THE passing away of Nigeria’s immediate past president and military ruler, Muhammadu Buhari, came on Sunday, July 13.

He died at a London hospital, according to his spokesperson, Garba Shehu. He was aged 82.

Late Buhari was Nigeria’s president between May 29, 2015, and May 29, 2023. He was also a former military head of state between December 1983 and August 1985.

He handed over leadership to the incumbent president, Bola Tinubu, on May 29, 2023.

As tributes and reflections pour in his honour, The ICIR  highlights a few metrics on how his eight years of administration impacted the Nigerian economy.

Trade surplus

In the first quarter of 2015, Nigeria had a foreign trade surplus of N1,584.9 billion. The total merchandise trade value was N4,875.4 billion, with total exports valued at N3,230.2 billion, while total imports were N1,645.3 billion.

By the first quarter of 2023, Nigeria’s total merchandise trade had improved to N12.05 trillion. Specifically, total exports were valued at N6.49 trillion, while total imports were N5.56 trillion, resulting in a trade surplus of N927.2 billion.

Inflation

Headline inflation rose from a single digit of nine per cent as of May 2015 to 22.41 per cent as of May 2023. It rose 59 times in the eight years of his administration.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

As of the first quarter of 2015, real GDP grew by 3.86 per cent year-on-year to $493 billion in monetary terms.

By the first quarter of 2023, it stood at a 2.31 per cent growth rate, having declined to $363.8 billion in monetary value.

Notably, the country experienced two economic recessions, one in 2016 and another in 2020.

The 2016 recession was primarily driven by a decline in oil revenue and a shortage of foreign exchange. It was the first annual contraction in GDP in 25 years at the time.

In 2020, it experienced another recession, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly impacted global economic activity, including oil prices and supply chains.

The economy contracted in the second and third quarters of that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Exchange rate

The economy also saw an exchange rate volatility as the value of the naira to the dollar depreciated significantly.

The naira weakened from an average of N192.64 per dollar in 2015 to an average of N461.28 per dollar in 2023.

Debt profile

The public debt profile rose from N12.06 trillion in March 2015 to N49.85 trillion in March 2023, impacting debt servicing, which also rose from N1.06 trillion in 2015 to N5.24 trillion as of 2022.

The debt-service-to-revenue ratio grew from 29 per cent to 96 per cent as the percentage of Nigerians living in poverty increased from 40.1 per cent to 63 per cent of the population.

In June 2023, the World Poverty Clock put the number of Nigerians living in extreme poverty at 71 million.