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The Sanusi Agenda And The Fulani Economic Coup by babakuli: 3:27pm On Sep 01, 2009
A coup d'etat is a drastic act to take over a state or more usually a country POLITICALLY. An economic coup is one effected to takeover a society ECONOMICALLY. The new CBN governor Lamido Sanusi in one of his papers (KANO POLITICAL ECONOMY: REFLECTIONS ON A CRISIS AND ITS RESOLUTION , January 2004) stated interalia:



"Every economic decision, (every direction in economic policy, every budget) involves a choice as to, not just which needs, but also whose needs are to be satisfied with the nation’s limited resources. It is not just a matter of naira and kobo, it is, a fortiori, a matter of human beings, (or rather, different groups and classes of human beings), and their living conditions. Certain segments of the society will always benefit at the expense of other segments and thus a program may be for the rich or for the poor, for the political office holders or for the citizenry, for the manufacturer or for the middle-man, for the industrialist or for the commission agent, for the indigenous capitalist or for the foreigner, for the nation as a whole or for a particular region. These choices are political, not economic, and reflect interests that those who control the machinery of state are determined to serve. There can therefore be no discussion of the economic independent of the political".


He is correct. Economic and political matters are intimately intertwined.

On August 14 2009, Lamido Sanusi in his position as CBN governor and by the powers invested in that position, fired the first salvo in a planned economic coup d'etat against the Nigerian state. The facts of that salvo are already well known and have expectedly attracted lots of commentary. I was one of those that initially disregarded the comments of those who read a conspiracy theory into the whole affair. I have since changed my mind totally after further reflection as well as recent events and new information.

For clarity, here is a summary.

The CEOs and top directors of five banks which were said to be in ‘grave financial distress’ were fired and replaced by new management who were selected by the CBN. The new CEOs are to serve at the pleasure of the CBN until such a time as when the CBN regards that the five erring banks are stable. More significant, the CBN injected a total of 420 billion Naira to 'save' the said five banks. We are of course not told anything about the actual asset base of these banks that need saving so badly. Some of them were only given as low as 50 billion (Finbank and Afribank). Decades old Union bank (big, strong, reliable!) was given 100 billion in return for a total takeover of its management. There is no doubt in my mind that all the five banks are worth far more than the amounts they were given for the takeover. The value of a corporate entity goes far beyond mere balance sheets and loan portfolios. It includes tangible assets such as cash base, properties, staff skills, branch network, as well as intangible assets such as reputation and pedigree or what may be called brand or professional capital. By making such a public sensation of the so called 'sins' of the five banks, the CBN has deliberately eroded their professional capital and reputation, which was built over several years. This is most unfair of a CBN that is supposed to be a nurturer of all banks. The whole affair reeks of financial piracy. The latest news is that barely two weeks after infusing capital into the banks, the CBN is already looking for investors to buy off the banks!. If they are so hopeless, why put public funds into them? By giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it, the CBN, with meagre funds belonging to the Nigerian people, has taken over the far more valuable assets as well as brand name and reputation of these banks. Irrespective of the malpractices of these banks, the overall picture points to a grave injustice.

Names of the debtors with non performing loans of the five banks have also been published and the EFCC has embarked on a campaign reminiscent of a feeding frenzy by a pack of sharks to 'deal' with the debtors. Why should the EFCC be collecting cheques and property documents from bank debtors anyway. Is that not the business of the bankers themselves?. Knowing the level of corruption in Nigeria and the new EFCC in particular, one shudders at the amount of bribes such an organization could receive with this kind of leverage. It is notable that Farida Waziri, the EFCC chairman has relocated to Lagos to 'personally supervise the matter'. She must be licking her lips in ecstasy. I mean we are talking of billions of Naira and wealthy victims who have already been put in panic. Even the 'favour of not publishing your name' could well cost you a couple of million in 'settlement'.

The scheme is made even clearer by the latest worrying signals coming out from the CBN itself, that for the remaining 14 banks yet to be audited, no CEO's will be fired and no further debtor lists will be published for the other 19 banks apart from those of the condemned 5. In other words, we have partial (in)justice and differential punishment. So, CEOs of the other 14 banks who perhaps committed worse atrocities will be given a slap on the wrist while the CEOs of the condemned 5 have been publicly disgraced and their careers and reputations probably ruined. In addition, debtors with non performing loans from the other 19 banks will be able to 'reconcile' their debts with the dignity of confidentiality (under the close 'supervision' of the EFCC of course) while bad debtors of the disgraced five banks have been publicly embarrassed and might never regain their credibility even though some have given credible documented explanations for their indebtedness. Such a double standard is very unfair and smacks of premeditated dishonesty by the CBN. Justice is physically depicted as a blindfolded female figure that holds a balanced set of scales on one hand and a sword on the other. This means that justice recognizes no favourites (blindfold), regards all men as equal (balanced scales), and dispenses punishment evenly to the guilty (sword). If the other erring CEOs are not PUBLICLY sanctioned and if the other bad debtors are not PUBLICLY named, then the CBN has failed the test of justice and Sanusi Lamido and his management team should be seriously and PUBLICLY sanctioned.

I have just read an article published by the Vanguard newspaper on MARCH 23 2009 i.e. several months before Sanusi was made CBN governor. The facts are chilling in their prescience. It was as if the writers had already seen the future.


The article titled 'GROUP PLOTS TAKEOVER OF FIVE TOP BANKS' stated on March 23, 2009;

That mangement of five banks will be taken over by the CBN

In August, management of five banks were taken over by the CBN

The article said the plan is to cause panic in the banking Industry

In August there was panic in the Industry


The article said Soludo would not get a second term

Soludo did not get a second term


The article said Government would buy equity in the five banks to be divested later

In August, the Federal Government bought equity in five banks


The article said the problem would be as a result of non performing loans

The CBN said the problem is as a result of non performing loans



All these can not be coincidences. There is clearly a script being played out and it seems likely that Sanusi was given the CBN job with express instructions to effect this pre-written script


The header of this piece mentions a muslim economic coup. I will therefore conclude it by taking a speculative look into the future with that header in mind. This is my own attempt to emulate the writers of the excellent Vanguard article of March 23 2009. Perhaps people may use my words as a reference say by 2010, just as I am using the words of that article as a reference today. So here goes.


Sanusi the new Governor of the CBN is a muslim Fulani from Northern Nigeria. He has also done formal Sharia studies at a University in Sudan and has written several papers on Sharia and Islamic matters. In addition, both before and after his appointment as CBN governor, he has always publicly advocated Islamic banking in Nigeria. He has spearheaded a deliberately simulated crisis and wolf cry in these condemned five banks. He has used that 'distress' to inject public -and unappropriated - funds into those banks. I strongly believe that these five banks could have survived without these drastic steps AND SANUSI KNOWS THIS. The banks could have been asked to recapitalise and it is very likely that their shareholders would have been able to help. The CBN and EFCC could also have helped -as they are doing now for the other 14 banks- to collect the bad loans without making a spectacle and disgracing the banks, but this was not done. I believe that without the injection of public funds, the five banks could have stabilised if given a fair chance. The infusion of 420 billion Naira of public funds was done to set a precedent. This precedent has been set for a purpose. I predict that in the near future, our Islamic CBN Governor will propose (according to script) that commensurate public funds -say 450 billion Naira or so- should be provided to START UP some Islamic banks all over the Country. He will attempt to justify this by citing the fact that 420 billion was provided in August 2009 to shore up five 'ailing non Islamic banks'. He would be playing to a biased script, but in Nigeria, this is nothing new. Nigerians should watch out and mark these words. I can bet on them.

It is an interesting and saddening pattern with muslims in general but the Fulani in particular that while they always require special institutions set up exclusively for their own desires (sharia is a good example), they are also at the same time quite willing to benefit equitably out of what belongs freely to all in a secular world. In other words, a priori prividged status or 'born to rule' . There is little doubt that people of other faiths will have little or no chance of equity in banks designated as Islamic banks. It would be a crime against humanity to create such banks from public funds in a so called secular society. But then equity has never really been a concern for the Fulani northern muslims especially, whose philosophy seems to be "what's mine is mine but what's yours is negotiable!"
Re: The Sanusi Agenda And The Fulani Economic Coup by candylips(m): 3:37pm On Sep 01, 2009
nice story.
Re: The Sanusi Agenda And The Fulani Economic Coup by rytah: 9:17am On Sep 02, 2009
My friend, this country we call Nigeria is only in the dreams of people like me and you.
I, for one, do not believe in the existence of this country and i make no apologies for it. We are looking at a country which a section of it think it's  theirs to manipulate,twist or remote at will. when I read of the replacement of Soludo with Sanusi, I knew that this section is at it again. Let me tell you something. What is happening is not economic coup,as you put it, but ECONOMIC CATASTROPHE.
    I am a Historian and from available records the story has always been the same in Nigeria. Ngozi Okonjo Eweala was a crisis manager, Chukwuma Soludo was a crisis manager Ndi okereke Onyiuke is still a crisis manager( She will be kicked out when a siutable replacement is found to take her place). Ogbonnaya Onovo is now trying to manage a crisis that was caused by bad governance of that section. Mark my words Sanusi will disorganize the CBN and then they will bring in another crisis manager to organize it. Let me make it plain: A section of the country muddle things up and the other section makes it right and then dumped.
     I don't care if you call me a sectionalist.Tell me who isn,t in this country?. The Government of the country is sectional.
angry
Re: The Sanusi Agenda And The Fulani Economic Coup by Nobody: 12:51pm On Sep 10, 2009
rytah:

     My friend, this country we call Nigeria is only in the dreams of people like me and you.
I, for one, do not believe in the existence of this country and i make no apologies for it. We are looking at a country which a section of it think it's  theirs to manipulate,twist or remote at will. when I read of the replacement of Soludo with Sanusi, I knew that this section is at it again. Let me tell you something. What is happening is not economic coup,as you put it, but ECONOMIC CATASTROPHE.
    I am a Historian and from available records the story has always been the same in Nigeria. Ngozi Okonjo Eweala was a crisis manager, Chukwuma Soludo was a crisis manager Ndi okereke Onyiuke is still a crisis manager( She will be kicked out when a siutable replacement is found to take her place). Ogbonnaya Onovo is now trying to manage a crisis that was caused by bad governance of that section. Mark my words Sanusi will disorganize the CBN and then they will bring in another crisis manager to organize it. Let me make it plain: A section of the country muddle things up and the other section makes it right and then dumped.
     I don't care if you call me a sectionalist.Tell me who isn,t in this country?. The Government of the country is sectional.
angry

u said it all my brother
Re: The Sanusi Agenda And The Fulani Economic Coup by candylips(m): 1:07pm On Sep 10, 2009
na wao

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