The Central Bank of Nigeria is an institution that has been on the side of Nigerians under thick or thin. Its a clear example why some people have argued that Africa needs great institutions and not strong men apparently because human beings left alone have their foibles and cannot be trusted to remain unshakable like some institutions are capable of doing.
CBN’s role has been as always to over-see the nation’s monetary policy and serve as the banker to banks and bank to government etc. It is not in doubt that its over-seers, over the decades, have not been perfect men and women. But at every turn, the apex bank has always rejuvenated itself to remain useful in the course of the nation’s history. Even in our recent history it has remained resilient.
Back during the General Sanni Abacha days when Nigeria’s pariah state made things difficult economically, the CBN then under the governorship of Paul Ogwuma rose like an excellent sterling to increase our foreign reserve to then unheard of $10 billion. Despite the fact that blood was flowing on our streets as a result of the June 12, 1993 presidential poll crises. In those days, money was so scarce that Abacha told the then Lagos State Administrator, Gen. Buba Marwa to use the internally generate revenue (IGR) from the state to run it. That was how Marwa and Late Funsho Williams, his Works Commissioner, became stars. It was in that tight fiscal and monetary regime that CBN envisioned the Project Eagle financial architecture that have so far brought more accountability and openness to the nation’s financial ecosystem.
However, it came to fruition because another CBN Governor, Mr Joseph Sanusi, a former CEO of First Bank of Nigeria Plc, deployed men, materials and funds towards its realisation. Sanusi, who is on the smallish side in terms of stature, did a lot of battles with our banks and bankers in order to ensure that SMEs, real-sector and others get needed loans to do business. In fact, he got banks to sign an “MOU” to extend 10 percent of their profits to SMEs. Mr Sanusi was such a no nonsense man that it was during his watch that Bello-Osagie and Late Abba Kyari, then chairman and vice-chairman of UBA Plc respectively, Late Michael Balogun of FCMB Plc and Mr Haya-tudeen of FSB were sacked from the sector. These men, back in the day, were regarded as untouchables.
Balogun, however said years later that he was not aware nor responsible for the action that took him away from the sector order than that he was the Chairman/CEO of the bank and that offences committed by any official of the bank ultimately affected him being the Chief Executive.
Sanusi’s effort to boost the capital base of banks did not succeed as the banks resisted his move to increase it by N2.5billion. That was why when Professor Soludo came in 2004 or so and was telling the banks executives that he wants to raise the capital base to N25billion, most of his listeners thought he was out of his mind. Many economists did not believe that Soludo’s reforms at CBN will be a success. But it was hugely successful whether in the area of good corporate governance, electronic banking, internet banking, financial support of SME’s and the real sector etc.
Nevertheless, when the 2008 worldwide economic meltdown came calling about five big Nigerian banks were swallowed in the conundrum. Although some critics blamed Nigerian banks, but the truth was that it was the failure in the United States supreme bond market that affected the world; India, China, the United States, UK, Germany and what have you lost banks. And if the CBN Governor at that time, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi had been without sentiments, perhaps Oceanic Bank and Intercontinental Bank would have been saved because the shareholders of the banks had made effort to raise funds to bail their banks but were not allowed to do so. It was Sanusi who crossed the Ts and dotted the Is in the Soludo revolution.
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi ended poorly in CBN history as his 2012 accounts was never approved over the disputes between him, Bayero University and the Nigerian Minting and Printing Plc. The only CBN Governor till date to experience such. It was the above dispute that made the Financial Reporting Council to query him and the Federal Government to suspend him.
Obviously, the tenure of Godwin Emefiele is of the stuff which one reads in those old mafia novels. Because while the CBN was trying to keep the nation float via its monetary policies and tools, there was no fiscal policy in place for the first two years of President Muhammadu Buhari regime. Hence FG’s governance and fiscal failures were negatively impacting on the monetary tools that CBN had to work with. It was just like operating in a “gangstar paradise” with the nation at a point losing 80 percent of its crude oil production while the Boko-Haram insurgents were imposing taxes on farmers of the North-East, and Fulani herders spreading death and destruction to rural farms and farmers nationwide, bandits were kidnapping in the North-West, just as unknown gun-men were holding the East down. Yet CBN Achor Borrowers programme for farmers did not abate, so also its RT200, the single digit loans for manufacturers, loan forgiveness and re-scheduling during COVID-19, the eNaira,the creative industry financing scheme, single digit loan for SME’s etc, were funded.
It must be noted here that the Naira redesign effort was apparently a misnomer and many critics have criticized it. So have they lampooned the multiple exchange rate of our currency over the last eight years. Emefiele has been suspended by the FG and had been charged to court. It may not be wise or legal to call result on his tenor for now.
After all said and done, an interim Governor of CBN, Mr Folashodun Shonubi, is now on the saddle and while other Nigerian institutions are still confused the apex bank is on the march again for the economic betterment of Nigeria with new policies and strategies for more success. What one can tell Mr Shonubi is that he is standing on a lot of shoulders and should feel free to borrow policies, tricks and strategies in the overall betterment of the country. And he should realize that while presidents come and go that what really matters is the economic survival of the Nigerian people. As Nigeria’s first President, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe once said in politics, there is no permanent friend or permanent enemy. What you have is permanent interests. Also in central banking what you have as permanence is Nigeria’s economic interest. And as an American soldier told a Time magazine reporter many years ago on the streets of Somalia, “you got to watch your back.”
Finally, no matter what anybody says, its clear to all and sundry that CBN is our top institution; they are never in the category of the Police, the Army, Customs nor National Assembly or the Supreme Court etc. Over the last couple of years a lot of our institutions have become a rubber stamp. Under Buhari, especially after the illegal removal of the former head of Supreme Court Justice Nkanu Onnoghen, most of the institutions lost focus but not the CBN. No wonder, the sector of the economy it supervises is the best we have to offer the world stable banking sector.
*Bright Ewulu is the author of the book Nigerian Banking Reform: What we saw at the Revolution. He writes from Lagos
