[size=14pt]‘Sanusi’s Pre-Determined Agenda Damaging the Economy’[/size]
By Renaissance Professionals, 03.22.2010

Advertising Feature

There are strong indications that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Lamido Sanusi’s seven-month old controversial reform, riddled with actions of perceived pre-determined agenda, has left in its wake a weakened national economy following the inability of banks to play their crucial intermediation roles in the economy.


Only last week, manufacturers, speaking through the Director of Tyre Production, DN Tyre and Rubber Plc, Dr. Kolapo Popoola, called on the Federal Government to “provide urgent solutions to the problems of the economy or risk catastrophic consequences”.


In his first interview with the Financial Times of London on June 21, 2009 (which CBN published recently in the national media) barely 15 days after his assumption of office as CBN Governor, the newspaper quoted Sanusi as speaking about his “plans to open Nigeria’s banks to foreign takeovers”, and his determination to sack bank chief executives, even before the commencement of the CBN/NDIC special audit whose outcomes are his determination to sell our sovereignty to foreigners.


Also recently, in an interview with The Nation, he confessed foreclosing the option of giving the taken-over banks a time frame within which to correct the observed lapses in the CBN/NDIC audit report, yet he gave Unity and Wema Banks this window of opportunity. He had gone ahead to boast that “if you are the Managing Director of a Bank and you steal money from the bank and I am Governor of Central Bank, I will remove you. All I know is that you took depositors’ money in the name of borrowing, did not pay it and brought the bank to its knees. I know only two ways to deal with you; remove you and charge you to court.”


Analysts are agreed that it is such pre-mediated acts and unguarded utterances by an officer who should jealously build confidence in the system that worsened the global recession challenges of the banks. They have also wondered how he could have come to such conclusions based on bank audits to pronounce them guilty and has continued to demonise them for cases that are pending before courts.


As alerted by a manufacturer, the Nigerian economy may therefore, be on the verge of collapse unless something urgent is done to reverse the negative trend. Economic analysts say a combination of wrong policies by CBN and political inertia has brought economic activities almost to a standstill in the country.


“Look, things are really bad. Banks have stopped lending, manufacturing activities are on the verge of collapse, several airlines have stopped flying, the telecoms sector is experiencing its lowest growth since the advent of telecoms in Nigeria, the NNPC is now the sole importer of fuel into the country, private enterprise is no longer functioning. Things are that bad,” said an economist who does not want to be named.


Recently, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) revealed that production capacity has dropped to an all-time low of 27 per cent and despite the drop in production capacity most of the manufacturers cannot still sell the little they produce. Economic analysts say this may indicate a possible collapse in consumer demand following the massive layoff in the banking industry (including those not invaded by the CBN Governor) and other sectors of the economy since the CBN started its banking reforms.


The irony however, is that despite the collapse in consumer demand and steep fall in credit to the private sector, inflation has been on the rise indicating a more fundamental worry for the economy. "Costs of doing business have shot up for most businesses," said an economist. This is double trouble for companies as they are not able to sell what they produce or transfer the higher cost of production to consumers who do not have money to buy. Analysts also note that the massive layoff in the banking industry made the situation worse.


The Nigerian Airline industry is also in dire straits which have been traced to the current reforms in the Nigerian banking industry. Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company, Bismark Rewane, speaking last month at the Lagos Business School breakfast forum had noted that “the global recession did not initially and completely affect the Nigerian aviation markets; until the reforms introduced into the banking sector by the Central Bank of Nigeria crept into the airlines business leading to credit crunch”.
Already, analysts are predicting that only about five airlines will survive from the current financial crisis hitting them from the 14 domestic airlines in operation. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has revoked the licence of Afrijet, while the operations of Bellview Airlines and Capital Airlines have been grounded.


But while the real sector and other businesses are complaining of lack of credit from the banks, investigations have revealed that banks are swimming in cash which they do not want to lend to the real sector. Dealers in the Nigerian money market are said to be currently turning away deposit placements because they do not have outlets for the funds at the price they are collecting the funds. Three banks are said to be dominating the interbank markets offering very low rates for deposits since they have nowhere to lend it to.


This trend was confirmed by the CBN at the end of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting when it complained that banks have kept N600 billion in its vaults at two (2%) per cent per annum. In a bid to encourage banks to lend, the CBN had reduced the interest rate to one per cent. However, indications are that even with the reduction, banks are still not inclined to lend to the real sector preferring risk-free government securities instead.


First Securities Discount House (FSDH) report last two weeks had revealed that the interbank market is awash with excess cash leading to huge over subscription of government securities on offer. The 91-day treasury bill auction that took place two weeks ago witnessed a record breaking 545.92 per cent subscription level, while the 182-day bill recorded a subscription level of 208.33 per cent indicating the high level of risk evasiveness currently in Nigerian banks. “Banks are essentially building cash mountains” because they are afraid to lend. They are afraid because the CBN and EFCC have criminalized the lending process and do not want to be caught in the mix,” said a credit officer with one of Nigeria’s leading banks.


Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, a manufacturer, who is MD/CEO Neimeth Pharmaceuticals, and member of the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) confirmed this in an interview with The Guardian, Sunday, March 14, 2010. Said he: “The new management of banks are careful; they are the ones coming to us to ask for more collateral. They don’t want to be fired or taken to court because they lent money. That is why they are asking for what people will not be able to provide. They have gone back to traditional banking when they ask for your grandfathers and grandmothers before they give loan”.


Even high level projects that banks, before the Sanusi reforms were falling over themselves to finance, are being shunned by the banks. Mr. Segun Ahmadu, the Chairman, Implementation Committee of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway concessioned to Bi-Courtney Highway Services, has disclosed that a “number of banks from South Africa and China have shown interest in financing the project”. No Nigerian bank was mentioned.


Recently, Dangote Cement had also resorted to South African banks to finance its cement plants after paying off its Nigerian bank debtors. Analysts have warned that the mutual loss of confidence by the banking sector in the Nigerian economy and as well as loss of confidence by the business sector in the Nigerian banking sector will spell doom for the Nigerian economy.


In his June 21, 2009 interview with the Financial Times of London, the CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi, was quoted as saying that “I think the ‘autonomy’ of the Central Bank has been taken to an extreme where it’s almost an island on its own. My own idea is that the Central Bank Governor is part of government and I would work very closely with the Finance Minister.”


However, as the acting president works on injecting fresh blood into his government, analysts are quick to draw his attention to the above remarks of the CBN governor and remark that nine months after the CBN governor’s tenure, the former Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola, alerted the nation that government is largely unaware of the way the CBN governor was carrying out the banking reforms, which he tagged “as the spirit directs”, and committed to government’s determination to get more involved to ameliorate the largely negative effects on the economy.


Analysts therefore, wonder if it is not the appropriate time for the acting president to inject new blood into the leadership of the nation’s apex bank, a team whose goals would align with the new vigour and transparency that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is committed to bringing into governance.

Editor’s Note:
Renaissance Profession-als is a Lagos-based group of commentators and analysts on the ongoing banking reforms in Nigeria.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=169167

Vanguard
[size=18pt]Banks face new credit squeeze[/size]
Cover Stories Mar 22, 2010

By Babajide Komolafe & Michael Eboh

LAGOS—BANKS in the country are beginning to experience difficulties in addressing the new and rising wave of non-performing loans in their operations, brought about by the current credit freeze and slowdown in economic activities.

According to a senior banker who spoke to Vanguard, last week, on the condition of anonymity, accounts that were performing before had become non-performing as a result of the problem in the industry.

Also speaking, a bank treasurer hinted of a possible increase in provisioning for bad debts and negative bottom lines by banks in the coming financial year.

He said: “The meaning is that we have to do more provisioning for non-performing loans, resulting to more losses than was declared last year.

“What we are seeing is the multiplier effect of the banking reforms. Now because the banks and bankers are not spending, other businesses are suffering lack of patronage and sacking staff. But it is also aggravating the problem in the industry as those of them that took bank loans can’t repay and thereby worsening the problem of banks.”

For those of us doing business in Nigeria, this man has effectively killed the little gains of the Obasanjo years in his foolish haste to initiate his so-called reforms, banks are now awash with cash but not lending hence every sector is crippled and more job losses all round. Unfortunately, some people think it is an Akingbola/Ibru issue, failing to look at the wider implications of ill-informed and ill thought policies. I came back to Nigeria in 2007 and i can state categorically that the prospect has never looked so bleak i have had to lay off 23 staff this year alone and put another 10 on half salary hoping things will turn around. If Sanusi is not sacked by June this country will grind to a halt it is as simple as that can you imagine banks turning away deposits because they cant afford to keep it? the ones they have they are paying less than 1%?

What's the relationship between Pat Utomi (an owner of a multimillion naira non performing loan) and the Renaissance Professionals?

ndu_chucks:

What's the relationship between Pat Utomi (an owner of a multimillion naira non performing loan) and the Renaissance Professionals?

You should be ashamed of trying to change the subject by going personal on Utomi. If you know his relationship, you please tell us sir.
You could also tell us the his relationship with other newspapers that have written one critical article or another about Sanusi today.

ndu_chucks:

What's the relationship between Pat Utomi (an owner of a multimillion naira non performing loan) and the Renaissance Professionals?

Ask them o

“Look, things are really bad. Banks have stopped lending, manufacturing activities are on the verge of collapse, several airlines have stopped flying, the telecoms sector is experiencing its lowest growth since the advent of telecoms in Nigeria, the NNPC is now the sole importer of fuel into the country, private enterprise is no longer functioning. Things are that bad,” said an economist who does not want to be named.

sad that utomi is associating himself with such dubious claims. a friend in PWC once said that utomi is overrated - he cited Volkswagen Nigeria- which ran aground under utomi's watch. i politely disagreed then - but all this is forcing a rethink.

as to these claims -

manufacturing was dead even before sanusi. soludo's much touted reforms failed to invigorate that sector in any way.

which several airlines have stopped flying? and is that not direct fallout of the inglorious year of plane crashes (2008)?

anyone in the downstream sector will tell you, no moil major is bringing in product because of NNPC's delays in remuneration.

as to the the telecoms sectors lowest growth - are they thinking it will continue to grow at that rate forever - can't tey see margins are shrinking? why do you think zain is being sold to indians?

Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, a manufacturer, who is MD/CEO Neimeth Pharmaceuticals, and member of the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) confirmed this in an interview with The Guardian, Sunday, March 14, 2010. Said he: “The new management of banks are careful; they are the ones coming to us to ask for more collateral. They don’t want to be fired or taken to court because they lent money. That is why they are asking for what people will not be able to provide. They have gone back to traditional banking when they ask for your grandfathers and grandmothers before they give loan”.

and those principle have worked for centuries - i guess the mazi prefers the paddy paddy banking that is so popular in nigeria

The Nigerian Airline industry is also in dire straits which have been traced to the current reforms in the Nigerian banking industry. Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company, Bismark Rewane, speaking last month at the Lagos Business School breakfast forum had noted that “the global recession did not initially and completely affect the Nigerian aviation markets; until the reforms introduced into the banking sector by the Central Bank of Nigeria crept into the airlines business leading to credit crunch”.
Already, analysts are predicting that only about five airlines will survive from the current financial crisis hitting them from the 14 domestic airlines in operation. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has revoked the licence of Afrijet, while the operations of Bellview Airlines and Capital Airlines have been grounded.

sounds like more of the same - the odd belief that nigeria would somehow be shielded from the recession - linking the revoking of a license by a different body to CBN - dunno about capital airlines - but i remember the bitter complainants in a thread about bellview airlines' service. perhaps their currrent straits can also be tied to customers refusing to continue to put up with their service.

Beaf:

[size=14pt]‘Sanusi’s Pre-Determined Agenda Damaging the Economy’[/size]
By Renaissance Professionals, 03.22.2010

Advertising Feature

There are strong indications that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Lamido Sanusi’s seven-month old controversial reform, riddled with actions of perceived pre-determined agenda, has left in its wake a weakened national economy following the inability of banks to play their crucial intermediation roles in the economy.


Only last week, manufacturers, speaking through the Director of Tyre Production, DN Tyre and Rubber Plc, Dr. Kolapo Popoola, called on the Federal Government to “provide urgent solutions to the problems of the economy or risk catastrophic consequences”.


In his first interview with the Financial Times of London on June 21, 2009 (which CBN published recently in the national media) barely 15 days after his assumption of office as CBN Governor, the newspaper quoted Sanusi as speaking about his “plans to open Nigeria’s banks to foreign takeovers”, and his determination to sack bank chief executives, even before the commencement of the CBN/NDIC special audit whose outcomes are his determination to sell our sovereignty to foreigners.


Also recently, in an interview with The Nation, he confessed foreclosing the option of giving the taken-over banks a time frame within which to correct the observed lapses in the CBN/NDIC audit report, yet he gave Unity and Wema Banks this window of opportunity. He had gone ahead to boast that “if you are the Managing Director of a Bank and you steal money from the bank and I am Governor of Central Bank, I will remove you. All I know is that you took depositors’ money in the name of borrowing, did not pay it and brought the bank to its knees. I know only two ways to deal with you; remove you and charge you to court.”


Analysts are agreed that it is such pre-mediated acts and unguarded utterances by an officer who should jealously build confidence in the system that worsened the global recession challenges of the banks. They have also wondered how he could have come to such conclusions based on bank audits to pronounce them guilty and has continued to demonise them for cases that are pending before courts.


As alerted by a manufacturer, the Nigerian economy may therefore, be on the verge of collapse unless something urgent is done to reverse the negative trend. Economic analysts say a combination of wrong policies by CBN and political inertia has brought economic activities almost to a standstill in the country.


“Look, things are really bad. Banks have stopped lending, manufacturing activities are on the verge of collapse, several airlines have stopped flying, the telecoms sector is experiencing its lowest growth since the advent of telecoms in Nigeria, the NNPC is now the sole importer of fuel into the country, private enterprise is no longer functioning. Things are that bad,” said an economist who does not want to be named.


Recently, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) revealed that production capacity has dropped to an all-time low of 27 per cent and despite the drop in production capacity most of the manufacturers cannot still sell the little they produce. Economic analysts say this may indicate a possible collapse in consumer demand following the massive layoff in the banking industry (including those not invaded by the CBN Governor) and other sectors of the economy since the CBN started its banking reforms.


The irony however, is that despite the collapse in consumer demand and steep fall in credit to the private sector, inflation has been on the rise indicating a more fundamental worry for the economy. "Costs of doing business have shot up for most businesses," said an economist. This is double trouble for companies as they are not able to sell what they produce or transfer the higher cost of production to consumers who do not have money to buy. Analysts also note that the massive layoff in the banking industry made the situation worse.


The Nigerian Airline industry is also in dire straits which have been traced to the current reforms in the Nigerian banking industry. Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company, Bismark Rewane, speaking last month at the Lagos Business School breakfast forum had noted that “the global recession did not initially and completely affect the Nigerian aviation markets; until the reforms introduced into the banking sector by the Central Bank of Nigeria crept into the airlines business leading to credit crunch”.
Already, analysts are predicting that only about five airlines will survive from the current financial crisis hitting them from the 14 domestic airlines in operation. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has revoked the licence of Afrijet, while the operations of Bellview Airlines and Capital Airlines have been grounded.


But while the real sector and other businesses are complaining of lack of credit from the banks, investigations have revealed that banks are swimming in cash which they do not want to lend to the real sector. Dealers in the Nigerian money market are said to be currently turning away deposit placements because they do not have outlets for the funds at the price they are collecting the funds. Three banks are said to be dominating the interbank markets offering very low rates for deposits since they have nowhere to lend it to.


This trend was confirmed by the CBN at the end of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting when it complained that banks have kept N600 billion in its vaults at two (2%) per cent per annum. In a bid to encourage banks to lend, the CBN had reduced the interest rate to one per cent. However, indications are that even with the reduction, banks are still not inclined to lend to the real sector preferring risk-free government securities instead.


First Securities Discount House (FSDH) report last two weeks had revealed that the interbank market is awash with excess cash leading to huge over subscription of government securities on offer. The 91-day treasury bill auction that took place two weeks ago witnessed a record breaking 545.92 per cent subscription level, while the 182-day bill recorded a subscription level of 208.33 per cent indicating the high level of risk evasiveness currently in Nigerian banks. “Banks are essentially building cash mountains” because they are afraid to lend. They are afraid because the CBN and EFCC have criminalized the lending process and do not want to be caught in the mix,” said a credit officer with one of Nigeria’s leading banks.


Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, a manufacturer, who is MD/CEO Neimeth Pharmaceuticals, and member of the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) confirmed this in an interview with The Guardian, Sunday, March 14, 2010. Said he: “The new management of banks are careful; they are the ones coming to us to ask for more collateral. They don’t want to be fired or taken to court because they lent money. That is why they are asking for what people will not be able to provide. They have gone back to traditional banking when they ask for your grandfathers and grandmothers before they give loan”.


Even high level projects that banks, before the Sanusi reforms were falling over themselves to finance, are being shunned by the banks. Mr. Segun Ahmadu, the Chairman, Implementation Committee of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway concessioned to Bi-Courtney Highway Services, has disclosed that a “number of banks from South Africa and China have shown interest in financing the project”. No Nigerian bank was mentioned.


Recently, Dangote Cement had also resorted to South African banks to finance its cement plants after paying off its Nigerian bank debtors. Analysts have warned that the mutual loss of confidence by the banking sector in the Nigerian economy and as well as loss of confidence by the business sector in the Nigerian banking sector will spell doom for the Nigerian economy.


In his June 21, 2009 interview with the Financial Times of London, the CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi, was quoted as saying that “I think the ‘autonomy’ of the Central Bank has been taken to an extreme where it’s almost an island on its own. My own idea is that the Central Bank Governor is part of government and I would work very closely with the Finance Minister.”


However, as the acting president works on injecting fresh blood into his government, analysts are quick to draw his attention to the above remarks of the CBN governor and remark that nine months after the CBN governor’s tenure, the former Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola, alerted the nation that government is largely unaware of the way the CBN governor was carrying out the banking reforms, which he tagged “as the spirit directs”, and committed to government’s determination to get more involved to ameliorate the largely negative effects on the economy.


Analysts therefore, wonder if it is not the appropriate time for the acting president to inject new blood into the leadership of the nation’s apex bank, a team whose goals would align with the new vigour and transparency that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is committed to bringing into governance.

[b]Editor’s Note:
Renaissance Profession-als is a Lagos-based group of commentators and analysts on the ongoing banking reforms in Nigeria.[/b]http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=169167

What you posted here is an advertorial by that faceless group called Renaissance Professionals, and not the official position of the ThisDay.
We know who is behind Renaissance Professionals

Y'all dont need to bash Pat Utomi just cos you disagree with his views on SLS reform . . . . both are good men trying to take the country forward. . . .

BTW, I wonder why these articles do not tell us whether Dangote's loans from South Africa were collaterised or not. . . . . A lot of these guys see awoof opportunity to cut corners like cowboys in Naija, and when they are called out on it, they feel disrespected. . . hence "Dangote must not owe any Nigerian bank". . . . because they did not allow him to do "business" as usual. . . . but I assure you he will do business the proper way in South Africa.

The only people that fail to see the implications of Sanusi's actions and hasty reforms are his supporters.
I remember commenting on this same topic in another thread, I said the problem i have with Sanusi is that he spends more time defending his policies(which obviously are not work and causing more problems) and making his predecessor look bad. Sanusi has the passion and has good intentions no doubt but fact is that he lacks the catholic experience of a CBN chief. He has been looking at the problem more from a moral rectitude standpoint than from an economically expedient standpoint.The results have been more caution not to take any risk at all(when obviously,bank business is hinges on trust which is a risk itself) and starve the economy of the much needed funds.What is the use of a perfect system(which is practically unrealistic) that does not do the economy any good.Like an observer said in the article, Sanusi has criminalized the lending process,now there is a whole new problem of non-performing loan gradually building up, this time not as a result of reckless neglect of good coperate policies and governance but as a result of high-handedness by the CBN chief whose passion to bring his own ideas and concept of moral rectitude is clashing with the economic realities of the sector which is not ready yet for the kind of purging Sanusi is giving to it. Soludo made many mistakes no doub, infact, he compromised a lot of the time but he showed more tact and finesse in handling the economy, he better understood the implications of CBN actions on the economy than Sanusi. Sanusi obviously is experimenting with his numerous economically fatigued policies, it is high time Mr Sanusi threw the towel and admit it.He has been viewing the problem from only one angle as a risk manager but not as the CBN chief, I think he would ve done better if he was on the board in a specialized area. . .i think Sb else should replace Sanusi,sb with a catholic knowledge of the relation btw the CBN's policies and its effect on the economy.

but he showed more tact and finesse in handling the economy, he better understood the implications of CBN actions on the economy than Sanusi. Sanusi obviously is experimenting with his numerous economically fatigued policies, it is high time Mr Sanusi threw the towel and admit it.He has been viewing the problem from only one angle as a risk manager but not as the CBN chief,

i guess covering up failures and allowing the perpetrators of those failures to continue ding more of the same constitutes tact and finesse

this is the same way nigerians were bitching about the duo of buhari and idagbon in the 80s. enter ibb who they hailed as a hero.

if these anti sanusi forces succeed, i woul like to save these page for posterity to wave in their faces when some 10 years in the future, we enjoy a new round of failed banks gragra

rhymz:

The only people that fail to see the implications of Sanusi's actions and hasty reforms are his supporters.
I remember commenting on this same topic in another thread, I said the problem i have with Sanusi is that he spends more time defending his policies(which obviously are not work and causing more problems) and making his predecessor look bad. Sanusi has the passion and has good intentions no doubt but fact is that he lacks the catholic experience of a CBN chief. He has been looking at the problem more from a moral rectitude standpoint than from an economically expedient standpoint.The results have been more caution not to take any risk at all(when obviously,bank business is hinges on trust which is a risk itself) and starve the economy of the much needed funds.What is the use of a perfect system(which is practically unrealistic) that does not do the economy any good.Like an observer said in the article, Sanusi has criminalized the lending process,now there is a whole new problem of non-performing loan gradually building up, this time not as a result of reckless neglect of good coperate policies and governance but as a result of high-handedness by the CBN chief whose passion to bring his own ideas and concept of moral rectitude is clashing with the economic realities of the sector which is not ready yet for the kind of purging Sanusi is giving to it. Soludo made many mistakes no doub, infact, he compromised a lot of the time but he showed more tact and finesse in handling the economy, he better understood the implications of CBN actions on the economy than Sanusi. Sanusi obviously is experimenting with his numerous economically fatigued policies, it is high time Mr Sanusi threw the towel and admit it.He has been viewing the problem from only one angle as a risk manager but not as the CBN chief, I think he would ve done better if he was on the board in a specialized area. . .i think Sb else should replace Sanusi,sb with a catholic knowledge of the relation btw the CBN's policies and its effect on the economy.

Soludo showed tact and finesse? when?
The guy that in June 2004, just over a month as CBN governor, unilaterally raised the banking capitalization requirements of banks by 10x from the December 2004 target of N2.5B to N25B by 2005, walking out of the meeting with the bank executives refusing to answer any questions. Same Soludo almost crashed the market a few weeks later with his 'phased' withdrawal of public funds.
Soludo may have had his virtues but tact was not one of them.

The RP guys are so disingenuous.
Dangote was not denied loans by the Nigerian banks. In fact, Dangote had an existing loan of $1.2Bn from Nigerian banks which he had taken since 2008 (and has been servicing without actually implementing the project yet) and decided to repay in January, in favor of a much lesser $350m credit line from Standard Chartered SA (of which he has only tapped about $100m). The new facility is preferred as it can be accessed on an 'on demand' basis as opposed to the project financing that Nigerian  banks prefer in which the entire sum is committed to upfront.

The economy of Nigeria grew too rapidly with Soludo as chief, the south prospered and held key positions in the economy, fastening up things, connecting to the international circuit and buying up things in Africa. This infuriated the north and they felt threatened by the souths sudden rise to the skies.

Sanusi was their answer to pull the south back to level, he used force and levelled allegations on anybody that could stop him. To him, everyone is a thief and needs to be locked up, loan takers and givers alike, employers of labour, anyone trying to move the country foward is a rogue that must be terrorised with EFCC. This is the reason for the coming of Sanusi, not to make things better.

invisible!:

The economy of Nigeria grew too rapidly with Soludo as chief, the south prospered and held key positions in the economy, fastening up things, connecting to the international circuit and buying up things in Africa. This infuriated the north and they felt threatened by the souths sudden rise to the skies.
                         
Sanusi was their answer to pull the south back to level, he used force and levelled allegations on anybody that could stop him. To him, everyone is a thief and needs to be locked up, loan takers and givers alike, employers of labour, anyone trying to move the country foward is a rogue that must be terrorised with EFCC. This is the reason for the coming of Sanusi, not to make things better.
       

South prospered? So how many Northerners has Sanusi brought in?
You post is nauseating with its pathetic attempt at stoking ethnic sentiments

@biina, he don't have to bring in any northerner to achieve his aim, the tools to his damage are there already. He still needs to tell us why FBN wrote off many billions of Naira as loss and its not fraud and others can't take a loss. To me, he should be in jail now.

what i found worrisome is the fact that even when nigerian banks are in existence,
nigerian businesses prefers south africa credit lines to nigerian banks
and the cbn is happy.
this goes to say,we dont need banks.
when all the banks run down due to lack of business,
i wonder what sanusi will regulate.

The banks are not making any profits now. How can they, when it has become a crime to collect loans, your name could end up on the front pages of the national dailies for the crime of taking a loan to expand your business! The bank execs are now afraid to extend lines of credit to any company. Paranoia reigns, the economy will be worse for it as businesses will now shed weight by workforce reductions thereby deepening the crisis. Head or tail, the masses lose.

The long broom that swept away the ministers will soon sweep Sanusi away. Banks must lend money, that is one of their primary purposes.
Right now, Nigerian banks are hoarding money for fear of Sanusi.

Jarus:

What you posted here is an advertorial by that faceless group called Renaissance Professionals, and not the official position of the ThisDay.
We know who is behind Renaissance Professionals

Yea, I read the one they put on Friday Thisday captioned 'CBD's BANK's Catrgorization - Recipe for Confusion'.

I don't want to speculate as who is behind the group but I do know that they have a point. Sanusi should know better than to embark on a reform without a detailed action plan that should be published in both print and electrnic media. We need to know his vision, goal, objectives, methodology . . the whole logical framework thing. The economy of this country is at the point of collapse and this "as the spirit directs" approach (just quoting the rennaisance professionals ) is not helping anybody.

If he has any concrete plans, he should spell it out cleary and not give give people room for dangerous conclusions and unfounfed accusations!

Ujujoan:

Yea, I read the one they put on Friday Thisday captioned 'CBD's BANK's Catrgorization - Recipe for Confusion'.

I don't want to speculate as who is behind the group but I do know that they have a point. Sanusi should know better than to embark on a reform without a detailed action plan that should be published in both print and electrnic media. We need to know his vision, goal, objectives, methodology . . the whole logical framework thing. The economy of this country is at the point of collapse and this "as the spirit directs" approach (just quoting the rennaisance professionals ) is not helping anybody.

If he has any concrete plans, he should spell it out cleary and not give give people room for dangerous conclusions and unfounfed accusations!

Thank you Uju, exactly my point. I have nothing against SLS, infact I admire his intelligence & courage. But we need to have/understand his clear roadmap.

So far, IMHO the Nigeria economy is not looking good. I just asked my biz manager to cut down on lots of our biz activities and staff.

If we understand his goal, the essence of his policies/reforms & thier impacts on the economy, we might have the faith & confidence to follow him like we followed Soludo.

Ujujoan:

Yea, I read the one they put on Friday Thisday captioned 'CBD's BANK's Catrgorization - Recipe for Confusion'.

I don't want to speculate as who is behind the group but I do know that they have a point. Sanusi should know better than to embark on a reform without a detailed action plan that should be published in both print and electrnic media. We need to know his vision, goal, objectives, methodology . .  the whole logical framework thing. The economy of this country is at the point of collapse and this "as the spirit directs" approach (just quoting the rennaisance professionals  ) is not helping anybody.

If he has any concrete plans, he should spell it out cleary and not give give people room for dangerous conclusions and unfounfed accusations!  

Thank you Uju, exactly my point. I have nothing against SLS, infact I admire his intelligence & courage. But we need to have/understand his clear roadmap.

So far, IMHO the Nigeria economy is not looking good. I just asked my biz manager to cut down on lots of our biz activities and staff.

If we understand his goal, the essence of his policies/reforms & thier impacts on the economy, we might have the faith & confidence to follow him like we followed Soludo.

OAM4J:

Thank you Uju, exactly my point. I have nothing against SLS, infact I admire his intelligence & courage. But we need to have/understand his clear roadmap.

So far, IMHO the Nigeria economy is not looking good. I just asked my biz manager to cut down on lots of our biz activities and staff.

If we understand his goal, the essence of his policies/reforms & thier impacts on the economy, we might have the faith & confidence to follow him like we followed Soludo.

Sanusi strikes me an erudite banker, and no one can fault him for all his policies on regulation of the banks.
Pre-determined or Nothern Agenda. I dont know 
But the truth is that nothing points to that effect.

Nigerians were confident in Soludo because
He makes himself look too good and come up with groundbreaking visions that was even too hot for Nigerians to handle. Hardly anyone could stand him in a debate because he would explain himself and leave you lookin puzzled.
He neglected the small everyday duties like all that Sanusi is tackling at the moment but wanted to be the czar of Nigerian banking.
He proposed issues like Lekki Financial Hub, Mega-banking (Consolidation), Naira re-domination, ADB etc.
Sometimes its hard to beleive all this happened in 5 years.
Even his speach in Davos won over world economists.


But sanusi struggles when he has to come out with visionary ideas.
The guy has been coming up with stuff like Islamic Banking,  baning univesal banking and limiting the tenure for CEOs.
Idont see any of these making any significant effect positive or negative. Except for alenating the most experienced hands in our banking industry.
I think guy just over-emphasises regulation and laid down ethics just to make up for his inexperience and lack of confidence and ideas.
Nigerians on the other hand are sensing it and are not confident in his ability to steer the sector.
Hence all these attacks on news papers.

What amazes me though is how Soludo has stayed away from all the Sanusi talk.
To be critisized by your sucessor and not say a word points to the fact that he is he's some skeleton in his cupboard or he is just too classy to get involved.

It is just a matter of time and Nigerians will either thank their lucky stars for Sanusi or greatly miss Soludo.

invisible!:

@biina, he don't have to bring in any northerner to achieve his aim, the tools to his damage are there already. He still needs to tell us why FBN wrote off many billions of Naira as loss and its not fraud and others can't take a loss. To me, he should be in jail now.

Fraud? That is what you are supposed to do i.e. make provisions for non-performing loans. It becomes fraud when you refuse to make those provisions (because it will drag down/erase your profit margins) and claim you are profitable. Taking a loss is not fraud, but refusing to take the loss that is.

@ biina, understand me, I have nothing to gain by demonizing Sanusi. Both the loan in FBN and the ones in Oceanic, inter, UBA and other banks went bad and the CEOs have to take the blame for taking too much risk. They should all go. Sanusi is telling us that other banks were cooking their books, but who approves the results? Why must the execs be the only ones to be hit? Why not the directors, chairman, auditors, etc, even him Sanusi is at fault, he signed the results of Oceanic which Soludo refused to sign only to turn back and arrest them for the same results.

When has the penalty of cooking of books become the outright seizure and loss of shareholders assets? This is unprecedented! It have left a sad taste in investors mouths, I have sold out all my shares and will stay off bank stocks till this lunatic leaves power, its just too slippery out there now with Sanusi raining his vengeance at imaginary witches.

God will save us.

invisible!:

@ biina, understand me, I have nothing to gain by demonizing Sanusi. Both the loan in FBN and the ones in Oceanic, inter, UBA and other banks went bad and the CEOs have to take the blame for taking too much risk. They should all go. Sanusi is telling us that other banks were cooking their books, but who approves the results? Why must the execs be the only ones to be hit? Why not the directors, chairman, auditors, etc, even him Sanusi is at fault, he signed the results of Oceanic which Soludo refused to sign only to turn back and arrest them for the same results.

When has the penalty of cooking of books become the outright seizure and loss of shareholders assets? This is unprecedented! It have left a sad taste in investors mouths, I have sold out all my shares and will stay off bank stocks till this lunatic leaves power, its just too slippery out there now with Sanusi raining his vengeance at imaginary witches.

God will save us.

Every bank has non-performing loans and no-one has been penalized for having such loans as long as you follow the proper accounting process and provision for it. The sacked executives had non-performing loans that they failed to provision for, over exposed their banks to the stock market and lost depositors funds when the market crashed, granted loans to themselves via proxy companies without following due process, and all the while presenting a false picture of being healthy while in truth they were going belly up. Sanusi fired the executives as they are directly responsible and it was within his power to do so.

As to the Oceanic results, Sanusi had already explained why that he approved the results (after initially delaying cause of troubling signs from the EDW audit) because the bank management claimed they needed it to pay dividends and that they agreed that it would be reviewed once the CBN audit was completed. He simply acted in good faith

He said Mrs. Cecillia Ibru had met him in one of the meetings with bank chief executives and requested him to allow her release the company earnings because of shareholder pressure. Sanusi said he resented the release since she wanted to pay dividends as the bank was running low on money. Then she agreed not to pay dividends. The governor said he allowed her to release it on the caveat that after the examiners had finished there would be adjustments based on the investigation of its finances.
http://www.nigerianmuse.com/20090829090915zg/nigeriawatch/cbn-governor-sanusi-denies-hidden-agenda

Sanusi has not seized shareholders' 'assets', as the actions of the executives has almost wiped out the shareholders' stake. Sanusi is actually trying to save the banks. He could have left them to go belly up, and everyone: depositors, shareholders, and staff, would have lost everything.

biina:

Sanusi has not seized shareholders' 'assets', as the actions of the executives has almost wiped out the shareholders' stake. Sanusi is actually trying to save the banks. He could have left them to go belly up, and everyone: depositors, shareholders, and staff, would have lost everything.

Once again, this logic of I burnt down the house because I saw a rat that would have caused an eventual collapse of the whole building is silly, confusing, and diversionary, can't you come up with something better?
Can't the almighty Sanusi propaganda machine come up with some thing better

naijaking1:

Once again, this logic of I burnt down the house because I saw a rat that would have caused an eventual collapse of the whole building is silly, confusing, and diversionary, can't you come up with something better?
Can't the almighty Sanusi propaganda machine come up with some thing better

Now its your turn to be ashamed of yourself for analogizing the destruction of shareholder value worth trillions of naira to a annoying and harmless house rat.

As someone mentioned, the sacked CEOs over exposed their banks to the stock market and lost depositors funds when the market crashed, granted loans to themselves via proxy companies without following due process, and all the while presenting a false picture of being healthy while in truth they were going belly up!  Thats no rat in the house buddy, its more like vicious termites and bugs that have infested 95% of the house! You don't treat those with mouse traps.

You, my friend, are what we call a girraffe with a long neck buried under the sand in denial - rakumin dajij.

RoadStar:

Sanusi strikes me an erudite banker, and no one can fault him for all his policies on regulation of the banks.
Pre-determined or Nothern Agenda. I dont know 
But the truth is that nothing points to that effect.

Nigerians were confident in Soludo because
He makes himself look too good and come up with groundbreaking visions that was even too hot for Nigerians to handle. Hardly anyone could stand him in a debate because he would explain himself and leave you lookin puzzled.
He neglected the small everyday duties like all that Sanusi is tackling at the moment but wanted to be the czar of Nigerian banking.
He proposed issues like Lekki Financial Hub, Mega-banking (Consolidation), Naira re-domination, ADB etc.
Sometimes its hard to beleive all this happened in 5 years.
Even his speach in Davos won over world economists.


But sanusi struggles when he has to come out with visionary ideas.
The guy has been coming up with stuff like Islamic Banking,  baning univesal banking and limiting the tenure for CEOs.
Idont see any of these making any significant effect positive or negative. Except for alenating the most experienced hands in our banking industry.
I think guy just over-emphasises regulation and laid down ethics just to make up for his inexperience and lack of confidence and ideas.
Nigerians on the other hand are sensing it and are not confident in his ability to steer the sector.
Hence all these attacks on news papers.

What amazes me though is how Soludo has stayed away from all the Sanusi talk.
To be critisized by your sucessor and not say a word points to the fact that he is he's some skeleton in his cupboard or he is just too classy to get involved.

It is just a matter of time and Nigerians will either thank their lucky stars for Sanusi or greatly miss Soludo.

But Soludo was the one that introduced Islamic Banking. Two banks already have Islamic license under Soludo.

Why are involved in this long talk?
Banks are underperforming under Sanusi's watch. Its simple as 2 + 2, banks can't lend money = banks are hoarding money = banks have been made useless.
Simple as! Sanusi has goofed big time, therefore the long cabal uprooting broom must clear his ar'se out too.

. . .Obituary, here lie the bow tied remains of a CBN job weilded by a bush man, solely remembered for a maniacal and loudmouthed wish to line up CEO's for execution by an extrajudicial firing squad.

Damn! Nigeria needs better.

naijatoday:

But Soludo was the one that introduced Islamic Banking. Two banks already have Islamic license under Soludo.

Then there goes, one less from Sanusi.

RoadStar:

Then there goes, one less from Sanusi.

The problem is that you did not give Sanusi the benefit of doubt, nor carry out due research, before making the earlier statement. This is representative of most anti-sanusi posters.