Soludo: Decision Time For Yar’adua     
Written by Garba Deen Muhammad   
Sunday, 05 April 2009
Soludo: Decision time for Yar’adua

by Garba Deen Muhammad


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A rumour passed through Abuja last week that come next Tuesday, the Federal Government would take a decision on whether to renew the tenure of CBN Governor Charles Soludo, or to sack him and hand him over to the EFCC (my expectation). Soludo lives an obscenely opulent life at public expense while the ‘super banks’ he created and the stock market value he helped to conjure up live on life support; the article below which was first published on this page in August last year is reprinted as a ‘tribute’ or epitaph to the damage Soludo has done to our economy in the last eight years. If his tenure is renewed, the FG should know that it is not with the support of millions of us. We don’t trust him.

Give him half the chance and he would try to convince you that whatever your troubles, he worries about them more than you do. At every opportunity, Professor Charles Soludo, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) wastes no time in telling the world how deeply concerned he is over the debilitating problem of poverty in northern Nigeria. And yet in the past eight years, from the time he was economic Adviser to former president Obasanjo to date, nobody has done more to aggravate this problem than he had. His most recent offensive was a recruitment exercise into the CBN conducted between June 2007 and June this year. In all Soludo had recruited 396 people; an incredible 340 of them from the South!

Squatting on this hill of hypocrisy and injustice, the man was at his sarcastic best again last weekend in Kaduna where he was a speaker at a lecture event organized by the Northern Development Initiative. Last year Soludo characterized poverty as a Northern Phenomenon”; last week he called for a state of emergency to be declared on poverty in the north.

The CBN boss was correct on both occasions. It is also obvious that Soludo relishes the opportunity to insult the north publicly; on its part, the North certainly deserves no sympathy and no one should deny Soludo the right to gorge himself; he is only echoing loudly the silent opinion of many Nigerians.

[b]Sometime in January this year, I came across an article written by the publisher of The Mirror newspaper, Prince Emeka Obasi who is from the same south eastern part of Nigeria with Soludo. The article titled “Yar’Adua And The Future Of The North”, which appeared in his back page column,’ The Presidency’ of the Sunday Mirror of 27/1, was well researched and the arguments forcefully presented. In the article Mr. Obasi provided a perspective on what he believed to be the essential elements that define the North.

Throughout the article the author struggled to find the right adjectives to describe the peculiar and depressing characteristics of the Northern part of Nigeria without sounding too offensive or condescending. Unfortunately, there just isn’t a polite way of telling a people that they have failed.

Drawing from statistics published by the National Poverty Alleviation Programme (NAPEP), Obasi correctly summed up the story of Northern Nigeria: it is the poorest and most backward part of Nigeria, and it is getting poorer and more backward! The NAPEP figures on the incidence of poverty in the six geo-political zones in the country as quoted by Prince Obasi speak for themselves. In the North-West, 74 percent of the people are poor, that is they live on less than one dollar a day; in the North-East the poverty rate is 78 percent; North Central, the figure is 70 percent.

By contrast the South-West has about 28 percent; the South-South 30 percent, while the South-East, from where Soludo (lucky him) comes from, turned out to be the wealthiest part Nigeria with a poverty rate of 23 percent.[/b]

Obasi did not add, because he didn’t need to add, having used the portrait of a wretched beggar and his son to illustrate his views, that in addition to its poverty or may be because of it the North also has the highest concentration of beggars, of all ages, than anywhere else in the world; it has the lowest literacy rate in and the lowest per capita, or income per head in the country. It has its fair share of moral depravity too; from Kaduna to Kano and Sokoto, cases of 60-year old men defiling 14-year-old girls are rampant; in some cases fathers have been known to impregnate their under-age daughters!

This is the brief, bleak summary of ‘Soludo’s North’ and our North. Can anything be worse than this? Perhaps if the statistics, on which part of the country produces the highest number of ruthless armed robbers, manufacturers of fake drugs, conmen or 419ners, were to be computed, there might be some kind of parallel: a contrast between one society intent on destroying itself, with another bent on destroying others. Neither is desirable of course and a combination of the two in any one country is an absolute disaster. As it is we have only one of verifiable statistics, so…

We all know on which side of the miserable divide Soludo belongs; and he knows it too. Also few people, if any, are in any doubt that given the chance Soludo would love the opportunity to transform the North from a region of beggars to a bastion of hopeless destitute. When he introduced his controversial banking reform, Soludo resolutely refused to modify it by introducing categorization; a situation whereby instead of a fixed N25bn for all banks, the requirement could be categorized to a base level of N10bn, a medium level of N15bn and Soludo’s fixed level of N25bn. With support from former President Obasanjo, Soludo got his way; the result is that the North, thanks in whole to the greed, narrow vision and naked wickedness of its leadership class, is now completely marginalized in the financial system.

Every time I hear Soludo expresses his hypocritical concern for the North, I feel like throwing up, if possible on his suit. The lopsided recruitments the man supervised in the last one year referred to above, did not come by accident; Soludo carefully, deliberately and cold bloodedly contrived to further emasculate the North that he so much ‘cares’ for.

For instance, since becoming the CBN governor in 2004, he had launched relentless assaults on senior staff of the CBN that are from the North. He it was that terrorized Mrs. W. Mshelia, a former very competent deputy governor out of the CBN, frustrated another deputy governor, Dr. Shamsudden Sanusi, the current minister of national planning, and sacked a number of directors most of whom were of northern origin. At the moment the deputy governor (corporate services); the special adviser personnel; director human resources; all five deputy directors in the human resources department and the consultants that are he hires to conduct recruitment exercises for the CBN are all from the South! One then wonders how a thoroughly unrestrained ethnic jingoist like Soludo could have the audacity of voicing concern for a people to whom he would not even be fair.

Neither is Soludo’s lack of fairness his only failings. Lately his integrity has come under question. It used to be a subject of speculation; now it is officially confirmed that Nigeria’s foremost banker is not straight, to put it mildly. A report published mainly by the sister publication of this newspaper, the Daily Trust, on July 23 and 25 say that the high-powered Presidential Committee that investigated the affairs of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has unequivocally accused Soludo of “gross abuse of office, gross negligence, round tripping and money laundering”.

That is very interesting. Soludo might have succeeded in getting Obasanjo to arm-twist the last legislature to pass the CBN Act which not only gives him unlimited powers (which he is accused of abusing), but makes it virtually impossible for the president to sanction him; but the Act did not give the CBN Governor protection against abuse of office and money laundering. It is difficult to imagine how he can talk himself out of this one. Which is just as well, the CBN and the country can certainly do without the likes of Soludo.

And so would the North, in one sense. In another sense, the North would miss Soludo; because we do need ruthless opportunists like him to turn the knife in our wounds, to remind our so called leadership class, whoever and where ever they are, that it is not enough to just admit failure, as Gen. T. Y. Danjuma had done when he fell out with his erstwhile buddy, Obasanjo. They have to demonstrate that remorse through concrete actions. So far there is nothing to suggest that they have learned anything!

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http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/index.php/content/view/11935/55

Is there more to this soludo removal that meets the eye?

Is this turning into another tribal war? What is going on with these people? Who wrote the above?? a pissed-off Northerner?? ROflmao!!

I am actually beginning to see a propaganda in this soludo thing for the past 2 months

How The Big Lenders Crashed The Stock Exchange And Were Enabled By Dr. Soludo
Written by Abdulmumuni Yinka Ajia
Sunday, 05 April 2009
How the Big Lenders Crashed the Stock Exchange and were Enabled by Dr. Soludo

Abdulmumuni Yinka Ajia


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Janice Kew and Michael Patterson over at bloomberg.com recently did a story on the Nigerian stock exchange and how bank losses have had a profound impact on the exchange. According to the duo, bankers (otherwise known as lenders) may be holding as much as $10 billion in toxic assets which is estimated to be almost equal to half of the entire capital of the exchange. [See Story]

Now if you take into account that the lenders make up about two thirds of the Nigerian stock market, you will agree with me that as a regulator, Professor Soludo has not done a good job overseeing the banks and ensuring financial discipline. The state of the Nigerian bank is very precarious because of it.

Before I go into the disaster that is going on within the banking sector, let us first take a look at some of the reasons why the Nigerian stock exchange has moved from one of the best performing market to one of the world’s worst barely less than a decade! Perhaps, there are many reasons that led to the collapse of the exchange, I will focus on five critical areas.

Speculation: I know, most markets are speculative in nature but what was going on in Nigeria prior to 2008 was of the worst kind. A friend of mine who works in middle management for one of the so called big banks confessed to me sometime in 2007 that the insider joke is that the Nigerian stock exchange has broken all rules. What he wasn’t saying was that while this speculation was going on, the major lenders were not creating any real value within the economy which can ultimately boost the Naira and save the exchange from itself. This was a period, when the big lenders were just floating ridiculous IPOs, give it massive publicity and have unsuspecting Nigerians buy into their voodoo companies. Barely ten years ago, most of these new big banks were not even in existence. Today, they are unraveling. Posting bogus profits and fuzzy book keeping. Now lets examine the next reason why the exchange floundered terribly as it did.
Insider trading: the trading of a stock or other securities by individuals with potential access to non public information about the company. This is not only going on, the Securities and Exchange Commission has not been alive to its responsibilities. It has also been suggested that SEC employees may be conniving with some of these traders while the public bears the pains of the loss in value. Most of these insiders have continued to dump their stocks using non public information at their disposal.
Bogus balance sheets: here you will find the legally backed margin loans that allowed banks to delay booking losses. This lack of full disclosure has left investors unable to identify potential losses. In some cases, there have been rumours of outright falsified balance sheets to deceive the public. The Nigerian media have been (with the exception of a few outlets) enablers, they publish these false reports and do not engage in any investigative follow up to ascertain the health of these institutions. To round it up, these lenders are into free wheeling and shaky securities. All of these activities have put investor’s funds at risk. The last time I read, the pension fund is threatened. This is perhaps, the only retirement instrument most Nigerian civil servants have. How do you explain to a 65 year old man or woman that you have gambled away their fortune?
Now let us take a look at the disease within the Nigerian banking sector. And while we are at it, let’s examine the activities of the bureau de change.

Sometime in March, specifically March 21, Soludo arbitrarily curbed the lending rate at 22% and the deposit rate at 15% respectively. But you and I know that this is not going to happen. What will eventually happen will be a form of shadow banking, sadly it is already being practiced in Nigeria and this will only exacerbate it.

Presently, Nigeria has a law that requires the banks to notify some security agency or the other if a cash lump sum is being deposited at once. What the banks actually does is to have the customer deposit all the amounts in bits, in order to evade this legal provision.

This arbitrary lending and deposit cap will only give rise to one thing, back room dealing between the customer and the bank. You think that our banks are in a bad shape right now, that will push them to the precipice.

Then you have the bureau de change. I still don’t understand why the CBN has its own exchange rate and then you have the real market, where 80% of the foreign exchange transactions occur and the price is sharply different. Presently, there is about a N20 difference in the rate between the CBN and the parallel market. If you think N20 is insignificant, wait until you buy 1 million dollars @ N144 to a dollar from the CBN and take a walk down the street to the bureau de change and sell in the parallel market for N165 to a dollar. Tell me, what kind of business will give you so much instant return and at a very high percentage profit? So this is what is at stake. Why wouldn’t Soludo abolish the official rate and allow the banks to sell foreign exchange to anyone (with identification) at the market rate? The CBN should also be able to sell to the banks at the prevailing market rate minus one Naira (leaving a margin for profit). Soludo has refused to tow this line. Why? Because the status quo is beneficial to all of them (players within the Nigerian financial industry) you buy cheap from the CBN, you cross the street and sell high and you go to the bank smiling. In the process, you haven’t really created any value to the economy. While these financial tricksters line their pockets, the Nigerian economy and the general public bears the brunt of their nefarious ways.

And we also have cases, where lenders have written out huge loans without any significant collateral. It is risky behaviour and ultimately we are witnessing the unraveling albeit in a sad way. These kinds of behaviours have put genuine investor’s life savings in a toilet.

I am not going to even dabble into the activities of the illegal micro finance institutions that mushroomed between 2006 and 2007. Where was Soludo when all these illegal activities were going on? Nigerians lost millions of Naira to this fraud, the CBN responded a little too late.

This kind of behaviour is emblematic of the kind of leadership that Soludo has provided at his perch as Nigeria’s treasury chief. You can not be a regulator and at the same time parleying around with the same people you are supposed to regulate. Rather than consider him for a reappointment, Soludo should be allowed to go back into the ivory tower to finesse his economic theory (I would suggest to him to decide whether he wants to be a free trader or not), perhaps some day in the not too distant future, he can become the conscience of the nation like prize wining economist and Nobel Laurent Paul Krugman.

And while we are shopping for a new treasury chief, one name stands shoulder above the rest; Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. The talk of Isa Yuguda is not only petty but absurd.

Post Script: I am aware that Professor Soludo is not the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, however it is instructive to note that because of weak treasury regulation, the banks are the worst offenders in the exchange. The lenders are supposed to be under Dr. Soludo’s supervision and if they had acted ethically at the exchange we could have been spared this ugly scenario. And yes, while the failure of the exchange will be laid at the door step of the SEC chairman, the banks attitude is as a result of a weak central bank regulation.



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http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/index.php/content/view/11943/55

Lol. . . I have yet to actually see anything great that the man has done since he became CBN chief but I will say that Yar adua will be digging himself deeper if we lets this man go without giving a seriously good reason for doing such.  But then again, we are still speaking of Yar adua, the same man who claimed he sat back doing next to nothing during his first 18 months in office because he was making plans and now is already looking to getting re-elected in 2011. ** shudders** !!

But the reasons are stated in that piece above.He did not imbibe quotasystem or don't you know it is crime in nigeria?

Well, Nigeria and Nigerians will always look at things from their tribal mind. The CBN Governor have tried his own best in doing some good work by forcing those banks to consolidate. And it is good for the economy. No matter what people will, and he get my support for that.

However, from my own perspective, Soludo is Governor in the Era of prosperity. He could hardly use his intellects to for see problems and challenges.

My problem with him is when he came out categorically beating his chest in all the media, that Nigerian economy is immune from the global economic crises. When every rational person knows that when the western world, who happen to be the buyers of our oil are in econimic crises, oil prices slides down.

He completely misguided Obasanjo to deindustrialize the country in the name of privatization when he was his Economic Adviser, now we can see what countries with economic problems do. Government intervens not throw away to incompetent people. I think he has out live his usefullness.

If there is anybody to blame in our current economic crises, it is him. He has been managing the economy for the past 10 years, he focused towards financial institutions rather than industries.

Well, Nigeria and Nigerians will always look at things from their tribal mind. The CBN Governor have tried his own best in doing some good work by forcing those banks to consolidate. And it is good for the economy. No matter what people will, and he get my support for that.

However, from my own perspective, Soludo is Governor in the Era of prosperity. He could hardly use his intellects to for see problems and challenges.

My problem with him is when he came out categorically beating his chest in all the media, that Nigerian economy is immune from the global economic crises. When every rational person knows that when the western world, who happen to be the buyers of our oil are in econimic crises, oil prices slides down.

He completely misguided Obasanjo to deindustrialize the country in the name of privatization when he was his Economic Adviser, now we can see what countries with economic problems do. Government intervens not throw away to incompetent people. I think he has out live his usefullness.

If there is anybody to blame in our current economic crises, it is him. He has been managing the economy for the past 10 years, he focused towards financial institutions rather than industries

Is he minister of commerce and industries 

How do we power industries without light

common outlukbabe, some of the points you raised are false.
first of all, soludo became CBN governor in 2004 so im not sure what you mean by 'He has been managing the economy for the past 10 years'

i dont know what you mean by 'He completely misguided Obasanjo to deindustrialize the country in the name of privatization'. if im correct, that was OBJ's plan even before soludo was appointed.
Sploudo on the other hand did not aid OBJ. OBJ's mind was already made up.

SOludo, has absolutely nothing to do with the state of the economy at present. the whole world is affected and Nigeria and/or even soludo does not come anywhere close to those who should be fingered should there be finger pointing or name calling.

U cant power industries without electricity. But the economic policies are the one that create power plants.
Before Obasanjo came in as a Head of state, the country was generating an average of about 3000MW of electricty. However, this idea of privitisation that Soludo learnt in his text books in schools, he forced them into OBJs head. OBJ was a nationalist when he was a head of state and he didnt have any economic idea a part from the one fed him by his advisers. And Soludu sold the idea of privitize everything.

The whole OBJ government was based on a document called NEEDs I and NEEDs II. Get hold of the document and read it, and you will be disappointed with Soludu. In the document, they stated that there cannot be sustainable power generation if NEPA is not privitized. And that was why the government wasted 4 years trying to privitized NEPA but no one was willing to buy it.  Towards the end of their tenure they came up with the IPP, which was largely a propaganda. They went ahead to fund LNG projects, to export all the gas, rather that used it for domestic purpose.

OMO IBO,
Soludu was OBJs Economic Adviser.

Have you read NEEDs?

National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS)

http://www.lagoschamberng.com/documents/NEEDS/Part1.pdf

so much hoax!!

shocking!!

outlukbabe, i still maintain that OBJ's mind was made up as to what he wanted to do. OBJ would have gone ahead with the plan with or without Soludo.

Secondly, the big countries in world have privatized their parastatals. out of the G20 countires, tell me one country, just one country that did not go down the privatization route?

I dont think everyone should blame Soludo for all of Nigeria's problems. I must confess, in as much as I do not like the man OBJ, I believe he had the best economic team if not in the whole of Africa but also in the world! Ribadu, Soludo, Okonjo-Iweala, Ezekwesili and El-Rufai would have turned Nigeria around if OBJ had not become greedy. But ofcourse, he wanted third term badly and began to play politics with the country. The rest they say is history.

Back to post,
Like someone rightly stated, Soludo is only the CBN governor. His policies would have worked if OBJ had been more sincere. We needed Power to be stable and corruption reduced to its barest minimum for all the policies to work. Think about an ideal situation just for a min,

We privatise the refineries, Nigeria starts refining her own crude, gas stations function as they should, power becomes constant will imply, more industries in addition to the communications industry will come in, we will manufacture goods rather than import, as a result, Naira will stabilise and infact appreciate, more Nigerians will get jobs at all levels (skilled and unskilled) and crie rate will reduce drastically. That was the plan but corruption worked against them and some got too greedy.

My problem with Yaradua is that he has knowingly or unknowingly allowed himself to be surrounded by wrong advisers. If Soludo is removed and a better person replaces him, I wouldn't mind but I assure you, Soludo will be replaced by a PDP person ie a politician will replace him and where do you think our economy is headed? Thats what he did with NNPC and other key ministries.

I may be wrong but I don't think the guy has a clue to what to do with Nigeria. I sincerely pray Im wrong.

this same soludo that you guys are bashing stabilized the Naira. before soludo, i remember N1 was over $200.

i dont understand the grouse withe guy? the same economic hardship we are facing at present is being dealt with round the globe. so why is Soludo taking the blame for this? or is NIgeria not part of the World anymore?

U cant power industries without electricity. But the economic policies are the one that create power plants.
Before Obasanjo came in as a Head of state, the country was generating an average of about 3000MW of electricty. However, this idea of privitisation that Soludo learnt in his text books in schools, he forced them into OBJs head. OBJ was a nationalist when he was a head of state and he didnt have any economic idea a part from the one fed him by his advisers. And Soludu sold the idea of privitize everything.

The whole OBJ government was based on a document called NEEDs I and NEEDs II. Get hold of the document and read it, and you will be disappointed with Soludu. In the document, they stated that there cannot be sustainable power generation if NEPA is not privitized. And that was why the government wasted 4 years trying to privitized NEPA but no one was willing to buy it.  Towards the end of their tenure they came up with the IPP, which was largely a propaganda. They went ahead to fund LNG projects, to export all the gas, rather that used it for domestic purpose.

Is Soludo now minister of power and energy?Isn't that his his(power minister) job?

Even if soludo suggested that nepa should be privatized is nepa supposed to publicly run?

Some of those countries evolve. Like the US, the industries evolve on their own and the government supported them. Countries like Britain privatize their power industries in the 90s while countriel like China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, India, Indonesia they are still government owned. You dont copy economic model word to word. Every country have its hurdle and problems to cross, it should be gradual. Not forcefull privatization. Just everything over night.

I am totally in favour of privatisation especially in Nigeria. Government has shown since independence that she cannot run any industry in Nigeria. Schools, NEPA, NITEL, Refineries are all major examples for us to see. I dare say that Soludo or whoever suggested privatisation is right!

Let private individuals run them, let them make profit from them. We all witnessed the revolution in the telecomms industry, let's see it happen in power too. The IPP projects are not working now because we are making the same mistakes ie allowing state governments to build them! Govt as we know it in Nigeria is 'come and chop'! What they should do is regionalise each local government or let private companies choose a a street or combination of streets depending on how much power they can generate and generate electricity for them. Let people within that area then decide if they want to hook up with NEPA (which can still be run by Government if they like) or the private coy. Over the years, we will have loads of private coys all over the federation. The market is there and companies are willing and ready to take adantage. We just need government to be sincere.

OMO IBO:

this same soludo that you guys are bashing stabilized the Naira. before soludo, i remember N1 was over $200.

i dont understand the grouce withe guy? the same economic hardship we are facing at present is being dealt with round the globe. so why is Soludo taking the blame for this? or is NIgeria not part of the World anymore?

I said my problem with him, by coming out in the media and even on the floor of the Senate to say that our economy is immune from the crises. While we have never been out of economic crises. It just myopic to me and he under perform as CBN governor

OutlukBabe:

Some of those countries evolve. Like the US, the industries evolve on their own and the government supported them. Countries like Britain privatize their power industries in the 90s while countriel like China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, India, Indonesia they are still government owned. You dont copy economic model word to word. Every country have its hurdle and problems to cross, it should be gradual. Not forcefull privatization. Just everything over night.

outlukbabe, go through your post again and tell me if soludo was in charge of power?
i'd also like you to tell me if soludo had the final say as to what happens with the economy.

Just because he has a say in the ecomony does not mean he has the final say. you and I will agree that OBJ was and is still a thug. in most cases it is his way or the high way

OutlukBabe:

Some of those countries evolve. Like the US, the industries evolve on their own and the government supported them. Countries like Britain privatize their power industries in the 90s while countriel like China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, India, Indonesia they are still government owned. You dont copy economic model word to word. Every country have its hurdle and problems to cross, it should be gradual. Not forcefull privatization. Just everything over night.

But he didnt copy it word for word did he? Whats wrong with privatization in Nigeria? Have we not tried letting govt run industries enough? Isn't it time we tried something else?

I am totally in favour of privatisation especially in Nigeria. Government has shown since independence that she cannot run any industry in Nigeria. Schools, NEPA, NITEL, Refineries are all major examples for us to see. I dare say that Soludo or whoever suggested privatisation is right!

Let private individuals run them, let them make profit from them. We all witnessed the revolution in the telecomms industry, let's see it happen in power too. The IPP projects are not working now because we are making the same mistakes ie allowing state governments to build them! Govt as we know it in Nigeria is 'come and chop'! What they should do is regionalise each local government or let private companies choose a a street or combination of streets depending on how much power they can generate and generate electricity for them. Let people within that area then decide if they want to hook up with NEPA (which can still be run by Government if they like) or the private coy. Over the years, we will have loads of private coys all over the federation. The market is there and companies are willing and ready to take adantage. We just need government to be sincere

You forgot eliminating the national grid syndrome!

outlubabe!!

that alone isnt enough justification for ur hating, just like most of yall search harder!

The President is too indicisive

You dont need to tear a man down just to replace them.

Do what you simply want to do as Presidents do. Remove the man simple and replace him with your in-law Isa Yuguda or your katsina age-mate Tanimu Kurfi.

We dont need all this dramma just to replace a CBN Governor who has concluded his first term.

I thank God Soludo has been keeping mum in the midst of this bruhaha, I hope he continues to do that. When his time is over, he should come back home. We still do have a great respect for him and we love him too.

proudly9ja:

I am totally in favour of privatisation especially in Nigeria. Government has shown since independence that she cannot run any industry in Nigeria. Schools, NEPA, NITEL, Refineries are all major examples for us to see. I dare say that Soludo or whoever suggested privatisation is right!

Let private individuals run them, let them make profit from them. We all witnessed the revolution in the telecomms industry, let's see it happen in power too. The IPP projects are not working now because we are making the same mistakes ie allowing state governments to build them! Govt as we know it in Nigeria is 'come and chop'! What they should do is regionalise each local government or let private companies choose a a street or combination of streets depending on how much power they can generate and generate electricity for them. Let people within that area then decide if they want to hook up with NEPA (which can still be run by Government if they like) or the private coy. Over the years, we will have loads of private coys all over the federation. The market is there and companies are willing and ready to take adantage. We just need government to be sincere.

People dont just decide to build power plants and build them. Power plants are huge capital projects. Dont you know the type of business men we have in Nigeria. Only few are genuine. The rest are fake opportunist who want to buy oil blocks, or get licence to import oil. During the OBJ time, he gave 12 licence for independent operators, but no one built a power plant apart from AGIP. They gave 8 licences for refineries, no one built any refinery, but they got concession for oil blocks. The private sector in Nigeria are a joke. Only few are real business men.

I said my problem with him, by coming out in the media and even on the floor of the Senate to say that our economy is immune from the crises. While we have never been out of economic crises. It just myopic to me and he under perform as CBN governor

Personally i agree that he messed up by saying nigeria was immune to economic crises but come to think of it nigeria has been in economic crises or recession since the eighties.

A rumour passed through Abuja last week that come next Tuesday, the Federal Government would take a decision on whether to renew the tenure of CBN Governor Charles Soludo, or to sack him and hand him over to the EFCC (my expectation). Soludo lives an obscenely opulent life at public expense while the ‘super banks’ he created and the stock market value he helped to conjure up live on life support; the article below which was first published on this page in August last year is reprinted as a ‘tribute’ or epitaph to the damage Soludo has done to our economy in the last eight years. If his tenure is renewed, the FG should know that it is not with the support of millions of us. We don’t trust him.

I do hope the EFCC investigates the above allegations.

People dont just decide to build power plants and build them. Power plants are huge capital projects. Dont you know the type of business men we have in Nigeria. Only few are genuine. The rest are fake opportunist who want to buy oil blocks, or get licence to import oil. During the OBJ time, he gave 12 licence for independent operators, but no one built a power plant apart from AGIP. They gave 8 licences for refineries, no one built any refinery, but they got concession for oil blocks. The private sector in Nigeria are a joke. Only few are real business men.

There is an independent power been built in aba right now and should be ready in the next 3 months.

People dont just decide to build power plants and build them. Power plants are huge capital projects. Dont you know the type of business men we have in Nigeria. Only few are genuine. The rest are fake opportunist who want to buy oil blocks, or get licence to import oil. During the OBJ time, he gave 12 licence for independent operators, but no one built a power plant apart from AGIP. They gave 8 licences for refineries, no one built any refinery, but they got conchatession for oil blocks. The private sector in Nigeria are a joke. Only few are real business men.

now u a are talkin and solodu got nothing to do with that

the economic drivers is virtually dead!!

Give him half the chance and he would try to convince you that whatever your troubles, he worries about them more than you do. At every opportunity, Professor Charles Soludo, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) wastes no time in telling the world how deeply concerned he is over the debilitating problem of poverty in northern Nigeria. And yet in the past eight years, from the time he was economic Adviser to former president Obasanjo to date, nobody has done more to aggravate this problem than he had.

Roflmao!!!

His most recent offensive was a recruitment exercise into the CBN conducted between June 2007 and June this year. In all Soludo had recruited 396 people; an incredible 340 of them from the South!

Ok, this is just too much !!

Squatting on this hill of hypocrisy and injustice, the man was at his sarcastic best again last weekend in Kaduna where he was a speaker at a lecture event organized by the Northern Development Initiative. Last year Soludo characterized poverty as a Northern Phenomenon”; last week he called for a state of emergency to be declared on poverty in the north.

Roflmao!!!

I do hope the EFCC investigates the above allegations.

hhhaha hmmm no cause for alarm, cuz is there is anything to investigate, u had your obj on hard talks sayin some of the people on his government were corrupt

still as a mr president, what did he do

Kobojunkie:


Roflmao!!! Ok, this is just too much !!

Roflmao!!!

Laughing together with you

I didnt have time to read the whole story. Just read the bolden part.