Comments on Sanusi Lamido's
Suitability
By
Abbas Liman
limanabbas@yahoo.co.uk
I have been prompted to make a few
comments following the one made by one George who is also a member of
our great forum (trustwriters forum). His comment was on Sanusi Lamido
Sanusi as Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s nominee then for the
replacement of Prof Charles Soludo as Governor, Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN). He opined that a former Deputy Governor of the Bank, Dr
Obadiah Mailafiya is more suitable.
As far as I see it, Professors are not
better than their Senior Lecturer colleagues save in one aspect. It is
that the Professor is smarter. On many occasions there are lecturers
who are junior to the Professor and who have attended international
conferences and workshops thereby making them as exposed if not more
than the Prof in the advancement attained in the various areas of
human development. I know some lecturers in foreign universities who
submitted application for promotion to the rank of Senior Lecturer but
external assessors returned the recommendation that they were above
the Senior Lecturer position they were seeking to be promoted to. The
recommendation stated that they were to be elevated to the rank of
Professor. The Senate of their respective universities had no option
than to do act accordingly.
Furthermore, it is well known that the
highest level one could reach while learning in an institution where
he/she would take instruction from a teacher in form of tutoring or
lectures is the Masters degree. PhD is earned by research.
In exceptional cases people with Masters
Degree who have no PhD have become Professors. One of those in this
category is Adamu Baikie. He became a Professor of Education and was
appointed Vice Chancellor at the University of Benin and then later
Vice Chancellor at the University of Lesotho in Southern Africa.
There are those who did not even have a
Masters degree yet did extremely well in their chosen carriers. These
include the Black (African) American George Washington Carver. He was
a Botanist/Agricultural Chemist. He developed hundred uses of Peanuts
(Groundnuts), Soyabeans and Potatoes.
Another in this category also was
Grunville Woods, also a Black (African) American who developed
synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraphs among others. The Telegraph
system helps to prevent collision of trains traveling on the same
track in opposite direction. He did not have a university degree. All
he had was formal schooling till the age of 10 years. Gregory Mendel,
the Austrian monk who carried out his extensive work in genetics that
is still applicable in various branches of modern science like Food
Technology, Genetic Engineering etc. He was neither a Professor nor a
PhD.
In the category of those who had no
exposure to western education but still did very well in their
carriers are Lamidi Fakeye the Sculptor from Ila Orangun in Western
Nigeria. From his little workshop where he was making his wood
carvings, he rose to become a Visiting Professor of Art at the
University of Michigan in the United States. Mallam (Dr) Aliyu Namangi,
Zaria was another man in this category. He became blind at a very
tender age following an illness (?Measles). He authored three books,
one of which was used one time for undergraduate students of Hausa at
the Ahmadu Bello University.
In my opinion what makes the difference
between the person who has a degree and the person who has not is that
the acquisition of degree widens the horizons of intellectual ability
hence the person is able to do or achieve more. Sanusi Lamido has a
first and a second degree. In addition to that he was a lecturer
before he joined the Banking industry. He rose to the position of
Executive Director of one of the largest and strongest banks in this
country, the First Bank of Nigeria. I believe, quite rightly, that he
has gained sufficient experience for his new job and would be equal to
the task.
In conclusion, all the new CBN Governor
requires is our prayers and support for him to join Mr President’s
economic team in order to bring us out of the present economic
predicament in this country. Perhaps Mr. George has apathy for the
Northern Nigerians similar to what the Whites in Jamaica had for the
Black rural dwellers in that country like Bob Marley so much so that
they commented “Can anything good come out of Trenchtown?”
in his music titled Trenchtown (in the album “Confrontation”).
Or perhaps George has doubt in the capability of Northern Nigerians.
Who knows? Sanusi Lamido might turn out to be a “Kashimawo”
like the late Alhaji MKO
Abiola whose parents probably thought that he might not even live. He
surprised them by not just remaining alive but also becoming a very
successful International Businessman.
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