Adichie launches fierce criticism of Nigerian president

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has written a stinging critique of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari in the New York Times.

She starts off by saying that she welcomed his election in 2015, especially as it signalled a peaceful and democratic transfer of power.

But that optimism is now gone and she says Mr Buhari missed his chance to change Nigeria.

Ms Adichie attacks his initial policy of trying to support the currency, the naira, in the face of the overwhelming pressure for it to be devalued.

She is also critical of the attempt to ban the import of certain goods.

“His intentions, good as they well might be, are rooted in an outdated economic model and an infantile view of Nigerians. For him, it seems, patriotism is not a voluntary and flexible thing, with room for dissent, but a martial enterprise: to obey without questioning,” she said.

She also discusses the insecurity in the country and the perception in the south of the country “that he promotes a northern Sunni Muslim agenda”.

Overall, she says: “There is an ad hoc air to the government that does not inspire that vital ingredient for a stable economy: confidence.”