Obasanjo did not create billionaires after all!

Today, Nigerians remain mute and awaiting the next set of casualties likely to emerge after the apex bank has concluded the ongoing dusting of their books. For a very long time I remained one of those in the critical segment of the polity that believe the supervisory role of the CBN over these commercial banks […]

Today, Nigerians remain mute and awaiting the next set of casualties likely to emerge after the apex bank has concluded the ongoing dusting of their books. For a very long time I remained one of those in the critical segment of the polity that believe the supervisory role of the CBN over these commercial banks was grossly inadequate. I saw the CBN more as a political unit of the government in power without the necessary independence and rigor to do a thorough job.

The developments of the last few days only confirmed to me that, after all, the problem was more on the part of the leadership in the sector that was unwilling to face the problem it created head-on.

After all the noise about the fact that it was General Obasanjo — while he lasted between 1999 and 2007 — who created some Nigerian billionaires, is a hoax. The so-called billionaires were a creation of faulty pocesses in the Nigerian banking industry. Now we know better.

The events unfolding have further confirmed the fact that indeed the most endemic corruption that the nation is to contend with is after all more in the corporate world than it is, even in government. How can anybody, for God’s sake, tell me that it is rational for any one person to have acquired large loans as was the case with these individuals who took so much and gave little or nothing in return?

The scandal unveiled by the CBN is gargantuan and I think those who are responsible for this are being treated with kid gloves. I expect that very soon we will see them under close scrutiny in the courts. In fact what these people who mismanaged these banks require is a special open court so that the whole nation would know how we are swindled by a few who appeared as responsible corporate mangers.

We have seen how those who run down business conglomerates in the other parts of the world are treated in courts of law. We have seen how chief executive officers of once-renowned companies are pictured in chains due to the role they played in bringing down the hopes and aspirations of many people.

I was not surprised when I heard that some of those banks were among the ones failing.  We all saw how much advertisement was made by these banks in the name of winning the confidence of the citizenry. Some of them have gone as far as to CNN and the BBC in telling the captive nation and the rest of the world that they are leading financial institutions in Africa.

In reality, what is hidden under their books is nothing but failure, which fortunately has now become public knowledge, and the misdeeds uncovered. It is more dangerous to tolerate corruption in the corporate arena because of the multi-dimensional implications of such.

I think this is the first time the ruling class is challenging itself on certain basic issues of misdemeanor which were previously left unexposed due to the class character of those involved and those who dared carry out such crimes against humanity.

More worrisome is the content of the list of those who are responsible for this financial crisis that the banks are in. Can you imagine that all those big businessmen and women who once constituted what Ndi-Okere Nwekwu called ‘Corporate Nigeria’?

Do we still remember the billions that were said to have been donated to the Obasanjo/Atiku campaign organization in the countdown to the 2003 elections?

Do we still remember the billions that this same cabal donated to the Obasanjo library project? The library is virtually not there and nobody is talking about the monies collected for said purpose. We requested Nuhu Ribadu to probe that gimmick, but he bluntly refused.

Again, recently, the PDP launched an appeal for funds to build its national headquarters in Abuja. The same guys competed, giving donations in hundreds of millions. Now we know where the money is coming from and certainly, it is not from their industry but cheap funds obtained from Nigerian banks.

The confidence of the people on the banking sector will only be reinvigorated when definite punitive measures are seen to be taken against those who got reckless with public funds. Those who are responsible for the tension in the economy and polity must be made to account for their action. This is necessary if we are to set standards and create sufficient fears in the minds of those ‘bankers’. Especially those who may try to mess with other people’s investments in order to better their personal egos.

Let me conclude by congratulating Sanusi Lamido and the new Central Bank for the initiative and urge that they must not be deterred by threats and other strategies that may be put in place by those who are guilty or will be guilty in order to silence the bank and its staffers.

I know that Nigerians will continue to stand by anyone who appears to change things for the better. We are all yawning. We are hungry, we are angry, we need change, and for the better.