[size=18pt]WikiLeaks: “Yar'adua Had No Cabinet, Knew Soludo Was Corrupt Yet Supported Him For Anambra Gubernatorial Elections", Says CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi [/size]




Sanusi Lamido Sanusi


The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Sanusi Lamido, believed that Nigeria’s late ruler, Umaru Yar'Adua did not have a cabinet but [b]"just a bunch of politicians trying to survive politically without any commitment to government," [/b] a Wikileaks cable reveals.

In a conversation with American Ambassador Robin Sanders in November 2009, Mr. Lamido expressed grave reservations about Yar’Adua’s survivalists, among whom he named the Foreign Minister, Ojo Maduekwe. 

The CBN governor doubted the capability of several ministers, especially the Minister of Power Rilwan (Lanre) Babalola and the Minister of Finance, Mansur Muhtar, to make the right decisions in their sectors. 

Lamido was even more concerned, according to the leaked cable, about the ability of President Yar’Adua and Foreign Minister Maduekwe to demonstrate "strong and consistent signals to the international community of where Nigeria is headed on both good governance and reform."

Despite those reservations, Mr. Sanusi gave Yar'Adua high marks for the support Yar’Adua gave him during the bank audits and sector reform the CBN governor had undertaken.  He told Ambassador Sanders, "What [Yar’Adua] did during this very tough period showed that he is willing when he can withstand the pressure of the politics." 

Sanusi was referring to the fact that Yar'Adua stood against forces in his family that included both his mother and his brother, both of whom put pressure on him to "drop Bank PHB," from the audit and name-and-shame lists.

With reference to Minister of Power Babalola, the CBN governor was of the view that not only was he out of his depth regarding what needed to be done in the power sector, but also that he was reluctant to listen to advice. 

Mr. Sanusi was less critical of Finance Minister Muhtar, his former secondary school classmate, whom he described as a “good technocrat” but was concerned Muhtar was feeling overwhelmed by the size and the problems in his Ministry; was not making sound financial decisions; and could not stand up to the politics around him.

Asked by the Ambassador about the integrity of the Finance Minister Sanusi said Muhtar was "not corrupt but weak."

With reference to the politics, Lamido said that Muhtar was “heavily, and unfortunately influenced, of late, by Presidential Chief Economic Advisor Tanimu Yakubu and Agricultural Minister Abba Ruma.”

Sanusi told the Ambassador that the influence by these two would be okay if they had the ountry's best interests at heart, rather than their personal interests.   He described Tanimu Yakubu, Yar’Adua’s Chief Economic Advisor as "very corrupt but also a terrible economist."

The CBN boss also said that of Abba Ruma that although he was close to President Yar'Adua, the Agricultural Minister was also involved in corruption and did not want to see transparency in financial practices. 

"Right now the President is not receiving frank advice on the economy from the people who are supposed to have the responsibility of giving it to him, and at the heart of this is simply corruption," Sanusi said.

The CBN governor noted that the President was shocked when he briefed at a recent NEC that nearly 70 percent of the Ministers had yet to spend their budgets given that the fourth quarter ended in December 2009, the report also said.  “He underscored that the fourth quarter ended in December 2009 [and that] 550 billion naira ($3.7 billion) from this year's budget was still sitting in ministries’ accounts, with the two worst ministries being Works and Housing, as well as Power, which had not yet spent nearly 80 per cent of their budgets.”

With reference to the pressure that had been brought on Yar’Adua to drop Bank PHB from the CBN audit and name-and-shame lists, Sanusis noted that  TanimuYakubu had also been part of it.  He informed the ambassador that prior to his visit to the presidential Villa to discuss the issue with Yar'Adua he told his staff that if the President asked him to drop Bank PHB, he would resign on the spot. 

Remarkably, that was not necessary, as Yar’Adua “pushed back on both Yakubu and Ruma saying that Sanusi's efforts to clean up the banking sector was helping to give the country a good name.”

[size=18pt]A key item of interest between both Yar’Adua and Sanusi seemed to have been Sanusi’s predecessor at the CBN, Charles Soludo, who left the bank to run for the office of Governor of Anambra State.  Sanusi said that in his last private meeting with the President on the banks in late October [2009], he showed him a number of bad loans as well as the outstanding liquidity support to Oceanic Bank of over 120 billion Naira and Intercontinental for over 100 billion naira, underscoring to him that there was no way that Soludo would have been unaware that those and many other banks were in trouble. He claimed that he asked the President for more time because he was certain more corruption was involved in not only how these loans were doled out but to whom and by whose authority, implying complicity on behalf of Soludo.  [/size]
According to Ambassador Sanders, “Sanusi stressed that he was not pointing fingers or out to get anyone, but that he simply wanted the President to be aware that there was probably more to come, and that there could be implications regarding the role Soludo had in these loans and other banking malpractices.”   

Sanusi claimed that he wanted Yar’Adua to be aware of those issues given his direct support for Soludo in the 2010 gubernatorial elections in Anambra State, which if Soludo won, would confer immunity on him while on seat as governor. 



SEE FULL CABLE BELOW:
Created          Released         Classification Origin

09ABUJA2063           2009-11-16 19:53   2011-08-30 01:44   SECRET          Embassy Abuja



VZCZCXYZ0000

RR RUEHWEB



DE RUEHUJA #2063/01 3201953

ZNY SSSSS ZZH

R 161953Z NOV 09

FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7482

INFO RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 2291



S E C R E T ABUJA 002063



SENSITIVE

SIPDIS



STATE FOR S/CIEA FOR MICHAEL SULLIVAN, EEB/ESC FOR DAVID

HENRY, AF/EPS FOR ELLIOT REPCO

TREASURY FOR TONY IERONIMO AND ADAM BARCAN, OFFICE OF

AFRICAN NATIONS



E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2019

TAGS: PGOV ECON EFIN ENRG EAGR NI

SUBJECT: CBN GOVERNOR WORRIES ABOUT NIGERIA'S ENERGY AND

POLITICAL DIRECTION; OPTIMISTIC ON ECONOMIC FRONT



REF: A. LAGOS 426

     ¶B. LAGOS 405



Classified By: Ambassador Robin R. Sanders for Reasons

in Sections 1.4 (b) and (d).



-------

SUMMARY

-------



¶1.  (S) Central Bank of Nigeria Governor (CBNG) Sanusi Lamido

Sanusi asked for a private, one-on-one meeting with the

Ambassador on November 13 at the residence.  The CBNG noted

his worries about the capability of several ministers, most

particularly the Ministers of Power and Finance to make the

right decisions in their sectors, but more importantly about

the ability of the President and the Foreign Minister to

demonstrate "strong and consistent signals to the

international community of where Nigeria is headed on both

good governance and reform."  Sanusi also said that Petroleum

Minister Lukman's star was diminishing on being in the lead

on the Petroleum Industry Bill, and that Nigeria National

Petroleum Company (NNPC) chief Mohammed Barkindo was more

reasonable in listening to suggestions. Sanusi was frank in

expressing his views on banking reform as he has done in many

other public forums recently, noting that he is still

targeting a year-end GDP growth rate of over six per cent,

with inflation at around 10 (see reftels).  He also hoped

that Yar'Adua would do the right thing on the Anambra

gubernatorial election, despite his strong "personal desire"

to run in 2011.  END SUMMARY.



¶2.  (S) During the annual Chartered Institute of Banker's

event on November 6, the Governor of Nigeria's Central Bank

(CBNG), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, requested a private meeting

with the Ambassador on  November  13 to discuss a range of

issues he had on his mind.  Although he discussed economic

issues, his principal focus was to provide an insider's view

of some of the challenges he sees for Nigeria on big issues

such as energy, governance, and reform.  He shared with the

Ambassador comments about his last one-on-one meeting with

President Yar'Adua in October, the outcomes of the November

10 National Economic Council (NEC) session, and his views on

a number of key ministers - all underscoring his worries

about the direction of his country.



--------------------------------------------- --------

THE MINISTERS HE DOUBTS: POWER FINANCE, AND PETROLEUM

--------------------------------------------- --------



¶3.  (S) Sanusi stated his concerns about the capacity of a

few ministers and repeated several times during the lunch

that Nigerian President Yar'Adua "did not have capable

ministers in many key sectors, thus de facto leaving him

without a cabinet focused on the business of government."  He

highlighted that the Minister of Power Rilwan (Lanre)

Babalola, and Finance Minister Mansur Muhtar as the two

technocrats he worried about the most.  He was scathing on

Babalola stating that he "was out of his depth on the

magnitude of what needs to be done in the power sector, but

more importantly was reluctant to listen to advice." The CBNG

said he has asked to see the Power Minister to discuss and

recommend that some changes be made in the approach on power.

He added that he was planning to do this strictly with the

view that the energy sector is critical to further economic

growth and investment, and both these issues were important

to the economic well-being of Nigeria which is the business

of the CBN.  He added that Babalola's view on power

generation and distribution did not match up, and there were

Qgeneration and distribution did not match up, and there were

simple things that could be done to address these issues.

(N.B.: Energy International Coordinator Goldwyn met with

Babalola on November 10. Babalola was equally resistant to

listening to any suggestions on the power sector; see

septel).   Sanusi said he planned to meet with the Power

Minister, as well as President Yar'Adua, in December after he

holds a retreat with all the banking sector Managing

Directors (MDs) December 10-12, most likely in Calabar, soon

after many people return from the Hajj.



¶4.  (S) The December 10-12 retreat with the bank MDs, Sanusi

noted, would be a frank discussion about the economy and how

the banking sector fits in.  In his mind, Nigeria needs a

"kind of Marshall Plan for the future of the banking industry

and how it should help and fit into the country's economy."

The CBNG stated that Nigerian Banks are willing to lend, but

they need to change some of their bad practices to restore



confidence in the sector.   He wants to have this retreat so

that he can provide President Yar'Adua with the best advice

possible from the industry. "Right now the President is not

receiving frank advice on the economy from the people who are

supposed to have the responsibility of giving it to him, and

at the heart of this is simply corruption," he said.



¶5.  (S) Moving on to Finance Minister Mansur Muhtar, Sanusi

was a little more forgiving of his Kano classmate from high

schools days at Kaduna's Kings College.  He said that Muhtar

was a good technocrat and had good experience coming from

past ADB and World Bank experiences. However, he was worried

that the Finance Minister was feeling overwhelmed given the

size and the problems in his Ministry; that he was not making

sound financial decisions; that he could not stand up to the

politics around him; and that he was heavily, and

unfortunately influenced, of late, by Presidential Chief

Economic Advisor Tanimu Yakubu and Agricultural Minister Abba

Ruma. Sanusi added that the influence by these two would be

okay if they had the country's best interests at heart,

rather than their personal interests.   On Yakubu, he said

that the Chief Economic Advisor was not only "very corrupt,

but also a terrible economist" (this is not the first time we

have heard this comment), and that although Ruma was close to

President Yar'Adua, the Agricultural Minister was also

involved in corruption and did not want to see transparency

in financial practices.  The Ambassador then asked, if by

association, was the Finance Minister also corrupt as we had

not heard anything negative about him in that regard.  Sanusi

said no; Muhtar is "not corrupt but weak."  Yakubu and Ruma

do not know anything about good financial models or

practices, and are telling him what to do, instead of Muhtar

giving the President the best advice, Sanusi said.



¶6.  (S) Using the example of the country's last National

Economic Council (NEC) meeting on November 10 to highlight

his point on Muhtar and bring in his points on Petroleum

Minister Lukman, Sanusi said the last NEC meeting did not go

well. In the CBNG's view, first and foremost, the Petroleum

Industry Bill (PIB) needs to be "in the hands of the Minister

of Finance, not be driven by the Petroleum Minister, because

of the tax and fiscal issues and implications."  There are

unsound economics in the PIB and Muhtar needs to step up and

tell the President that this is the case.  He said that

Yar'Adua asked him his views on PIB at the last NEC.  He said

his only main comment was that the PIB as it currently stands






would reduce return on investment (ROI), and Nigeria can ill

afford to have oil investment go elsewhere, noting that other

countries that are finding oil, such as Sierra Leone and

Ghana, could provide alternative locations for investment. He

also added that NNPC cannot be both "judge and jury -- they

are either going to be a private company or not be one."  The

PIB allows NNPC to primarily just duplicate itself.  Sanusi

said his comments have nothing to do with the international

oil companies (IOCs) but his views were just about sound

economics.   The CBNG added that the President was shocked

when he briefed at the NEC that nearly 70 percent of the

Ministers had yet to spend their budgets given that the

fourth quarter ended in December 2009.  He underscored that

Qfourth quarter ended in December 2009.  He underscored that

550 billion naira ($3.7 billion) from this year's budget was

still sitting in ministries, accounts, with the two worst

ministries being Works and Housing, as well as Power, which

had not yet spent nearly 80 per cent of their budgets.



-------------------------

THE TWO SIDES OF YAR'ADUA

-------------------------



¶7.  (S) Ambassador took the opportunity of Sanusi's frankness

and her previous two-year friendship with him stemming from

his time at First Bank, to ask about President Yar'Adua and

how committed the CBNG thought he was to reform. She added

that the USG gets mixed signals as the President always says

the right things, demonstrates he has command of the issues

in meetings with interlocutors, but afterwards we hardly see

any action or forward movement on anything, particularly

election reform, corruption, and good governance.  Sanusi

began with restating that Yar'Adua does not have a cabinet,

"just a bunch of politicians trying to survive politically

without any commitment to government," citing the Foreign

Minister in this group. He added that after his December

10-12 retreat with the bank MDs that he will ask Yar'Adua for

a meeting to go over some of the issues on the banking sector

and economy.  However, he also wants to talk to him further

about what he sees as the "mixed and inconsistent signals

that the country is sending to the international community on



reform."   Sanusi did give Yar'Adua high marks on supporting

him during the recent bank audits and sector reform.  "What

he did during this very tough period showed that he is

willing when he can withstand the pressure of the politics,"

Sanusi said.  In this case, Yar'Adua stood against forces in

his family from his mother to his brother both of whom put

pressure on him to "drop Bank PHB," from the audit and

name-and-shame lists.  (N.B.: The Yar'Adua family had

considerable interest in Bank PHB, and at one time President

Yar'Adua served on the board prior to becoming President).

Chief Economic Advisor Yakubu had also pressured the

President to drop Bank PHB from the list.  Sanusi said that

just prior to going to the Villa to discuss the issue with

Yar'Adua he told his staff that if the President asked him to

drop Bank PHB, he would resign on the spot.  The CBNG said

that this did not happen; the President pushed back on both

Yakubu and Ruma saying that Sanusi's efforts to clean up the

banking sector was helping to give the country a good name.

The CBNG added that most of Bank PHB's bad loans were to

insiders like Yakubu and Ruma, and many others.



¶8.  (S) Turning back to politics, Sanusi said that we should

not make any mistake in underestimating that Yar'Adua

"personally" wants to run for a second term and that this is

driving him to do several things to have the international

community believe in him more. Given that most of his first

term was clouded by the pending Supreme Court decision,

Yar'Adua really wants an unencumbered second term.  Thus, he

is not being pushed to run in 2011, he wants this very badly,

Sanusi said.  The CBNG added that in his last private meeting

with the President on the banks in late October, he showed

him a number of bad loans as well as the outstanding

liquidity support to Oceanic Bank of over 120 billion naira

and Intercontinental for over 100 billion naira, underscoring

to him that there is no way that previous CBN Governor Soludo

was unaware that these and many other banks were in trouble.

He claimed that he asked the President for more time because

he was certain more corruption was involved in not only how

these loans were doled out but to whom and by whose

authority, implying complicity on behalf of Soludo.  Sanusi

stressed that he was not pointing fingers or out to get

anyone, but that he simply wanted the President to be aware

that there was probably more to come, and that there could be

implications regarding the role Soludo had in these loans and

other banking malpractices.   The CBNG claimed that he wanted

the President to be aware of these issues given his direct

support for Soludo in the 2010 gubernatorial elections in

Anambra State, which if Soludo won, would confer immunity on

him while on seat as governor.  Sanusi said this was what he

meant by "mixed and inconsistent signals" by the President -

on one hand he is bending over backwards to support the

CBNG's banking reforms, but on the other hand he has been

told of Soludo's corruption, but is still supporting him in

Anambra.



¶9.  (SBU) Wrapping up the discussion, the Ambassador asked a

few banking and economic facts before the CBNG had to depart

for the Mosque. On the asset management company (AMC) that he

is proposing to establish would take on the toxic assets from

the troubled banks.  His vision is to have legislation which

Qthe troubled banks.  His vision is to have legislation which

creates the AMC which is then owned by the CBN and the

Ministry of Finance.  He said the AMC would issue bond

guarantees covered by the CBN and the Ministry of Finance.

Approximately 350 billion naira ($2.3 billion) is needed to

cover the toxic assets that are backed by shares based on

their value today as opposed to what they were previously

worth.   The CBN would buy the toxic assets at 5-10 percent

of July 2009 prices, which would give the banks some

additional capital. He said the AMC would expect to recoup

its costs over a seven-year period.   Sanusi said despite the

naysayers out there, he still anticipates an end-of-year

growth rate of over six percent, with an inflation rate

between 9-10 per cent, primarily because of a good harvest.

He admitted that petroleum prices might throw this off by

December, but right now the 9-10 percent inflation rate is on

track for the end of the year.  He added that most of the

country's growth has been in the agricultural sector, not by

design, but just luck.  The agricultural sector still has

problems getting credit from banks, and there is a need for

more investment, particularly by the private sector, in such

things like mechanized farming, irrigation, and  money for

SMEs.   On the budget, the CBNG said the bank is sitting on a

30 billion naira ($200 million) surplus of unspent funds

related to the 2009 budget keeping the budget deficit at less

than three percent of GDP.



¶10. (SBU) In closing, Sanusi said one other action that he

stopped that did not get much notice is a change in policy

governing the foreign exchange bureaus. Soludo had put in

place a two-tier system for the exchange bureaus (Class A and

B bureaus), which Sanusi removed.  This has helped reduced

the pressure on the naira and the naira-to-dollar exchange

rate on the black market.  Before this recent policy change,

there was roughly a 40 naira difference on the dollar between

the official and black market rates.  That difference is now

less than one percent.



¶11.  (SBU) Ambassador also took the time to brief Sanusi on

the proposed Binational Commission (BNC) that the Secretary

announced in August 2009, highlighting that the USG was still

in discussions with the GON on what all the themes for the

BNC would be, but things were on track to get this moving as

soon as possible.



-------

COMMENT

-------



¶12. (S) Sanusi of late has had a number of public speaking

engagements covering many of the economic and banking issues

noted above.  What is interesting about this conversation is

his inside-baseball-take on a few of the key ministers and

the President himself, particularly on the President's

personal desire to run in 2011.  It will be interesting to

see if Yar'Adua takes any of the CBN Governor's advice on the

politics, particularly the contradictory signals on wanting

transparency in the banking sector on one hand, but also

knowing that it is possible that former Central Bank Governor

Soludo, who the President is backing as the PDP's candidate

for Anambra State Governor, may be complicit in the banking

corruption scandals.  Sanusi has always been known for not

biting his tongue, and was respected in the banking sector

for being an honest broker, conservative, and a good

economist.   Thus far, he has survived the politics, and

Yar'Adua has backed his tough stance on banking reform

against his close Katsina allies, Yakubu, Ruma, and others.

We need to continue to do as much as possible to support

these banking reforms and other transparency efforts not only

because this is the right thing to do, but because it will

demonstrate to the Yakubus and Rumas around Yar'Adua that we

are watching what happens and judging their actions to either

support or block reform efforts on all fronts, from banking

to elections.


SANDERS

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/wikileaks-%E2%80%9Cyaradua-had-no-cabinet-knew-soludo-was-corrupt-yet-supported-him-anambra-gubern

So Soludo is a thief?

Well, I wont be surprised if Iweala is found to be just as corrupt after her time.


And Ibos wouldnt allow us rest on Soludo; he is this, that and best of whatever. Now air don blow, we don see the nyash of fowl

Like Madueke, like Okadigbo, like Ekwueme and all Ibos, including generations unborn, Soludo is a thief.

I just knew it. SMH.

Interesting.

Hmm, I like Soludo, strongly dislike Sanusi.

I wonder how much value we should place on Sanusi's words. (not saying that they should be discarded, just not sure of the value.)

After reading the whole nonsense, all I saw was Sanusi insinuating that Soludo was guilty because "there's no way, he couldn't have known about the excess loans in Oceanic and Intercontinental bank" For the lawyers in the house, does a a supossition of ignorance amount to guilt? The court cases for these companies have been going on for years now, yet no evidence has surfaced to show that Cecelia Ibru somehow gave any money to Soludo or his agents.
I have waited for Sanusi's 'smoking gun' about Soludo's corruption for years, none has been presented, yet Sanusi continues to spread baseless rumor against his predecessor.
I wish Soludo would somehow drag Sanusi to court once and for all.

if sanusi were some other tribe, there would be no patriot or traitor question

it is clear the man is a straight up hero, and the cable confirms it .

I see absolutely nothing wrong in calling for caution in supporting a candidate that could turn out to have badly soiled his fingers. Soludo always gave the impression that all banks in the country were solid thanks to his recapitalization exercise while he was secretly granting them huge loans, so what is wrong in calling for caution in endorsing such a candidate at least until investigations were concluded? Nothing IMO. Sanusi is a brave man and should be commended, he didnt mince words in calling Yakubu corrupt and Babalola weak and i'm sure if he had enough ammo to call Soludo corrupt, he would have done so without hesitation.

woetooam4j:

WikiLeaks: “Yar'adua Had No Cabinet, Knew Soludo Was Corrupt Yet Supported Him For Anambra Gubernatorial Elections", Says CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi




Sanusi Lamido Sanusi


With reference to the pressure that had been brought on Yar’Adua to drop Bank PHB from the CBN audit and name-and-shame lists, Sanusis noted that  TanimuYakubu had also been part of it.  [size=20pt]He informed the ambassador that prior to his visit to the presidential Villa to discuss the issue with Yar'Adua he told his staff that if the President asked him to drop Bank PHB, he would resign on the spot.[/size]

Remarkably, that was not necessary, as Yar’Adua “pushed back on both Yakubu and Ruma saying that Sanusi's efforts to clean up the banking sector was helping to give the country a good name.”

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/wikileaks-%E2%80%9Cyaradua-had-no-cabinet-knew-soludo-was-corrupt-yet-supported-him-anambra-gubern

The high-lighted is very rare to see in today's Nigerian public office holders. Tell the truth to Mr. president and be prepared to resign if told to do the wrong thing. ANOTHER BIG KUDOS TO SLS.

As for soludo, I'm not surprised at all. He was one of those that made us to believe that the stock exchange was immune to the global melt-down at that time even though it was obvious that things were crashing badly.

@OP
Why the question: Patroit Or Traitor? Is it not obvious he a Patriot?

Highly distasteful , however pertinent their grouse, that Nigerian Senior Government officials have made the USA an agony Aunt. It would be nice for once , to read diplomatic and vague responses , giving nothing away, to Sanders instead of injurious wholesale confessions to ,effectively, a very devious and manipulative Nation that thrives on knowing everyone's secret in its effort to stay ahead. Pathetic !!! As if our leaders don't have enough lessons in history to know what the USA is about in Africa. Imaging giving a confession to the devil? What repentance do you gain doing that?

Gbawe:

Highly distasteful , however pertinent their grouse, that Nigerian Senior Government officials have made the USA an agony Aunt. It would be nice for once , to read diplomatic and vague responses , giving nothing away, to Sanders instead of injurious wholesale confessions to ,effectively, a very devious and manipulative Nation that thrives on knowing everyone's secret in its effort to stay ahead. Pathetic !!! As if our leaders don't have enough lessons in history to know what the USA is about in Africa. Imaging giving a confession to the devil? What repentance do you gain doing that?

Man mi lonegst time , i am back to base now and u should hear from me.

To the topic, I could not agree less with the revelation that virtually all Senior govt officials and even the COAS , CJN, Executives have private meetings with the US amabassador. If it was not realism i would have called it hypnotism dut to the widespread revealations.  The US ambassador in Nigeria seems like the senior spy official and feeding back information to the department of state , where they now fashion out policies.

I do admire SLS a great deal and the contnent of his discussion is nothing but facts and sincrere truth but the benefit of speaking to the US ambassador about these issues is what i dont get.

The FBI has taken over local investiogion, the KGB and israelis are now protecting the president and ASO villa. Where is the pride of the Nigerian nation. WE have no secret again and no national security, GEJ the dumbest and weakest president Nigeria has ever had has virtually sold us out to powers abroad due to his inexperience and lack of depth in international politics and manouverings.

This is what a nation gets when the look at every issues from a sentimental mindset of tribe, religion and other fiticious things.

They all spill the beans to the US ambassador because they believe her words carry weight with our Presidents and with that of US President, one can see from these wikileaks those who were ready to stand up for the right things.
Sanusi is my man anyday anytime, Soludo was aware of the mess going on but was too indebted to the bank chiefs to do anything about it.

Sanusi's friend Mukhtar would not be happy with these revelations.

Once again, the cable confirms that SLS is an upstanding leader, however, as Gbawe pointed out, Nigerian officials should not be spilling the beans to Yankee Ambassadors. Too much enmity between Naija officials so I guess things fall apart when the centre cannot hold.

Sanusi might have told Mukhtar the same thing in person, the guy is just that blunt. They should continue spilling the beans and Wikileaks should continue leaking jare, how do we know those who are stealing us blind.

@Gbawe,
While I total share your discontent with the way and manner our senior public officials give out very sensitive information about Nigeria to the US government through her Ambassador, you would agree with me that it is largely due to the fact that ALL our leaders to date are sectional leaders who can not be trusted with thier actions when confronted with contrary views!

Again,I hope the Nigerian government will see these revelations as a wake up call to do the right thing rather than using state security apparatus to hunt those named in these cables.

Maybe it should become more apparent to GEJ that kissing the feet of the US at any request is equal to digging your own grave!

I wonder what the fuss is all about. it is not as if Wikileaks will cause the common-man to get off his butt and demand good governance. It is just more juice for gossips we are already consuming. We just love hot gists/scandals on other people. Nigerians wake up!!

Lagosboy:

Man mi lonegst time , i am back to base now and u should hear from me.

To the topic, I could not agree less with the revelation that virtually all Senior govt officials and even the COAS , CJN, Executives have private meetings with the US amabassador. If it was not realism i would have called it hypnotism dut to the widespread revealations.  The US ambassador in Nigeria seems like the senior spy official and feeding back information to the department of state , where they now fashion out policies.

I do admire SLS a great deal and the contnent of his discussion is nothing but facts and sincrere truth but the benefit of speaking to the US ambassador about these issues is what i dont get.

The FBI has taken over local investiogion, the KGB and israelis are now protecting the president and ASO villa. Where is the pride of the Nigerian nation. WE have no secret again and no national security, GEJ the dumbest and weakest president Nigeria has ever had has virtually sold us out to powers abroad due to his inexperience and lack of depth in international politics and manouverings.

This is what a nation gets when the look at every issues from a sentimental mindset of tribe, religion and other fiticious things.

Man mi , how far? will look out for your email. Hardly checked that account in weeks as I use another main one. Will send you that one. Good to see you are back .

@topic. like you, I admire Sanusi a lot also. In fact, I fervently believe we need more leaders like him and less of those who seek power for the sake of it . To be honest, he reminds me , positively, of those who are aware of their own self-worth. That is not common amongst Nigerian leaders who are mainly given to kissing b.u.tt to gain favours or move up the ladder. Nonetheless , it is embarrassing our Senior Government officials , including Sanusi, do not wish to be circumspect in speech to a Nation with a streak of manipulative deceit in its natural make up. The USA revels in one-upmanship - sometimes to the wicked detriment of others. Who , for example, knows where Ghana would be today if the USA had not decided that Nkrumah must go ?

I would like to think Sanusi , as usual, is being brutally honest because he is convinced that this is the best way to be. Ordinarily I would agree that Sanusi's 'honesty is the best policy' approach is laudable but the USA is a different kettle of fish and Sanusi is no doubt intelligent enough to know that the USA is not a benevolent Priest. Nonetheless , I can concede that the likes of Sanusi must deal with extreme frustration at having to impotently witness mediocre administrators running Nigeria into the ground with the tacit endorsement of the highest authority in the land .

Omo_Tier1:

@Gbawe,
While I total share your discontent with the way and manner our senior public officials give out very sensitive information about Nigeria to the US government through her Ambassador, you would agree with me that it is largely due to the fact that ALL our leaders to date are sectional leaders who can not be trusted with thier actions when confronted with contrary views!

Again,I hope the Nigerian government will see these revelations as a wake up call to do the right thing rather than using state security apparatus to hunt those named in these cables.

Maybe it should become more apparent to GEJ that kissing the feet of the US at any request is equal to digging your own grave!

I agree . Indeed you make a very important observation. Nations run with sectional interest , at the core of everything, will always give rise to what we are seeing now . I.e the extreme distrust that leads to the desire for frustrated senior Government officials to purge opinions to a 'neutral' third Party. Sadly, I don't see the USA as benevolent and I don't understand why so many of our senior administrators , very erudite and exposed like Sanusi, can think they are not doing our cause more harm by exposing our secrets to the USA.

I guess I wasnt clear enough.

Why is Sanusi running to the US Ambassador to open this can of worms.

This seems like espinionage to me, albeit a voluntary one, and the US didnt have to pay or work hard for it.

Right there is a mole, who sees nothing wrong in washing our dirty linens in the public; no wonder the US has no respect for us.


@OYB: remember he is talking to the US Ambassador, not to the SS, the EFCC, the ICPC or some other local security outfit, And he is revealing national secrets here.

I guess the other question is that how much of something like this is still going on?
Is Jonathan still revealing secrets to the US Ambassador? When was the last time Sanusi ran to divulge national secrets to the US Ambassador, and our Senators and represensentatives?

And when these guys run to the US Ambassadors, who do they think they were talking to? USG or just some pal who happens to be working for the US State department.


I am gutted by all these revelations. Our so called leaders have no respect for us, for themselves, and for the country they were supposed to serve. Clearly, clearly, the labour of our heroes past seem to have been in vain.

They all should resign in shame. I am ashamed of them all. And we all should and it is time we demanded answers from them.

woetooam4j:

I guess the other question is that how much of something like this is still going on?
Is Jonathan still revealing secrets to the US Ambassador? When was the last time Sanusi ran to divulge national secrets to the US Ambassador, and our Senators and represensentatives?

And when these guys run to the US Ambassadors, who do they think they were talking to? USG or just some pal who happens to be working for the US State department.


I am gutted by all these revelations. Our so called leaders have no respect for us, for themselves, and for the country they were supposed to serve. Clearly, clearly, the labour of our heroes past seem to have been in vain.

They all should resign in shame. I am ashamed of them all. And we all should and it is time we demanded answers from them.

Indeed. America , in reality and despite diplomatic utterances, has never enduringly respected the sovereignty of any Nation or International organisation/agreement . They even showed outright disdain for the UN by sanctioning Kofi Annan office to be bugged because , as a black man , they thought he would side with Saddam Hussein during the "weapons of mass destruction" propaganda. Nothing could be allowed , not even facts showing Iraq did not have a valid weapons program, to stand in the way of America prosecuting , by hook or by crook, a War they needed for selfish reasons. !!!!

History is replete with examples of how America lacks respect for the choices and opinions of other users of the planet. Totally wrong for Nigerian senior Government officials to unburden themselves to such a Nation. Sure we need America but going to 'report' ourselves to them speaks volume of how Nigeria is a joke as currently convened .

They all ran to the US ambassador. In actual fact, Sanusi here showed more self respect, and was more restrained than many of the other wikileakers and bewitched Nigerian fools I've read so far on these cables. Let's not forget that our own President called himself "unqualified" before the US ambassador in these same cables.

Gbawe said

To be honest, he reminds me , positively, of those who are aware of their own self-worth. That is not common amongst Nigerian leaders who are mainly given to kissing b.u.tt to gain favours or move up the ladder. Nonetheless , it is embarrassing our Senior Government officials , including Sanusi, do not wish to be circumspect in speech to a Nation with a streak of manipulative deceit in its natural make up. The USA

This is the take away point for me. We have leaders who are willing to cough out deep opinions, sing like canaries and confess like a petrified accused standing before the Spanish inquisition, but they will never speak the same way to Nigerian newspapers, or accord the Nigerian people the same consideration, even when they are out of office. They mostly talk when they are senile and about to die.

Sanusi displayed rare character. Although i'm suspicious of the man's fundamental motives, I still see him as a brave technocrat with self-pride and the sense to stand for what he believes in.

If more Nigerian politicians and public officials can embrace that kind of ideology or character, strive to delay gratification and avoid placing the ideology of self enrichment over societal progress, then we might just succeed as a great nation.

And yes we really need to get with the program on world geo-politics and elect more concious leaders. All these lickers of foreign Bottom we elect will always sell us out. I can imagine what they tell corrupt and brutally manipulative foreign company officials like Shell, Mobil, Chevron and co, especially after receiving bribes and gifts from them.

I seriously can't imagine Castro, Lula, Chavez or Chinese officials singing like bewitched fools before foreigners like these unconscious Nigerians do.

We need leaders with stronger ideological pride in their africanness/Nigeranness and less disdain for their own people.

If you have ever been with an oyinbo or westerner in the same place in Nigeria before: Airports, Restaurants, Hotels, Government offices, e.t.c you will know what I'm driving at ---> there is a fundamentally flawed Nigerian mentality that automatically forces us to treat and respect westerners or foreigners waaaay better than our Own people. we actually treat each other with more disdain when foreigners are around.

Nigeria and much of Africa is very unique in this foreign Bottom licking attitude, we really need to snap out of it, if we want to progress.

Patriot or Traitor? a good question.
How come Am Robin Sanders have the clout to debrief all those in corridor of power in Nigeria. from the Vice president to senate president, Speaker of the house to governors. are they all CIA assets?
is the ambassador a priest that give absolution to confessing politicians?
the answer to these question determine if sanusi and co are patriot or traitor, or should i say traitor or traitor!

Soludo is a thief for granting soft credit to oceanic bank.
But not for that granted to bank of the north now Unity Bank.

I sense a sense of inferiority complex, release the details and hand to EFCC.
Simple and stop all the attention seeking.

No matter how true Sanusi's statement might be, it is unpatriotic to reveal national secrets to foreigners. How many times have you heard that an USAG official reveal this kind of information about his country to a Nigerian ambassador? I just wonder why it is always the northerners revealing national issues to american ambassadors all the time. Muktar, Ribadu and now Sanusi. Fools.

I cannot take this anymore

Why are all the cables released in recent days frequent than others?

This is what the westerners are doing,

1)Create confusion to make their agencies look weak and vulnerable.

2) Cover up trace by affecting few of their own people(UN bombings)

3) Make the countries leadership in high positions look incompetent

4) Provoke for a division or a revolution

5) prepare for a take over and help campaign.




Why didn't we know of all these until now

pinkrex:

I cannot take this anymore

Why are all the cables released in recent days frequent than others?

This is what the westerners are doing,

1)Create confusion to make their agencies look weak and vulnerable.

2) Cover up trace by affecting few of their own people(UN bombings)

3) Make the countries leadership in high positions look incompetent

4) Provoke for a division or a revolution

5) prepare for a take over and help campaign.




Why didn't we know of all these until now

Don't get too excited it's not a conspiracy against Nigeria.

Wikileaks was recently hacked so Assange decided to release all the remaining cable at once. He released them all on August 30. Hence the new rush of info you are getting.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14765837

I think I really need to be educated here - seriously! Yes I'm a Sanusi fan but I'm honestly not trying to defend him. I'm sure I'm probably missing something and some of you are well knowledgeable in this field. The question is WHERE/WHAT IS THE NATIONAL SECRET BEING REVEALED? I didn't read anywhere in the post where he divulged information about the security setup for Mr. President or classified infor on National treasury or Nigerian Army arsenal or airforce fleets etc. Seriously educate me on this. It only look to me that we are washing our dirty apparels in public. But then who cares, at least we now know who is incompetent and who's fradulent. Tomorrow these guys will probably come out contesting one post or the other.

Unfortunate that SLS would open his mouth to whine about his principal and fellow top govt officials to none other than a foreign female deplomat.

What did he hope to gain? Paint himself as the only saint in the pack?
Or perhaps he was carried away by Robin Sander's blackness? Thinking he was speaking to a "fellow black" sister?

Shame, shame, shame. He should resign, for having put our national image to such ridicle!

Sanusi is a patriot and I will never forgive that Soludo of a man for making me lose my 11m naira in worthless bank shares.

NLs must we use every opportunity to whip up ethnic or religious sentiments Can`t we just sit for one`s and look at issues critically guided by values and principles and make better contributions I am beginning to think if we have inferior brains compared to our western counterparts, "Nation of idiots ruled by fools". sssssshhhhhhmmmm

Sacarstic:

NLs must we use every opportunity to whip up ethnic or religious sentiments Can`t we just sit for one`s and look at issues critically guided by values and principles and make better contributions I am beginning to think if we have inferior brains compared to our western counterparts, "Nation of idiots ruled by fools". sssssshhhhhhmmmm

So racist westerners have superior brain?


It is obvious you have some complex issues. Call I-800- I-AM-CRAZY for a board certified shrink NOW, before it is too late. You need help.

Our leaders in nigeria in whatever feild are senseless fools, why must they always tell the US ambassor their plans. i mean its like the USA runs Nigeria directly, what a stupiddd country this is

woetooam4j:

So racist westerners have superior brain?


It is obvious you have some complex issues. Call I-800- I-AM-CRAZY for a board certified shrink NOW, before it is too late. You need help.

yes they do as you exeplified here

woetooam4j:

So Soludo is a thief?

Well, I wont be surprised if Iweala is found to be just as corrupt after her time.

And Ibos wouldnt allow us rest on Soludo; he is this, that and best of whatever. Now air don blow, we don see the nyash of fowl

Like Madueke, like Okadigbo, like Ekwueme and all Ibos, including generations unborn, Soludo is a thief.

I just knew it. SMH.

it is you that needs serious help.