₦airaland Forum

The article is BS. What stopped the bank of the north, intercity, and/or habib coming together to form a new 'northern' bank that would protect their interests?
The banks were given universal licenses and are structured accordingly. The author should carry his grievance to the defunct community banks

Me sef:
Man, you are a partial judge! You seem to be hell bent on hammering on Soludo's failures. Sanusi also failed in aggravating a worsening economy by his actions. How about that? Have you heard of the near N100b un-collaterized loan approved by Sanusi while he was FBN MD? The same offence for which he's hell bent on hanging Madam Ibru? You see, it is so easy to find fault! Let the guy just mind his business and face the job he's paid to do squarely and stop parading himself as a messiah of some sort.

If  Sanusi as MD of FBN acted inappropriately and wasnt penalized, you can only hold Soludo and his CBN team responsible for it. You cannot hold Sanusi responsible for not catching himself retroactively. More importantly, giving out un-collaterized loans is not a crime in itself if due process was followed, and it was not just a tool to embezzle money from the bank.

If Sanusi feels strongly about the weakness in banking supervision, how come he has not overhauled the whole of banking supervision department of the CBN as he hastily did with the Bank CEOs? At least those examiners were sent to banks to examine their books during soludo's time and the same guys are still there now. In fact, Banking Supervision was reporting to the Deputy Governor - Tunde Lemo and he's still there now. How come Sanusi has not pushed for his replacement? CBN is just like NNPC or any other government parastatal or agency where corruption hold sway and that cannot be blamed on Soludo. It is an endemic problem in the Nigerian public service.

I have said this before, that no matter the failings of Soludo, Lemo should also have been held responsible for the supervisory failures of the CBN. Even if Soludo had hampered his genuine efforts at supervision (which I doubt), he should have been honest enough to resign. While I do not approve of retaining Lemo in his current office, the CBN governor has no authority to fire a deputy governor, who  (like the governor) are appointed by the president and approved by the senate, and can only be removed by the president unless found guilty of professional misconduct. I hold the senate responsible for approving him for a second tenure. Since Lemo's reappointment  was carried out simultaneously with Sanusi's appointment, I doubt he could have influenced it much.

Still, Sanusi has restructured the CBN to make it more effective and I wont be surprised if the reorganization is followed by personnel changes. see http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8999:cbn-in-self-cleansing-gives-impetus-to-sector-reforms&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18

My guy, all this thing is politics. Sanusi is suffering from inferiority complex and obviously intimidated by Soludo's large footprint in CBN.

and how do you know this?
Stick to the facts and leave out the personal evaluations. You should avoid the sycophancy and look at the facts and figures, being devoid of ethnic bias.

While I doubt the affected people will get justice in the courts, the move is still quite welcome, and hopefully will pressurize the banks to tighten up on security.
Even in the developed countries, there are limits to the responsibility of the banks. They cannot be held responsible for the customers carelessness. But I seriously doubt Nigerian banks are trying to do more than cover their own behinds and maximize their profits.

rebranded:
Biina please read the Next article again, you will see its clearly stated there,

You seem to be the only person i have met in support of Sanusi, i wonder why

The link you provided is bad.
Still, is this not the article you are referencing http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5534874-146/cbn_moves_to_stimulate_the_economy.csp ?

Excerpt:
The CBN left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 6.0 percent on Tuesday but cut its deposit rate in an effort to encourage banks to lend again after last year's bailout. The bank lowered its deposit rate to 1 percent from 2 percent to try to stimulate lending but left the monetary policy rate at the same level it has been since last July.
"We will reduce the level of interest the banks earn with us to encourage them to seek other areas, which means lending," Mr. Sanusi said.
Financial analysts said that they expected no change since the CBN is concerned about low monetary growth being a harbinger of weaker GDP. Wole Famurewa, the head of research, PHB asset management said, "We did not expect a rate change today even though inflation is inching higher. The focus now is on getting credit flowing again to the wider economy and increasing rates doesn't support that.
"The central bank must have observed that banks have been putting a lot of their money in low risk assets which includes central bank deposit and treasury bills.
"From the CBN announcement today, it's obvious the central bank is trying to encourage banks to lend. This is part of the CBN's broader plan to get banks to lend again."

where does it say that the CBN wants to encourage 'massive' and/or lending to the stock market and oil & gas like we had under soludo?

rebranded:
As carefully as Sanusi may choose his words, we all know he is trying to encourage lending the way it used to be, I am not aware that CBN increased their rates to Banks so the logical conclusion is lending dropped below its former level (with the same rates from CBN) and now Sanusi is trying to pack up the MESS he started by looking for ways to encourage 'massive' lending.

From time banks will not lend to the common man the risk is too high, so basically its still to their former target(customers), i stick to the fact that Sanusi is very confused!

You  seem to be able to read sanusi's mind. That is interesting to say the least
Stick to the facts and dissuade from misinformation. Down the line, same would come back to accuse Sanusi of being responsible for the effect of their earlier misinformation.

Sharing a room is ideal, but is often difficult to implement. Snoring is enough to send one of you packing out of the room.

rebranded:
Guy did you read the title of the post also at all??

Why are u defending Sanusi blindly, abi you be Sanusi?

my issue is with the added adjective of 'massive' and likening it to the unchecked lending we had post consolidation, which was problem not because of the volume but the areas (stock market and oil & gas) to which the facilities were predominantly extended.

rebranded:
Oga did u read the article at all, pls also check the Original Post

"We will reduce the level of interest the banks earn with us to encourage them to seek other areas, which means lending," Mr. Sanusi said

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Money/Business

and where is the 'massive' you included in your earlier representation or should banks not lend again.

You auto transmission might be skipping the first selection (1->2), and what you think is the first selection is actually 1->3. This would keep your engine at inefficient revs and cause the increased fuel consumption. So have someone take a look at your auto transmission system.

Me sef:
Dis guy, do u work in CBN or lick Sanusi's manliness

Nobody is right but you. U get problem o!!!!!1

Why cant you simply provide evidence to support your earlier claims?

freezy:
Not to mention names, the man on Ajose Adeogun and the Head of the so called largest bank in Nigeria are no exceptions. Proof? There is little that can be brought to the table now. But if the ad-hoc audit which was conducted on the affected fellas with the same intent was conducted on these guys, i'm sure the results will be at par. But the hammer dint come down on them and they lived to fine tune loads. Note that i did not mention nadda about any nothern agenda.

You have no evidence yet you claim that these people are guilty.You have no proof andd yet you conclude that the ad hoc audit overlooked their ills. So please, on what are your allegations based?

Fitch ratings are crap to me now. If they rated high back then, that means they aint gotten any tool to detect such rot, they could go to **** with their ratings

Fitch ratings are based on published results and indices. Its almost impossible for them to detect doctored books, that is the responsibility of the CBN.

Yes, MDs can be sacked with people questions answered without so much negative verbal attacks. Recall the shooting idea?

I dont really see how comments about sacked corrupt CEOs (e.g. they deserve to be shot) is inimical to the sector, as the comment was not regarding the sector itself nor any incumbent executive.

Wrong.
The exposure to the oil & gas sector in 2008 was one of the sources of Mr Sanusi's 'inappropriate loans' given out by banks which had or was going bad. That did not cause the fuel scarcity. Even at that, the marketers were still being financed by the banks till the last week of September 2009. The banks were never at any point insolvent but refused to give out funds untill the the issues of the tanker drivers' purpoted sack over the inability of a parent company to continue paying their wages due to the fact that the FG has not paid what was owed this company. That my friend, was the start of the fuel scarcity.

My point was about availability of funds to the marketers, your argument above simply contradicts your earlier statement that the fuel scarcity originated from banks not financing marketers. I only explained why they couldn't, cos if they had not been hit the stock market crash and oil price decline, they wouldnt have become illiquid.

rebranded:
Am i Lost?? I thot the whole wahala in the Banking sector was because they gave out too much? So now again you want to encourage massive lending

Was that not the samething Soludo encouraged and Sanusi said he did a bad job, at least he could not have known that the margin loans will go bad.

SANUSI = CONFUSED!

another misrepresentation of facts. Where did the CBN say they wanted to encourage 'massive' lending

paddy_lo:
u dont get it do u. . SANUSI was appointed cause he was a fulani man and a muslim
he is from the get go a beneficiary of nepotism and the incomnpetence of yara dull

therein lies the problem with Nigeria

You have implicitly made my (and Ibime's) point that your disapproval of Sanusi is based on his ethnicity and not on his (in)actions since he took office.

@Roadstar
So all you are saying is simply speculations. You have no facts and yet you demand that Sanusi comes clean?
You are convinced that Sanusi is not doing a good job, yet you have no evidence to the contrary.
24 banks were audited and 14  were found to be adequately capitalized and liquid, and 10 were found to be under-capitalized (marginal or otherwise). But you now claim that all are under-capitalized and that Sanusi said so?
Without any evidence, you claim that the 'rot' was widespread.
The level of management changes varied from bank to bank, yet in total, the CBN induced CEO changes (including tenure limit) occurred in about 10 banks, most of which were distressed and yet you want to categorize the entire sector as being under management change.
The distressed bank hiring is a sign of growth and not stability or is downsizing not a tool for improving profitability, or you think it only applies to reducing losses?. Hasn't the number of people sacked been reducing each week? You have no evidence to suggest that the downsizing will continue beyond September.
The fitch report of february 2010 says the sector is improving. when was the last fitch rating report you received?

There is no point debating this, as it is obvious you have a less than objective view of things. Time will soon tell if your doom analysis is right or just a figment of your imagination.

Me sef:
@ biina

Guy, I think you are a confusionist! Maybe your problem is that you don't understand english. When Sanusi kept emphasizing that something happened during Soludo's era and that the Governor at that time watched heplessly as they happened, what in your dumb opinion is he did he mean?

You seem to enjoy antagonizing everyone on this forum just because you enjoy the benefit of being faceless. You better go and look for work!!!!!

If someone failed in his duties, he simply failed in his duties. There is no 2-way about it. It does not in anyway mean the person was corrupt, but then that would be difficult for you to comprehend, as you have no opinion of your own and can only hurl personal insults.

Soludo failed in the supervision of the banks and that is why Sanusi had to take the actions he did. If his motives are being questioned in the public forum by you and your likes, Sanusi has the right to defend himself and his actions by bringing to light the failings that created the problems he is trying to solve. But you would rather he keep quiet so that you can keep peddling your rumors.

People should be sincere and diligent enough to read the actual speech, before passing judgment on what Sanusi said or did not say.
The guy did not accuse Soludo of illegal practices and only cited the lapses in CBN supervision under soludo's tenure. This he did when elucidating the problems that hit the Nigerian economy and the banking sector, and it would be disingenuous for him to have given the CBN a passmark contrary to the truth just because he wasn't in charge at the time,

paddy_lo:
U cant be serious with that remark. . .sanusi is at best a second rate Cbn governor
and at worst,someone way over his league

In any serious country he would not even be the head of a regional bank,even with affirmative action

I will give u a simple reason for what i said above

a CBN governor(or Federal reserve chairman),speaks less and does more behind the scenes
cause any word he says,is interpreted by the markets and can be destabilizing

They most times let action speak for them,by cutting rates or raising them
or making rare policy speeches once in while

Sanusi goes all over the place insulting everybody,he is clearly out of his league
like everything Nigerian,only the incompetent are considered for a position

and this is why you think he is a second rate CBN governor
You need to go and check the CBN archives and you will find that Soludo was the most vocal CBN governor we have ever had, yet it is not a bad thing. I personally approve of the transparency afforded us by the likes of Sanusi and Soludo, as opposed to the old school Joseph Sanusi and co, who were more like Ifa high priests, who came out to make declarations only at major festivals. i can still remember the Savannah bank license saga.

Back to the issue of Sanusi and his competence. From Soludo's first speech as CBN governor, in which he declared his intent to increase bank capitalization, he identified the problems of the banking sectors as follows
a) weak corporate governance, evidenced by high turnover in the Board and management staff, inaccurate reporting and non-compliance with regulatory requirements, falling ethics and de-marketing of other banks in the industry;
b) late or non-publication of annual accounts that obviates the impact of market discipline in ensuring banking soundness;
c) gross insider abuses, resulting in huge non-performing insider related credits;
d) insolvency, as evidenced by negative capital adequacy ratios and shareholders’ funds that had been completely eroded by operating losses;
e) weak capital base, even for those banks that have met the minimum capital requirement, which currently stands at N1.0 billion or US$7.53 million for existing banks and N2.0 billion or US$15.06 million for new banks, and compared with the RM2.0 billion or US$526.4 million in Malaysia.
f) Over-dependency on public sector deposits, and neglect of small and medium class savers.

After 4yrs in office, Soludo had only tackled the last two issues. In less than one year in office, Sanusi has tackled the first four problems. That to me is a sign of a first rate CBN governor.

the head of the NCC(ernest Ndukwe),will soon be retiring after 10 solid years
I am sure they will give his post to some[b] incompetent fool from the NORTH
[/b]
who will now come and start rubbishing the good work ndukwe has been doing
RUBBISH

Herein lies my problem with you and your likes, who are so blinded by ethnicity that they think that someone from the north is always inferior to his southern counterpart. If Ndukwe has failed in his duties, his successor, irrespective of his origin, is obligated to correct them, and if queried in the public forum by your likes, has the right to bring to public light these short comings to defend his actions. i am not interested in someone's ethnicity, but his competence to do the job and move us forward.

Sanusi is a northerner and I applaud his actions (example his often criticized public pursuit of debtors has help recover N110 billion of the marginal loans), while I'm yet to ascertain what Mansur (also a northerner) has done since his appointment.

freezy:
Well, this is Nigeria. And unless things change (i'm not sure when), there is always an agenda to some orchestrated decisions. This part I have learnt over the years. Sanusi has done what he was sent to do by selectively cleansing the rot in the banking sector. I ask and still ask why some CEOs who have done worse than the punished ones were not punished. No one knows.

which CEOs and which banks are these? When there is evidence of unevenness in his handling of issues, then we will debate such issues. When the first round of executives were fired, some people claimed a hidden northern agenda was behind it, yet several month later, we are to see this agenda manifest. It is inimical to the economy to be crying wolf simply on the basis of past sightings of wolves.

We all know banking is a game of risk & perception. Castigating this industry in your country reduces the positive perception which is not good enough. Sanusi could have duly punished erring CEOs and at the same time ensured that the image of Nigeria's banking Industry does not reek of fraud and deceit Nigerians have become known for worldwide.

So you would we continue with the cloak and dagger approach to cover up for the criminals who were abusing their position to siphon depositors funds? there is no way he would have sacked the MDs without people asking why. As per image, his actions have actually improved our image as evidenced in the comments attached to the recent fitch ratings.

Lastly, bros biina, let us not forget that the lack of funding for the major marketers from banks was the original cause of the fuel scarcity (Ignore my hammering so much on fuel scarcity. . . It's just that it is so difficult to get fuel these days and its driving me nuts!!!    )

The lack of funding came about by the banks being over exposed to the stock market and Oil & gas sector, and when the stock market crashed (which began in 2008) along with the Oul prices, the banks lost a lot of their money and became insolvent.

RoadStar:
@biina
You seem to be overzealous in your job of trying to justify Sanusis actions.

That is not what I am interested in at the moment.
I am just trying to asses the present situation with the banks and and how it affecets economy.

I suggest you read the audit reports.

In you own judgement a banking sector which had a credit line facility from CBN shut down (Justifiable or not).
Numerous previously established international credit lines closed. Many investors have pullled out.
Alleinated many of the major players in the sector.(Mind you every banking sector has them)
Many have had their management dismissed and replaced with new and external management.
The general values of these banks have plummeted due to the crash in their share values.
Trying to recover loans, adjusting to the new operating conditions under Sanusis CBN.
Many are still downsizing.
As I am typing out right now a lot of these banks are still sacking workers.
basically, all the banks are still undergoing some form of restructuring, many have been asked by even sanusi himself to raise their capital base. (Asides the 8 bailed out banks)

and you think things will get worse? The banks have been audited, and those with shortcomings given directives to rectify their positions.
You make reference to ongoing activities as if they will continue indefinitely. Will the banks keep sacking forever? Have healthy banks not been receiving new credit lines? Has foreign ratings not improved? Is the change of management not restricted to the distressed ones? is being asked to raise your capital base now a sign of distress?

And in your own opinion, interest rates have an equal effect with all the above.
Well I beg to differ .

So in your opinion all the banks are under capitalized and cannot lend?

You even dismissed the situation by saying that "The worst is over, and the troubled banks should be weaned by September."(In Sanusis words of course) Do you think the crisis affected just the 8 banks bailed out ?
Do you really think its gonna be that easy 

and where is your evidence that it is not?  When you know the problem and can implement the solution, it is really that easy.
Your are simply crying wolf, when there is none.

If Sanusi was quick in exposing the rot and the inadequacies of the banking sector and is still doing it till at least last week with another speach.
It will be deceitful and of very poor judgement if he is now trying to play down or hide the effects.
By pretending that the banks are in a normal state as if the whole thing is just about some errant CEOs.

Which speech are you referring to? If its the Bayero address, it seems you havent read it  first hand and are only commenting on second hand info.
Have the banks not been audited, or do you expect new revelations that were missed in the audit?
Have the banks not provisioned for their bad debts? Is the AMC not being established? The problems in the sector have been identified and are being addressed.
A few months ago some of you were claiming there was nothing wrong with the banks, and now you are singing a different tune that the problem is everlasting
The CBN identified the problems (and this was common knowledge even before soludo took over) and took the necessary actions. Do you want him to start chasing ghosts?

If this is how Sanusi sees the whole crisis, then this is a huge miscalculation on his part.
He might have just presided over the biggest government induced crisis in Nigerias banking history.

Get your self properly informed before making allegations.

jp philips:
@ texazzpete

i think i preferred the bloated books and assets turned liabilities that created the statistics that ''of every 5 Nigerians with GOOD jobs, 3 is a banker"
i think im also comfortable with when my bankers abroad had confidence in my bank's bloated books which facillitated my buisness in turn.

listen, Nigeria is a country i define as one which the leaders lack ideas while the Led remain confused.

Sanusi was never appointed as financial sanitation Gov. he was to IMPROVE the Economy, since he has failed so far, i still don't understand why the senate is not asking for his resignation

and your definition of improving the economy is by doctoring accounts and acting illegally just to appear profitable. You sound like some Nigerians who feel the quality of a school is measured by its school uniform
Please read up on the role of the CBN before you make comments on related issues.

mbulela:
guy please explain.
i don't get you.

what is there not to get?
pro-lifers that want a woman to keep a pregnancy against her wish need to provide contingencies for the woman acting inimically towards the baby e.g. smoking, and also make provisions for after the baby is born (or will you force her to raise the child as well ). Also who will take responsibility if a woman denied abortion is permanently impaired or dies from child birth complications?
You cannot jeopardize the interests of one to save another.

For those that are against abortion, I hope you have plans for preventing bad habits by the mother during pregnancy, and for the unwanted babies when they are born.
You can only lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink

netotse:
oh. . .i finally get your point, dams are built with reservoirs, so the excess water is stored for use during the dry season, and the resevoir is re-filled during the rainy season, that's how it works. . .it's plausible, trust me. . .i just spent one year at a dam the danger is in over-generating, but a private company is less likely to do that. . .

I know about the reservoir and it only eliminates the short term variations and not the long term seasonal ones. You cannot hold the reservoir above the dam water  (unless you are willing to waste power in pumping the water above river level which essentially proves my point of waste) and since your water source level varies more consistently on the long term, you capacity would vary accordingly as long as you have finite dam height+ bed depth. It similar to the variable input rate, constant output buffer problem, no matter the size of your buffer, your output rate will always have to be between your maximum and minimum rate. You cannot maximize your output.

but to do that will require toying with the load allocation from PHCN and trust me. . .PHCN will not listen to CBN on that issue, the next best thing will be to build. . .and since it'll be cheaper to site the station near the industries. . .voila. . .PH

if the states dont like it, they can go and jump. . .it'll be private companies now, you cant complain where a private company decides to spend it's money, like oyb said somewhere, part of the prob in naija is that when it's time to build stuff, er'one wants it to be built in their village, instead of considering more important(mostly economic though)factors

I thot the power stations were sited by PHCN and CBN is just helping with the financing. Still the average Nigeria wont be so patient if he is not getting light when some other areas seem to have an abundance, particularly when the president is likely from the region of abundance. If Nigerians were objective, we wouldnt be is such a bad situation.

RoadStar:
To cut the long story short.

In your own opinion
Which is the biggest culprit to why you think banks are not lending ?
Is it the impact of the crisis or is it the interest rates.

Both. The downturn in the stock market and oil prices was what drove banks into hiding, Sanusi's actions eliminated the illegal routes they could have used to continue with biz as usual, and the subsequent spread of doom and gloom have made everyone cautious of coming out of their dormant state.

If the 2billion government stimulation did not bear much fruit.
Do you think the banks in their present state can make a difference.

The 2billion payment was to buoy the economy and prevent recession. It was never aimed at directly inducing activity in the financial or industrial sector.
The lower interest rates will make banks have to start lending again. The banks are all healthy and can lend. They are just hesitant since their prior brides of stocks and oil& gas are no more. This kind of illiquidity is normal after a bubble  bust, as all become wary of investments.

In my opinion
I think that sanusis actions (wheter in good fate or not) has negatively impacted the banking sector.
I also think it will take years to come outta this mess and and reap the fruits of sanusis actions (If it bears any fruits).

I disagree and feel Sanusi's actions is the best thing that has happened in the sector since I can remember. The worst is over, and the troubled banks should be weaned by September.
If we dont have any political instabilities or malignant acts by some that may feel aggrieved because their illegal siphon tubes have been blocked, we should have what consolidation promised within the next 2 years, and can only get better from there. I will suggest you read a copy of the speech Sanusi gave at Bayero in which he outlined his plans. The only thing I want more is a clamp down on round tripping and the forex black market, but that may be wishful thinking given that he is a northerner.

On a more serious note the government should look at alternative options to stimulate the economy asides  these banks.
Because for now the banks are in a perpetual crisis, more complex than just adjusting interest rates.

The banks are always the best tool for stimulating the economy for an open system like ours and the use of interests is practically free to the CBN.
Like i said earlier, the banks are fine, and they just need potential customers that would not only turnover the loan, but also add growth to the economy. A good aspect is the power generation which would help domestic productions. Banks should not be focused on import-retail which does not help our situation. Also government can assist by improving the legal system and credit records.

Its just a shame we dont have complementary officers in other sectors. I am not even sure of what the finance minister has been doing.

netotse:
nope. . .the problem in naija is that the gas stations are forever messing up, thats why the hydro stations are usually over depleted. . .in a private setting, where there wont be an economist or lawyer minister to order you to bring units into service anyhow, you would be more likely to stick to best practices in managing your water level, how it's done is all fuzzy but i know there's a way they compare rainfall, expected rainfall and all that and use it to forecast how much they can generate with the water levels remaining safe!

The point was that your water levels will vary with the seasons (unless you have no concern for those downstream of the dam) which means you are capable of generating much more in the rainy season than in the dry season. In the case of an isolated region with sole dependence on hydro, (assuming a fairly constant load for the year), your capacity in the dry season should be able to meet your load, else you will be underfed, which in turn implies that your rainy season output will exceed your load i.e. wasted capacity. On a grid, the thermal stations would have helped pick up the slack or be able to transmit the excess to another region.

where else can they site it? they need already established industries now. . .

But is Afam not capable of meeting the demand in that region? why there may technical and practical reasons for siting in PHC, my point was that from a political stand point, the choice of sites (if coupled with isolation) may result in some regions/states genuinely feeling marginalized.

RoadStar:
So why should this one be different ?
Sanusi of all people should know that the present inability of banks to lend to the wider economy is not due to unfriendly/tight fiscal policies.
it is due to the huge dent to confidence experienced in the banking sector as a result of the banking crisis.
He is being deceptive by tweaking around interest rates.

because they are different things. In the prior case, the CBN disbursed money from the excess crude oil account to stop the illiquidity in the economy from grinding governemnt to a halt by giving them money (that is theirs) to spend on their obligation, where in the current case the CBN is reducing its deposit interest rates so to discourage the banks from keeping money with the CBN and encourage them to lend t both governemnt and the private sector. CBN is not giving anyone money.

I still feel Sanusi should have toned town all that razmataz that had to do with the banking crisis.
He should have focused on fixing the problem without exacerbating it to that extent he did.

Sanusi fired the corrupt executives, input neede capital to shore up the banks, appointed interim management to oversee the banks (that are now essentially running on tax payers money) and tried to help the banks recover some of the bad debts by publicly pursuing the debtors (a move that made a significant number of those debtors reconcile their accounts)

It was the sacked executives and some misguided Nigerians that were spreading doom and gloom, and claiming an hidden agenda (that is yet to materialize) that caused most of the downtown. The stock market decline had begun before Sanusi took office, but some people would rather blame him for it.