In Nigeria, you must have that tenacity- which is hard work combined with persistence and the ability to think quickly. I'm assuming you already have an idea in mind though.

lastpage:

2bosun,  do you actually think you need to refer to me as “being silly”, to convey your very sincere opinion on this topic? We cant all see things from the same angle and it does not mean either of us is silly, it simply means we have “differing opinions” on the issue! What do you think?

Having said that, if you look at my contribution, it was a “wholistic appraisal of his overall performance” since 2009. If you ask me, what better yardstick can we use to appraise a CBN-Governor’s performance, if not the RESULT of his fiscal and monetary policies? And what better  indices, which is general enough to represent “everything and everyone”, than the prior and current value of the “currency” he/she manages?

*Are the banks doing better in the last 2years? NO
*Could he have managed these “bank crisis” in a better way such that less “systemic upheavals” are experienced? YES (Remember his penchant for going to the press even before any action is taken, thereby creating a run on banks liquidity?)
*Is inflation down? No
*Is the “National Reserve” increasing? NO, its rather decreasing!
*Has his policies increased “local or International confidence” in the country? NO
*Do we have more failed, collapsed, collapsing, forcefully bought over  banks now, than prior to 2009, (as a percentage of existing banks)? YES!
*Has Sanusi “successfully managed ANY BANK with a problem” during his tenure? NO! All he does is revoke license here and there (causing loss of employment, loss of credibility and investor confidence, capital flight, e.t.c). Is he a “specialist” in a kind of “catastrophe style” of management?

Does anyone recall when the owners of Continental "raised alarm" about the quality of type of looters (who happen to be Sanusis' cronies!)that Sanusi appointed to manage the bank and how they were fast depleting the little that is left, of the rot they themselves have created?
Sounds like a case of "From Frying Pan, to FIRE"!

Now, l am finding it “very difficult” to come-up with other index to use in appraising his tenure!
May be you can help me, please?


@Chamber2 What more can l add?
@sirjec:
Seems the more he “destroys”, the more he gets praised!

Cheers, Lastpage.


BTW: As for two of you (ola olabiy & akyns), you are entitled to your position and l respect that, my only wish, “is that you at least learn how to discuss CIVILLY in a public discuss” without this public display of “crass vulgarity and lack of social skills”! Until then, l respectfully refuse to engage you in any discussion.

I apologize if you were offended, but your analysis was and is still deeply flawed. First, the CBN has 0 to do with the Fiscal policy- that's the FG's arena. The CBN handles the monetary policy and another thing is that the National reserve has increased by about $4bn in the past 3-4 years. Go and check the facts and come back. Banks are much stronger than in the past 2 years- just look at their balance sheets, I'm talking about the GTB's, SC's etc. 6 strong banks that can withstand the heat of the Nigerian economy is better than 20 that would collapse when the going gets tough.

The only reason banks were not collapsing back then was that the rot was covered and the going was "good", I remember the Intercontinental IPO which I stupidly subscribed to and is pretty much worthless now due to cooking up of figures by the Executives. In the face of a global crisis like we're facing now- these banks would DEFINITELY need to be bailed out which is why he's doing what he's doing.

Unfortunately, the way things are in Nigeria you need to act fast because before you say anything, the execs would have cleaned the innocent man's savings and jet abroad. Then it would be left for the FG to clean up the mess which would have been extremely costly!
I can bet Ngozi and Jonathan gave him the go ahead because at the end of the day it was in the interest of the economy.

chamber2:

Banks play vital roles in the development of any economy and the level of policy inconsistency by regulators gives negative signal to prospective investors. Agreed, these banks are not in good shape and the CBN came through various means to salvage the situation. First the CBN printed tax payer's money without parliamentary approval and dished out to these banks. As if that was not enough the cbn further directed that these banks had uptill 30th September to recapitalise only for the cbn to wake up suddenly and nationalisedd the banks. This action, will have immediate and future implications in terms of investor and customer confidence.Destroying jobs in an already saturated labour market is not a good policy move, especially in an economy that is witnessing stunted economic development in the last few decades.

Central banks don't need parliamentary approval to print money if it's in public interest. The banks failed stress tests (they were never going to get the capital in a months time), if they went down it would have led to another recession- with even more financial & job losses. This is a minor blip compared to what could have happened, the CBN could not wait around to watch these banks collapse when banks in Spain, Italy, and even the UK are shaky at the mo. The implications would be minor and short-term.

chamber2:

Bravo!!! Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. You are a true champion and an advocate of the poor. May you live long to reap the fruit of your labour.

Sanusi, within 2 yrs, has been able to achieve what the global economic meltdown couldn't achieve for Nigeria. Bravo!!!

I am yet to see what Sanusi did right since he took over the CBN.

Investor and depositor confidence have been reduced to zero. A young economy like ours, with this self created turbulence, is heading to doom.

The future looks so bleak if sanusi is allowed to kill entrepreneurship  in this manner.

I need no much economics to understand the impact of this news to the economy of Nigeria.

As i write all ATM machines are on fire, there is massive withdrawal right now.

A staff of the affected bank just collapsed.

Foreign investors are afraid of stepping into Nigeria and those already in are moving to Ghana.

There is huge capital flight going on right now.

It will take us another 10 yrs of massive investment to recover from this self created shock.

Sanusi, welldone.

It's expected there will probably be mass withdrawals, that's fine and the effects will be minimal because these banks have the government as a backbone to fall back on and will probably be merged with banks with large balance sheets anyway. What they did not want was the bank going down with all the debtors escaping, as time goes on people will regain confidence back. Our banking system is much stronger than most other African countries-Ghana included.

Investors ain't coming to Nigeria not because of our banks but the unfriendly business climate. The bad news is that there will be some  job losses eventually when the assets are "bridged" but again that's happening all over the world now.

Now that will have some repercussions. More spending on debts for America, less value for the dollar say against the Yen. Less exports, more chinese imports- rising unemployment.  

It's a tricky one for Obama's and he's lucky none of the republicans are looking good in the run up to next years election. Still, he has his work cut out for him.

IMO Obama hasn't looked like he has to balls to tackle the deficit as opposed to Osborne or Merkel. He would need to really tighten spending and I'm sure he can't wait for Bush's expensive tax cuts to expire.

lastpage:

Time will tell!
You can "confuse" some of the people, some of the time but you cannot "confuse" all the people, all the time!

Peeps have been telling us Sanusi was trying to save the banks from its present "management"!
Question is: Who appointed the "present management"? Answer: SANUSI himself!

All said and done, its not "what" Sanusi does or "How" he does it that matters, What matters is the RESULT!

What does Sanusi's "score-card", as CBN Governor tell us?

The simplest indicator of the success or failure of a CBN Governor is the CURRENCY of that country!
[/b]When Sanusi came-in as Governor, Naira rate as as follows:

$1 = #125
1GBP = #230
€1 = 165   for the major currencies.

What of TODAY?

$1 = #158
1GBP = #256
€1 = #233

Now, note that the "crash" of the Naira is "[b]as it is", despite the following:

a.)American dollar is at its lowest in terms of real value as a result of the recession, the debt and the seemingly unending trio of multiple wars, unemployment and political wrangling

b.) The Euro is also at its lowest as a result of the groups toxic debt/bail out of the 'PIGS' (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain).
To add salt to the Euro's injury, Italy which is the second biggest economy within the E.U, is in tatters and "will" also collapse in a matter of weeks. These factors combined make it seems like the Euro as a single currency will either fail totally or some E.U states (like Germany) will have to opt out.

c.) The U.K has seen no growth for some time now, its income has shrunk drastically and the only song it is singing to its citizens (including its military complex!) is Cuts, Cuts and Cuts! Its in a quasi-recession. Its currency has also weakened.

All the above has ensured that all these foreign currencies are under-valued!

Now imagine, if the above where not the case? "Discount these situations" and guess what the "real value" of the NAIRA is, relative to world currencies!

If this is not enough "sign" to show any wary observer that the current leadership of the CBN is a colossal failure, nothing will, EXCEPT WHEN ALL OUR (Nigerians) INVESTMENTS ARE WIPED OUT!

He can deploy all his P.R for all l care but l urge everyone to keep a close eye on how the NAIRA is nose-diving, same way the "value" of our assets are nose-diving!
No need for big grammar or some fancy words! And dont tell me he is "deliberately devaluing the naira"!
The naira is almost shyte, by itself.

May God help this country and save us from these silly experimentations and its "naughty Professor"

Just my take!

Common my man don't be silly! You can't blame the CBN alone for the Naira's depreciation. You seemed to conveniently forget that his appointment coincided with that of Yaradua/Jonathan who run a very expensive government.

True, the CBN's monetary policy is crap but the fiscal framework is even worse- which is why the Naira is "almost shyte". SLS did the right thing at the right time, as much as I hate to admit it- I think it was good decision. The banks were a ticking time bomb- he had to defuse them rather they explode- and everyone suffer even more.

Things are not very bad for America yet. Now, if M & F or S & P downgrades them it'll be a disaster because that would make borrowing almost impossible for America. So the China downgrade underlines how serious the situation is but the Chinese do not hold even half of America's debt.

I think it was done partly in response to the turmoil going on around the world markets. I think what the CBN is trying to do is stem the tide by stepping in before the turmoil reaches these banks and a situation where they will collapse. These banks obviously haven't got the ability to meet the capital requirements set by the CBN. Tactical move, done on a Friday night to prevent quick-fire sales in NSE, which could crash the markets again.

I'm sure as the weekend unfold, the CBN would make statements in an attempt to calm the market before they re-open on Monday.

ikooko:

Ha ha ha ha ha
new vocabularies are being added to nigerian banking industry on daily basis.
If old company dies, new one take over but bridge bank, never heard of it. can someone educate me? Maybe america has introduced it and it's working like SLS proposed bank.

A bridge bank is just a temporary bank where all the assets are transferred until the assets and debts can be sold to other operators in the sector- It's nothing new- and yes America started it.

Nigeria’s government has withdrawn 250 billion naira ($1.6 billion) from its excess crude account savings this year, BusinessDay reported, without saying how it got the information.
While recurrent expenditure is meeting budget targets, investment was only 34 percent of the full-year target in the first half of 2011, the Lagos-based newspaper said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-04/nigeria-takes-1-6-billion-from-crude-account-businessday-says.html

The spending extravaganza continues as the FG still spends aimlessly- not on health, education or any other real sector in the economy but mostly on the recurrent expenditure.
At this rate, the interests rate from bank would soon be 30% and Naira would soon start exchanging for $200 making it impossible for any development. Where is the Finance Minister anyway, I thought she was due to start on Monday?

Former National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Chief) Edwin  Ume-Ezeoke , is dead.
According to a  statement issued Tuesday  by his son , Prince Chineme Edwin Ume-Ezeoke ,the elder statesman, who served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives between 1979 and 1983, died on Monday at the Fortis Super Speciality Hospital in New Delhi, India where he was flown for treatment at the age of 76.


His death has been described as a great loss to the country especially at this time when his wealth of experience was needed to move the nation forward.
Speaking on the sad event, former Presidential Liaison Officer (PLO), Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, described Ume-Ezeoke as an experienced politician whose death would be felt by all Nigerians.


He said the deceased politician “was a committed Nigerian, a complete gentleman as well as a detribalized Nigerian. I worked closely with him when he was the Speaker of the House of Representatives and I was the Presidential Liaison Officer to President Shagari. We worked closely despite the fact that he was in the NPP and I was in the NPN. We had high regards for each other despite the political differences. As Speaker of the House of Representatives, he was instrumental to the successes recorded in the Second Republic. There was an accord between the NPN and the NPP, but even when the accord broke down. Our relationship did not go down”.


On his part, former Chairman of the ANPP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Harry Akande described Ume-Ezeoke as a great patriot who as a Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1983 was one of the stabilizing factors behind former President Shehu Shagari.
He commended the deceased’s political sagacity and his contribution to the success of the Government of National Unity (GNU) and the immediate take off of the administration of late President Umaru Yar’Adua.


Akande, who was  the  party’s presidential and chairmanship aspirant at various times before he defected to the PDP last year,  described Ume-Ezeoke as a ‘stabiliser’, stating that no matter what opinion one may have of him, “late Ume-Ezeoke remains a great politician and his death to me is a great loss to Nigeria. This is the time we need his wealth of political experience,” he added: “His record as the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1979 to 1983 was also a great moment in the political history of the country. That he was a Speaker for four years means that he knows his political onions.  He did his best for the ANPP. “In this time of transformation, this is the apt time that we need his political memoirs. Certainly we will miss him”, he said.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/edwin-ume-ezeoke-former-anpp-chairman-dies-at-76/96173/

I remember Ume Ezeoke for disagreeing with Buhari on the GNU- which eventually led  to the latter leaving the ANPP to form the CPC as we know it today.
I hope his gentle soul rests in peace.

adeibi:

My heart bleeds for Nigeria.
There seems to be no hope and that's very worrisome.
9 years to the year 2020 and we've not achieved any of the visions.
Things are easier said than done I guess.
We're very good in visionising but very poor in making it a reality.

[b]The number 1 and most important step to starting/achieving industrialisation is having a constant power supply.
[/b]That should be numero uno on Bros GEJ'S list.
If that's the ONLY thing he can achieve then he has achieved everything.
He should pursue it squarely and stop jumping from one project to another thus leaving them half way.
He should completely solve the POWER problem, if he has more years to embark on another project, fine, but if he doesn't, the next administration will choose another and solve completely too and so on.
That's the only way I see the change we want coming to reality IMO.
I love my country and I hope my dreams for this country come to pass

It's easier said than done my sister, trust me in this Nigeria, some people would rather die than there be constant power supply. That's the root of the problem that needs to be dealt with. It's almost impossible because you would have to change people's thinking pattern- I weep for this country whenever issues like these are brought up. It's not just the leaders- everyone has to be on the same page for Nigeria to move forward.

rhymz:

I would be grateful if any one had any
thoughts on the following question.
I understant that if a government
were to print more money and
circulate it into its own economy, that
this would inevitably lead to increased
inflation in its country. Sound
argument for not printing more
money.
But why would a country not print
more money to purchase from other
countries (e.g. to repay debt or to
purchase raw materials). Wouldn’t the
extra money then simply be dumped
into the other country, leading to
higher inflation in that country and not
your own? Or perhaps is the answer
that in dumping the extra money
overseas, you are indirectly creating
more money in your own territory?
Maybe a naive question but I would
love to have a good answer to it!

You've answered the question, as international a currency as the dollar is- if it's printed to pay debts in other countries etc. It will still find it's way back into the home country. You can't "dump" money abroad, dollars are useless in China etc., so they just return the money for goods/services in America where it's a legal tender. Inflation is only when you have your own currency chasing your own goods and services, another man's currency can't pay for your goods in your country.

Let's not even go near the Naira because the Naira is barely recognizable beyond the boundaries of Nigeria- so you can't use it to pay for anything beyond Nigeria. I hope it helps, maybe a real economist could help me out here?

OYINBOGOJU:

Thank to all the great minds that have said something after all but rather than hit the nail on the head a lot of people are depending on 1 theorem by 1 Oyinbo to undermine our development.

As for me, i speak based on fact and vivid examples

1, Nigeria have a vision 2015 but later changed to Vision 2020

   how do we hope to achieve this?

Possible answer

We are waiting for Dangote  to crash the price of cement before we can all have houses on our head.

My thought

I guess the Government owe us the responsibility to provide us accommodation, is that not part of vision 2020

How do we achieve vision 2020 when we are still waiting for Mr. Dangote before we could start laying the foundation of our dreamed home.

In Japan

I can confidently tell you that the government put up every great building like it is done in America,so that they can fulfilled their dream and not waiting for anybody.

Yes vision 2020 but no jobs

Sanusi is busy with Islamic Banking to landmark his great achievement


Is that the only system that can eradicate poverty.

In China

Banks owe the people responsibility to finance every great idea.

We do have this ideas in Nigeria but how has anyone fulfilled the idea, since the our banks are not corporative.

They only borrow the rich more money, Imagine people like Bankole getting big loan worth 10Billion to finance the increase salary of their staff


I am tired of talking about God barons Pastor living like Drug barons, all because the congregation are waiting for God to Print more money for us when it can be done over there in ABUJA.


IN JAPAN

The homeless have the right to walk into any eatery and get whatever they want to eat

In what way has Government done anything in the interest of the Masses.

Don`t give me money
I don`t need free Education
I don`t need free Electricity
I don`t need free Water
I don`t need free road


BUT let the government print more money to
Develop new road and not give it to babalakin and co.
Let the Government print more money to equip our school from Nursery to University and let see if people won`t pay to go there
Let the government provide more money to make stable power supple and lets see if people won`t pay their bills monthly
Let the Government provide us with clean water and lets see if the Citizen will not stop dyeing of Cholera



NB

I heard only 2 or 3 teaching hospitals have MRI SCAN in Nigeria, Why cant government print more money to buy them and put them in all hospital when
Ordinary clinic in Japan can boast of atleast ONE MRI SCAN.



STOP GIVING FREE GIFTS OH DEAR RULERS

PRINT MORE MONEY TO FULFILL YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES.

YOU OWE THE CITIZENS GREAT THINGS OF LIFE AND IT CAN ONLY BE DONE BY PRINTING MORE MONEY AND USED IT JUDICIOUSLY  



MY QUESTION  WHY DO WE WAIT ON GOD TO PROVIDE US WITH GREAT THINGS OF LIFE,WHEN OUR DEAR GOVERNMENT  CAN PRINT MORE MONEY TO FULFILL OUR LONG LONG TIME DREAM.

There is more than enough money as is to go round my brother. All the money ends up in the hands of Bank-ole and co. So even if they print the money, what are the chances that the common man would smell any development? I'd say the chances are slim- What you need to ramble about is that your government should have some fear of God and release some of that money they stash abroad. Printing more money would be a lazy solution to a much more complex problem.

rhymz:

Well, I want to disagree a little that printing money will always lead inevitably to inflation. I believe there are cases where governments have printed their way out of economic recession and its likes- the big US bailout comes to mind. I think the problem lies with the fact that we do not have the expertise, economic mechanisms & reach to checkmate any adverse effect occassioned by doing so.
I have always asked too in thesame breath like the op, what if a country prints its own money and use it to buy goods and make debt payment outside of her country so that the brunt of inflation, currency devaluation etc will be borne by the other countries who have accepted to do business with the printing country. Afterall, how do you tell the difference that monies being used for transactions between countries are a deriative of wealth creation and not just printed money.nd not just printed money.

You are right and wrong. Printing money will almost always lead to inflation. It did in the U.S but they have other levers to pull to rein inflation e.g increasing taxes, cutting government spending etc.
Printing any currency would devalue that currency not another country's currency. What planet are you on? It's like saying printing dollar would devalue the Naira. The printed money would still find its way back into the home country.

adeibi:

Great contributions from you all.
I didn't know that printing money for projects & development will one way or the other eventually lead to inflation.
Thanks for teaching me that but according to OYINBOGOJU, Japan and Qatar did that, have their economies been inflated by so doing?
Will like to read more comments

Japan and Qatar printed money and YES, it did lead to inflation but the difference was that their inflation was (-2% (deflation) in Japan), so they had to print money to up the inflation and keep their economy competitive. In the case of Qatar, they still have deflation (-4%), so they are still printing money to develop their economy as you can see with their recently won world cup bid.

It is also important to note that the import-export ratio also plays an important factor in all this. Simply put, export more and you have more room to manoeuvre the QE (printing money), and vice versa.

Nigeria imports basically everything! and exports basically one thing. Inflation is already 12%, unemployment, interest rates and all those indices are all pointing in the wrong direction. It would economic suicide to print N1000 notes and give to everyone. Capiche?

beejaei:

There is something I still don't understand:

So if the government prints more money for example. If Mr. A is a farmer, what changes economically for Mr. A so that he raises the price of his yams and then one naira cannot buy the same amount of yams again? How does that work? What does he feel in his pocket and how does he feel it that he knows to raise prices? Will love an answer to this.

Mr A would know to increase his prices because his tubers of yam would become more "valuable" due to excess money in the system. He would need to do this, else run out of his yam because then everyone would have more than enough money to buy his yam.

Your rubbish government already prints out more than enough Naira as is, instead of distributing receipts from your oil exports in dollars, they hoard the dollar, and print the Naira equivalent. Which is one of the reason the banks would lend your business money with 20-30% interest (trying to reduce access to the Naira)- one of the reason most of our graduates turn to armed robbery due to businesses not hiring.

Worst part is they end mopping up this same Naira from the economy by buying it from banks with 10% interest. Economic mismanagement at its worst!!

Dream On. Never Gonna Happen. Not in Nigeria at least

What sort of business are you talking about?, I might (or know someone) that might be interested.

I have a friend/business partner in Nigeria I do business with and he's been telling me about this ferry business. He said it's quite lucrative (up to N200,000/day rental). He has the contacts in Lagos to do the business but firstly, I want to know if it's really that lucrative- I have been on a ferry in Lagos a few times around Apapa and also in Badagry.

Also, does anyone know where to buy these ferries and how much they cost? Any advice/warning would me much appreciated.
(I promise I won't take anything personal  )

justwise:

We Africans destroyed Africa and we are still doing it and keep blaming everybody else other than ourselves.

Very well said my brother, we keep  blaming others for our failures. Abeg free them people, everyone is looking to protect their interests. You can't blame them for our incompetent leaders.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 18, (THEWILL) – British Prime Minister David Cameron is visiting Nigeria and South Africa as part of a two days official visit to Africa.

Cameron cut his weeklong trip short following the phone hacking scandal in the UK.

He is expected to discuss trade, aid and encourage President Goodluck Jonathan in his bid to reform the energy sector.

The two African economic giants, Nigeria and South Africa were former colonies of the United Kingdom.

Cameron is expected to depart Abuja on Tuesday for London.

http://thewillnigeria.com/general/9168-David-Cameron-Visits-Nigeria.html

First Angela Merkel, now David Cameron, next hopefully Barack Obama-  Some positive signs for Nigeria's relatively young democracy or are they just here to protect their "interests"?

4 Play:

That occurred when oil prices went from $147 p/b to $33 p/b and the USD spiked against other currencies which meant that Soludo could not have done anything other than manage the Naira's decline.

The difference today is that oil prices are high and the USD is weak, yet, the Naira is still weak. That's more the fault of the FG and its reckless spending but little to do with Sanusi. My gripe with him is that he is wasting foreign reserves trying to hold the Naira's official rate in a narrow band between N155 - N150 when the real value of the Naira is much lower.

You're joking right??

It has everything to do with the CBN governor and his policies. Nigeria gets revenue in dollars but instead of sharing the allocation in dollars (or certificates). The CBN in their "wisdom" decide to print the Naira equivalent to allocate to states and hoard the dollar revenue. This floods the economy with too much Naira chasing fewer and fewer goods and services. So really, the more revenue is coming in- the weaker the Naira is going to get until it's corrected. Ex- President Yaradua cancelled the dollar allocation account due to his obsession with the rule of law back then.

To make matters worse they end up borrowing the Naira back from banks at a rate of 10% to reduce inflation- it's almost criminal!

The CBN sold $400,000 every week to registered Bureau De Change- which illegal smugglers and looters patronize- so the dollar still does not enter the system. It was recently changed to $250k.

At some point in time, they would have to consider re-denominating the Naira if they really intend on moving this country forward. If not, it's going to be $1=N200 before we know it.

Prof. Pat Utomi, Director of Applied Economics at Lagos Business School, says Nigerians are not really feeling the impact of fuel subsidy.
Utomi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday that he was neither in favour nor against removal of fuel subsidy as the issue of subsidy was a complex one.

He explained that there were some elements of corruption in the subsidy as most of the money earmarked for fuel subsidy were going into private pockets.

“In reality, I’m sure that Nigerians actually consume slightly less than half the amount of money we budget for petroleum products, the rest is corruption.

“If you look at half or twice of the money we spend on petrol that is going into private pockets is incredible, the rest is corruption.

“So if you remove fuel subsidy, you therefore kill that corruption,” he said.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news-update/12060-nigerians-don-t-feel-impact-of-fuel-subsidy-says-utomi.html.

My take on the issue of fuel subsidy is that it's got to go. In 2010, the fuel subsidy gulped $8bn - 25% of the budget. We've been talking about the subsidy since "99 when it was N18/ltr, at N65/litre we are still talking of a subsidy. The fraud started during IBB's regime when he was settling officers with a commission who front with a company importing fuel.

So many people have been made millionaires or even billionaires by this fraud. They buy the fuel at a subsidy and sell at over 300%, mix with diesel and sell for maximum profits, sell as aviation fuel at sometimes triple the price, some buy and sell in Benin, Togo etc. over four times the price, and some people even hoard it at the other side of the boarder and claim cargo subsidy- It's ridiculous!

$8bn can build enough refineries, if not for an uncontrollable appetite for corruption, if we refine at home- it will cost N40 and sell at N70 with proper pricing mechanisms as is in Libya, Algeria etc. Unfortunately, lawlessness is the order of the day in the PDP-led government, issuing licenses to their officials to sell at inflated prices and also releasing $8bn to these same people in the name of a subsidy. The money only ends up enriching the pockets of a few- who are the part of the same "cabal" that would rather die than have our refineries work.

Oh and don't believe all the hype about the recent Kerosene scarcity, it was deliberately engineered by these "marketers" to get the NNPC/PPMC to release more DPMK. On releasing the fuel (11,000 tons) to the marketers, all of their kerosene storage tanks were full. What scarcity!

ideylaff:


@ 2bosun T[b]hat's not a nice thing to say about those disciplines, whats wrong with a degree in Biological Sciences and Theology[/b], the fella made it to the top @ Investment Bank, which means he has substance but might not have the where with all to handle a complex country like Nigeria and the polity of a Political setting, thats haba,

The Guy goofed @ the senate hearing, yes he did, but hey, the fella was Finance Minister during an election. (the most pressured situation), you think its that easy to say NO to PDP when they come up with all their mago mago we need money within the system for this and that,

You have to be able to play the game smartly and diplomatically, that is another area Aganga failed in,

Apart from that our finances are not that complex to run, trust me,  we make it look like rocket science, its not,

CUT CORRUPTION, REDUCE OVERHEADS WITHIN THE CENTRE/SLASH RED TAPE and BUREAUCRATIC.OFFICES, LASTLY ENCOURAGE AND GENUINELY BOOST SME'S  (Small Medium Enterprise -THE DRIVERS OF A DEVELOPING NATION) AND NOT JUST with lip service attention/uncontrolled seminars and presentations,  simple AS

Even a 2nd year Economics graduate can offer that advice , without batting an eyelid.

An Okonjo Iweala situation, is not really a jump up and dance alleluia  solution in my opinion, if we dont fix all the above ,she will be working 4 steps forward and 3 steps backwards, till her tenure runs out.

The World Bank runs itself, whether you have an expert at the helm of the affairs or not Harvard or Not, so I don't see why the party over Okonjo is all about,  Okonjo was purely administrative, if you follow her career path,

That's why in her last stint, it was always PowerPoint Presentations, session after session, was in a few of them and I thought, madam, I've seen this b4, we need the basics, simplified that will impact the lives of people on a daily basis, no need for IMF to tell us that we are going to
grow 1, 3 or 5 % this year, we know the things to do, if we do them right, we will grow, and we have the population factor on our side as a plus

GOD help us,

In fact my fear is that she does not follow what the are taught @ Harvard + IMF + Worl Bank, to the letter,  "Deliver more countries into our hands for the bondage to contuinue, or we make the markets difficult for you to survive in, 

Shame we do more imports than export so we have nothing to brag with like China or Japan, what can we flood the market with as a bargaining chip,  Dangotes Cement, or Noodles,  LOL,

Goodluck to both Okonjo and Aganga, cos their roles are very important in shaping out future,  May the vultures in Aso allow them to function.right, AMEN

If you read through the thread, I never said there was anything wrong a biology degree- I have one myself. I would rather have an economist run a $40bn budget and not a biologist, theologian, or an IB.

He goofed from the beginning by not saying anything about the monetary framework- at the moment, the government gives money to banks and borrows it back to control inflation- at a cost of N500bn! other things like the closure of the dollar allocation account etc which he never addressed makes me think he was clueless about the complex Nigerian economy. I wish him the best of luck with his current portfolio.

Lastly, no matter how "talented" Ngozi is, if she fails to deal with fiscal policy, she will NEVER succeed on the job. She did during her last term, which is why I have more faith in her.

trueword:

It is not the Finance Minister's job to manage the inflation rate. That is the role of the Central Bank through monetary policy.

That is true but you cannot under-estimate the influence of the Finance Minister's position on the economy. The Finance minister works together with the CBN to create policies that move the economy forward. May I remind you also that he was the Chairman of the much trumpeted economic team (NEMT), which also had the CBN governor on board. He had his chances to make a difference, he simply couldn't.

loma:

Since when did WikiPedia become a reference source?  While I am not super-pleased with Aganga's performance so far, I like to play fair.

To show you how unreliable WikiPedia is as a source, I will go ahead to make a change to that entry, and add Nairaland in the article.

As "unreliable" as wikipedia is, there is almost always some truth in their entries. Show me otherwise and I'll take a bow- anyone with a brain can become investment banker.

isquar3d3:

I dunno how u guys analyse things but from my own perspective, Aganga did a gud job while he lasted at d finance ministry. The Eurobonds, d sovereign wealth fund(a collective effort) nd other thngs dat he was able 2 put in place just about a year. I'v nt said he was perfect bt i need one of u incurable pessimists to outline all his flaws these past years. And yes, he'll b more comfortable in this trade portfolio as he's got a gud grasp of investment technicalities. Guys, dn't throw d baby wit d bath water. U got someone who is a technocrat nd u'r whining. Mayb we shld go back 2 putting partisan politician as ministers here nd there.

That's the familiar excuse, he had the time to create a sovereign wealth fund, which is basically losing money now. He could have also seen that the budget deficit and recurrent expenditure was unsustainable, that mopping up the economy at the cost of N500bn/yr to reduce inflation is madness, and that Nigeria will NEVER move forward with banks lending at interest rates of 20%.

He should have attacked the fiscal and monetary framework immediately but he decided to do what all IB's do which is to take risks with our money. At least inflation was in single digits with Ngozi in charge, - at this rate (10%), a tear rubber Toyota Camry could cost N20m in 10 years!

lagcity:

guy, you don't know what you're talking about. since when did a degree in Biology become an indicator of incompetence?

Far from it, I have one of such degrees and I'm far from incompetent. Having said that, I think I would rather have an economist in charge of a $40bn budget than a scientist, theologian, or IB. What do you think?

RoadStar:

Are u sure of the highlighted ? If so please supply some proof.
First of all it was Sanusi with only a BSc in econs
and now this guy
Even the military governments did better than this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olusegun_Olutoyin_Aganga.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Olusegun-Olutoyin-Aganga/121504631227580.

There is your proof. He went from being a scientist- to an accountant, and then a theologian. I am not discrediting him, obviously if he got into Oxford (albeit to study Theology)  and became a director at Goldman Sachs, he's got something. Unfortunately, he failed to grasp the workings of the Nigerian economy which cost him the portfolio in the end.

PapaBrowne:

The $500 million Bond was a first in in series of many many more!!

The Euro-bonds were at a record low as of last week, although they will rise at things start get better in the Euro zone- which isn't any time soon.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-04/nigerian-eurobond-yields-reach-record-low-on-greece-naira-currency-gains.html.

werepeLeri:

You fear for Nigeria? What will you do differently, given the chance?

You should be cautious. You don't need to look far to see what happened to NITEL under the name of privatisation- Ajaokuta is another one that comes to mind.  

No doubt government clearly has no business in setting up a phone or any other company, but Nigeria is not ready for these private investments yet because there's no infrastructure to fully support them.  Focus and develop the real sectors first (power, security etc), and then watch the investors flock in on their own.

Olusegun Aganga, Nigeria’s former finance minister, took up a new position today as trade and investment minister in President Goodluck Jonathan’s Cabinet, the ministry said in an e-mailed statement.
Aganga’s job at the new ministry is to attract private investment to help grow the economy of Africa’s most populous country of more than 150 million people, according to the statement.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-11/nigerian-president-jonathan-makes-aganga-trade-and-investment-minister.html

I'm betting on him to flop again. I have no faith in this fellow, he made some schoolboy errors on his last appointment. Well, you would not expect much more from someone with a degree in Biological Sciences and Theology.