http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5388690-146/Chukwuma_Soludo_is_living_large_.csp

Three years ago the Central Bank governor, Chukwuma Soludo, installed his wife, Nonye, and their two children in a mansion bought for half a billion naira in the tony London suburb of Brondesbury Park.

One of their two children is enrolled at Ampleforth College, an elite parochial school known as “the Catholic Eton,” and where the Central Bank governor pays an annual fee of £25,000 for this privilege— roughly half his annual salary. The other child attends a similarly expensive public school— which in Britain actually means private school— so that in theory Mr. Soludo’s entire earnings of about N12 million a year hardly covers his children’s school fees.

Since he was appointed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to his current position five years ago, Mr. Soludo, who was a university lecturer before joining the Obasanjo administration, has demonstrated a taste for high living, travelling in convoys of as many as seven vehicles, impeccably and expensively dressed in bespoke suits and heirloom watches, and generally enjoying a lifestyle that cannot be afforded by anyone earning about N1 million a month.

The mansion occupied by his family in the exclusive London suburb is registered to Universal Energy Limited, an offshore company controlled by Emmanuel Ojei, the flamboyant tycoon with many business interests, including oil and gas.

It is not clear under what arrangement the Soludos live in this £2.1 million home; Mr. Soludo is not telling us. He has spent the past three weeks avoiding us and made promises to answer our questions that he has not kept, hoping that we will simply go away.

This post has been hidden

ShangoThor:

Damn, you're good, I just wanted to confirm that all of this is completely true, I know the house very well

what do u know?

For Christ sake, soludo is 1000th times better than sanusi.

take a look at that mallam, hey! that is actually his name, what has he done ?

A man devoid of any innovative, progressive idea- introducing Islamic bank.

A man without the slimmest of international reputation and clout. He has been trying to sell some of his induced-wrecked-banks since his tenure, how far ? Absolutely garbage, three banks and institution has so far been the only ones to indicate interest, guess who they are?
. A low level Pakistani bank, comparable to wema bank in Naija.
. A lebannese club, not even a banking society, abi micro finance.
. A south Africa bank.

Just imagine, does that not sound like an insult?

He has single handedly increase unemployment by over 10 %, being responsible for the policy that saw 10s of thousands of worker made redundant.
Imagine our beloveth union bank is in dire state, our big, strong, reliable is in comatose.

And surprisely sanusi is as corrupt as others; he cancelled 7billion out of 8billion of debts own by saraki. Why ? Becos saraki headed the lobby team that got him the job. How much more corrupt could one get?

the only virtue he has is his boldness. An Islamic induced boldness that doesn't know what to say in public and what shudnt. He wreck our fine institution with his loud mouth and primitive, tactless, inept ideas.

Islamic bank ko, juju bank ni


i cant forget back then, when Nigerian bank, yes Naija banks, dey compete for who sample pass for CNN. even SKYE BANK dey represent. AA+ rating,
BBB+ , AA-, AAA-. these rating might seem like nothing, a mere alphabets and signs but don't forget that Japan as a country has been at loggerheads with these same rating agencies abt her rating. japan is on BB- (flitch 2010).

Why wont Nig b appreciative 4 once, if other looters did half of what soludo did then i wont mind their looting.Besides do u know how much he worth?

anyone that says soludo is better then sanusi is ignorant.
when soludo was head of CBN it was a looters paradise,
nigerian banksing amounted to whatever bankers could steal before the took off to england.
one of my best frieds is a beneficiary to soludo era looting. Sanusi came in and his families looting ended instantly.

Sanusi has also won numerous international awards and revived the nigerian banking sector immediately during the recession when western nations couldn't even save theirs.

That is Nigeria for you, were anything goes,

BRB!

Ikengawo:

anyone that says soludo is better then sanusi is ignorant.
when soludo was head of CBN it was a looters paradise,
nigerian banksing amounted to whatever bankers could steal before the took off to england.
one of my best frieds is a beneficiary to soludo era looting. Sanusi came in and his families looting ended instantly.

Sanusi has also won numerous international awards and revived the nigerian banking sector immediately during the recession when western nations couldn't even save theirs.

ezeuche please stop making it an Igbo cause. soludu stood out, his accolades and accomplishment are there to testify for him.


back to u , and who didnt win awards? soludo acceptance in the international field where so far and wide, he was included in the inner caucus of international monetary/policy makers.

Now, to what is on ground.

The fact that there were outright theft in the system by their custodian is not soludo's fault.
he said he did notice irregularities and he moved to checkmate it.

the banks had ill performing debt which were running into billion of $. in order to deceive the CBN the bank transfer their ill performing debt amongst themselves since they had different year end- date to declare their statements. . ie, if bank A has 20b$ debt and is to submit her statement today, she wud loan the bad debt to bank B there taken off the ill performing debt and declaring a stellar account with only profits (no trace of losses). after she has been cleared by CBN she goes back to Bank B and borrow bank that same ill performing debt + bank B's own ill performing debts. the next week bank B declares her statement and its also all stellar.

so what did soludo do?
he noticed it, and issued a decree, mandating all banks to have same end of the year dates and hence wud submit on same day. that was how the ill performing loans were found out.

how many where employed during soludo banking consolidation? 1000s
how many were employed during sanusi tsunami ? - 10000s

sanusi waived 7 billions of saraki's 8 billion debt. now tell me how much more corrupt can he get?  

during soludo Nigerian banks were mandated to have foreign partners to facilitated easier transfer of liquidities and equities. Hence  it took 3 days for a students tuition fees to get cleared vis bank transfer , NOW it takes about three - seven weeks.

soludo had a dream and progressive ideas to harmonise ECOWAS cash, he tried to loosely peg our naira to the $ to enable other ECOWAS to follow suit. he initiated it but was shouted down in his country while ghana acted on soludo's ideas, and now where is Ghana/ what is their inflation now (% reduction) compare to naija.

soludo encouraged the banks to diversify their portfolios, banks were getting into everyday lifes, owning cyber cafes, estates, building blocks of flats for lease and rents, even plans for refinerie, power station. our banks spread to liberia, seirre alone( nt sure of the spelling), mali, kenya, was spaning africa and the world indeed.

sanusi got in and cancelled every progressive expansive ideas, rather he doubled down on their licences threaten to make most regional banks.
regional banks ? who will now go to North East- least production and poorest. ?


sanusi has been there for 3-4 years now, what has been new abt him?
while during soludo, banks showcased new technologies and advancements almost every week. soludo simply fostered competition and growth.

tell me what has your man sanusi dione so far?

This is just a smear campaign that has no facts.

So the writer is more concerned about £25,000 school fees?
Or he doesn't know what is called mortgage? A mere £2.1 million?
It's a pity, I wonder how his investigation went with other politicians.


For the f.oolish poster, Soludo is an itinerant scholar and a consultant to 18 international institutions.
He is not just an ordinary UNN lecturer.

This is not a recent article - na wa o

awardeez:

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5388690-146/Chukwuma_Soludo_is_living_large_.csp

Three years ago the Central Bank governor, Chukwuma Soludo, installed his wife, Nonye, and their two children in a mansion bought for half a billion naira in the tony London suburb of Brondesbury Park.

One of their two children is enrolled at Ampleforth College, an elite parochial school known as “the Catholic Eton,” and where the Central Bank governor pays an annual fee of £25,000 for this privilege— roughly half his annual salary. The other child attends a similarly expensive public school— which in Britain actually means private school— so that in theory Mr. Soludo’s entire earnings of about N12 million a year hardly covers his children’s school fees.

Since he was appointed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to his current position five years ago, Mr. Soludo, who was a university lecturer before joining the Obasanjo administration, has demonstrated a taste for high living, travelling in convoys of as many as seven vehicles, impeccably and expensively dressed in bespoke suits and heirloom watches, and generally enjoying a lifestyle that cannot be afforded by anyone earning about N1 million a month.

The mansion occupied by his family in the exclusive London suburb is registered to Universal Energy Limited, an offshore company controlled by Emmanuel Ojei, the flamboyant tycoon with many business interests, including oil and gas.

It is not clear under what arrangement the Soludos live in this £2.1 million home; Mr. Soludo is not telling us. He has spent the past three weeks avoiding us and made promises to answer our questions that he has not kept, hoping that we will simply go away.

Theres nothing that will kill Nigerians than ignorance and self deceit. This same story has been making rounds since the last two years the man handed over power at CBN. When he was contesting elections last year, they was he was doing so to get immunity. He lost that election. More than one year after, a man looking for immunity will desperately cling to a government that definitely will either need his support or need him to keep quiet.  what has the man done? He has been one of the most vociferous voices against the same government that has all the powers to nail him.

And some people still have guts to spread this horrible smear campaign. Get some life guys. If indeed Soludo has done a quarter of things he has been serially accused of, then all of you that accuse him including the people in government should cover their heads in shame for not doing what is required of them. They have once again failed woefully.

Ikengawo:

anyone that says soludo is better then sanusi is ignorant.
when soludo was head of CBN it was a looters paradise,
nigerian banksing amounted to whatever bankers could steal before the took off to england.
one of my best frieds is a beneficiary to soludo era looting. Sanusi came in and his families looting ended instantly.

Sanusi has also won numerous international awards and revived the nigerian banking sector immediately during the recession when western nations couldn't even save theirs.

How come majority of the guys against the man Soludo are people that felt or still feel bankers were very successful during his era I remember that during the Soludo era, a lot of guys came back to Nigeria from their sojourn abroad to take up banking jobs. There was a fierce competition and people meeting their numbers were getting every now and then promotions. Many bankers had the opportunity to go abroad for their masters degrees just after two or three years of work. These were supposedly marks of success and someone like me had three banking offers within two months of graduation from NYSC in 2006. A year after my elder brother who has had two years in banking moved to london for his MBA.

The global financial crises changed all that. Companies and people that borrowed from banks were no longer able to pay and foreign companies whose finances have been hit were wont to withdraw their investments from the Nigerian financial market. The banks cum bankers began to struggle

Some people were so elated especially with the coming of Sanusi whose major aim at the time was to clip the wings of some bank
MDs which cascaded to bankers resuting in serial sacks and forced resignations. People like Ikengawo and others in his ilk will now celebrate because their banker friends or enemies who would hitherto have been calling shots are now either out of jobs or taken drastic pay reductions.

Whatever may be the case, history beckons and am sure a few years from now maybe after Sanusi has had his time at the CBN, pundits will begin to put matters relating the economy in their due perspectives.

This is for those who don't know Soludo and keep describing him as a mere UNN lecturer.

PART ONE: Here I Am, Send Me! My Background
I believe that God has a purpose and a plan for everyone. From my very humble beginnings, it is only through the grace of God that I could have earned a Distinction grade at the secondary school; a B.Sc (First Class Honours) (Economics); an M.Sc. and a Ph.D (Economics) winning Departmental, Faculty and University awards as best graduating student at the University of Nigeria. I had cumulative four years of post-doctoral training and research in some of the world’s best institutions including the Brookings Institution, Washington, DC; University of Oxford, UK; University of Warwick, UK; Cambridge University as Smuts scholar; UN Economic Commission for Africa; the IMF Research Department, etc. I am a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (FCIB); Fellow of the Nigerian Economic Society (FNES), and awarded Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) (Honoris Causa) from three Universities.

I was visiting Associate Professor at Swarthmore College, USA, and promoted Professor of Economics at the age of 38 (University of Nigeria, Nsukka). I lived and worked in Ethiopia, U.K., and the USA and travelled to 45 other countries before joining Government in 2003. As consultant to 18 international organizations (including the World Bank, IMF, OECD Paris, European Union, African Union, USAID, UK-DFID, ADB, IBM Consulting, USA; IDRC Canada; Chemonics International, USA;  United Nations, UNIDO, ECOWAS, COMESA, CODESRIA, UNCTAD; AERC Nairobi) I garnered wide ranging experiences and knowledge. I was also the founding Executive Director of the African Institute for Applied Economics, Enugu. I have to my credit over 80 scholarly publications, 15 books, and over 250 monographs, conference papers and public lectures.

At the Federal Government (2003 – 2009), I held five substantive positions: Chief Economic Adviser to the President; Deputy Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Planning Commission (of ministerial rank by law); Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; Chairman, Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPM), Plc; Founder and Chairman, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), as well as membership of more than 25 technical/policy committees. These assignments saw us draft the Government’s reform agenda (National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy, NEEDS); massively restructured nonperforming government institutions; rebuilt the CBN and NSPM; revolutionalized the Nigerian banking/financial system; set up a new international financial institution, AFC, and helped to steer the Nigerian economy away from the global financial crisis. For these accomplishments, I have been decorated with scores of awards, including being awarded the African and Global Central Bank Governor of the year, 2006 by the Banker (Financial Times) and the Financial Times of London has described me as “a great reformer”. The Federal Government has conferred the third highest national honour (Commander of the Federal Republic, CFR) on me in 2006--- in recognition of accomplished performance.

Recently, I have served as a member of the United Nations Commission of Experts on the Global Economic and Financial Crisis. Also, I have served as a member of the International Advisory Group for the UK- DFID, and still member of the 7- man Chief Economist Advisory Council of the World Bank.  Immediately after completing my tenure of office as Governor of the Central Bank, I have accepted three international offers.

I served the Federal Government of Nigeria under two Presidents and below are excerpts of what each had to say about my services to Nigeria:

“Charles Soludo is a true Nigerian. He is the sort of Nigerian that we all know we can rely on. Among his numerous virtues is COURAGE. I have found in him a man who can take tough and realistic decisions, stand his ground, educate others on the salience of his decision, and work very hard to ensure that the decision is efficiently and effectively implemented. His dedication to duty is first rate. His leadership qualities are admirable and his willingness to listen and learn is simply infectious.
Professor Soludo has within a short time emerged as one of the leading lights of our nation. Not because he has a godfather but by sheer hard work, loyalty, dedication to duty, commitment to the nation, creativity, and undiluted association with the reform agenda, ”. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR (December, 2004)

President Yar’Adua had the following the say about the CBN under my leadership:

“… the CBN has performed creditably well in delivering on its core mandates. This is especially even more so in the last five years. Most people would agree that without the successful banking consolidation and effective management of our foreign reserves, the current global crisis would have shaken the financial system and our national economy to their foundations with calamitous consequences”; President Yar’Adua (May 2009).

In the President’s letter of commendation after completion of my tenure of office, the President had the following to say:

“As your tenure as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria comes to a glorious end, I write on behalf of the Government and people of Nigeria to place on record our debt of gratitude to you for your dedicated service and uncommon sense of duty over the past five years. I am confident that your worthy antecedents in the CBN and in prior appointments in the service of our nation remain sources of inspiration to an entire generation. As I wish you even more astounding successes in the years ahead, it is my fervent hope that you will readily avail us of your distinguished service when the need arises in the future” (June 2009).

Ikengawo:

anyone that says soludo is better then sanusi is ignorant.
when soludo was head of CBN it was a looters paradise,
nigerian banksing amounted to whatever bankers could steal before the took off to england.
one of my best frieds is a beneficiary to soludo era looting. Sanusi came in and his families looting ended instantly.

Sanusi has also won numerous international awards and revived the nigerian banking sector immediately during the recession when western nations couldn't even save theirs.

Olodo is your second name, U said sanusi came to end looting, what of saraki's 7bn bad loan waived at Intercontinental bank, is that one not looting?

Ikengawo:

anyone that says soludo is better then sanusi is ignorant.
when soludo was head of CBN it was a looters paradise,
nigerian banksing amounted to whatever bankers could steal before the took off to england.
one of my best frieds is a beneficiary to soludo era looting. Sanusi came in and his families looting ended instantly.

Sanusi has also won numerous international awards and revived the nigerian banking sector immediately during the recession when western nations couldn't even save theirs.

What are you saying, pls if you dont know anything just keep shut
How can you say sanusi is better than soludo. .i need to leave u to drown in your ignorance, cos i cant start with you today