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The Nigerian Banking Revolution By Marwan Haruna Abdulkarim
Earlier in the year when Yar’adua nominated Sanusi to the central bank of Nigeria’s top job, there were both praises and condemnations about his nomination from various quarters. The praise singers see Sanusi’s nomination as a good omen for the country due to either knowing his moral characters and/or his performance in his professional career. However, Sanusi’s nomination was viewed by some people as an ethnic agenda.
I was one of the happiest people when Sanusi was nominated as the CBN Governor by the President and tried as much to convince some of my friends knowing to a degree who Sanusi is. Since the year 2000 I have been reading Sanusi’s articles (both religious and political). Enticed with Sanusi’s critiquing of issues, I decided to call him and get some clarifications on some of his views, Then, I was living in Lagos. His critiquing of issues has angered not only the political elite but also some of his religious scholars.
Sanusi’s critics began seeing the good things in him when he was interviewed at the senate and specifically because of his view on the President’s seven point agenda. When asked about the changes he intends to make at the central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi told the senators point blank that he will not make any promise. Although he refused to make any promise to the senate, as a human being and a professional Banker one should expect him to have some plans. What he refused to uncover to the senators is now beginning to manifest.
With the recent revelations of double dealings by the banks Directors, one can now argue that the Nigerian banking sector, if not the most corrupt is one of the most corrupt sectors in Nigeria. We have seen and heard how ordinary citizens forfeited their houses during the sell of federal government houses in the Obasanjo administration due to banks refusal to grant them loans, yet these same banks we now realised gave out billions of Naira to some few individuals without collateral. The managing Directors have been living large on investors’ money; they buy private jets and open their own companies with investors’/Depositors’ hard earned money. Worst still they conspire to pronounce the loans non-performing so that in the long run the banks can even forfeit such huge sums of money to the detriment of investors. What is therefore wrong in sacking these erring MDs and prosecuting them within the ambit of law since even a poor pure water seller might be one of the investors? What is wrong in prosecuting both the MDs and the debtors when now it appeared that they are capable of servicing their debt earlier before now but they refused to do so?
The sad thing in this issue is the ethnic dimension it is given. But it will be good to note that the debtors are not from only one section of the country and the huge sums of money given to some of these individuals is more than the yearly allocation of some states in Nigeria. Thus, how many people have these loans benefited? How many people have these ‘’conspirators’’ employed? What kind of business have they done with the money? And of what benefit is it to the Nigerian economy?
Imagine that some of these debtors used the huge sum in importing toys yet we cry out ethnic agenda? What if the banks were allowed to be insolvent? Can’t we remember the amount of money lost by both investors and depositors in the failed banks which resulted to the sudden death of some of them and nothing happened to the banks’ Directors? But many thanks to Bishop Akinola who said that if it is the promotion of an ethnic agenda, time will tell. In that I believe, just like I use to say during Ribadu when the crusade was selective.
The revolution that is happening in the banking industry should not only stop there but should also be extended to the Nigeria Stock Exchange and in all other sectors. We need to know when where how and why things are the way they are in the stock market.
As the revolution in the banking sector is being carried the civil service is about to begin its own. Whether they call it ethnic or religious, I say more grease to your elbows Mr Head of service. Nigeria needs a total revolution like these.
God bless Nigeria.
Marwan Haruna Abdulkarim
Aberdeen United Kingdom |