lack of accountability, opacity in government dealings and crude policies of government. It was a photo-shop opportunity when the clueless government proudly approved the removal of electricity subsidy, increase in electricity tariff and creation of ascam and apartheid banding system with the Villa finding itself in Band A. and to cap it all, the minister that mislead the president to increase tariff unnecessaryis still sitting pretty on his seat instead of facing the consequences of his actions.Our take here is that“finally, the chicken has come home to roost”.
ṢṢummun, bukmun, ‘umyun fahum lā yarjiʿūn

In line with their crude political exigencies towards the run-up to the 2027 elections, the government seem ill-equipped to stem the tide of economic decline and only obsessed with acquisition of pecks of office and directing government affairs to activities that benefits them only.

In the final analysis, what we see is government’s response and that of the legislature, which appears to be a flurry of additional naivety, impunity and decamping of elected officials that shows they are “deaf, dumb, and blind, as they are unable to return to righteousness.”

• Hon (Alh) Adamu Rabiu is a Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist on Policy, Finance, Risk, Politics, Good Governance & an Advocate for Sustainable Development and writes from Kaduna.