Now that the initial euphoria of Hurricane Sanusi – the Tsunami that blew away the Chief Executives of 5 major banks in Nigeria, and exposed the nyash of Nigerian billionaires, political and business men of timber and calibre as mere debtors - has blown over, it is now time to sit back and reflect on the terrible consequences of Sanusi’s hasty action on the Nigeria financial market and ask sanusi a few questions.

While Nigerians are generally happy that action are being taken to clear the rot in the banking sector, yet some are asking: Why would Sanusi rush to take action against 5 banks when the auditing of the remaining 14 banks is still ongoing?

On Sunday June 28, 2009, LEADERSHIP Newspaper reported that the managing directors of 5 Nigerian major banks, “led by a Delta State-born Igbo-speaking boss of a first generation bank that is also one of the biggest banks in Africa, were said to have raised the slush fund of N2.5 billion to lobby President Yar’adua not to appoint Sanusi as Central Bank Governor; Is Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on a vendetta against this “Delta State-born Igbo-speaking boss” and her cohorts for leading the campaign against his candidacy?

On March 23, 2009, under an article Group Plots Takeover of Five Top Banks; The VANGUARD Newspapers reported that ANTI-CONSOLIDATION forces have regrouped with the hope of dismantling the structures and forcing a takeover of the top five banks (The number 5 again!). The grand plan by the group, Vanguard said, is to cause panic and uncertainty in the industry and make the target banks look unsafe for depositors. Is this Sanusi’s agenda?

In the same article, Vanguard says that the group at work is made up of former bank owners who lost out during the consolidation exercise, a powerful clique in the present government, and some aggrieved persons in three of the six geopolitical zones in the country who felt left out in the consolidation exercise, Further, they ultimately plan to instigate government to take equity holdings in the targeted banks.

Now that Sanusi by injecting N400 Billion into 5 banks took equity holdings in the targeted banks, I wonder!

On August 4, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in a certain telephone conversation said: “the removal of any bank’s board and its management would not in any way solve the systemic problems in the banking sector, and that the CBN’s immediate concern was on how to institute measures that would ensure that the banks are healthy and can meet minimum capital and liquidity ratio requirements to perform their primary role of intermediation at interest rates that do no emasculate the lending public”. What changed between August 4, and August 14?

The big question for those that know Sanusi-or those that thought they knew him- is: Who pushed him to act different from the viewpoint he expressed barely ten days earlier? 

Seeing the terrible repercussions on the Nigerian economy – the depreciated value of the Naira, freezing of foreign credit line, Standard & Poor's yesterday cut of Nigeria’s sovereign credit ratings by a notch to B-plus from BB-minus - Was Sanusi properly briefed on the effect his action would have on investor’s confidence on our economy and its banking system? Finally, was due process followed in sacking the bank bosses?

Now that Sanusi has indicated no more bank bosses will be sacked no matter the findings of the result of the audit of the remaining ten banks; wouldn’t this give credence to the argument that the reserve bank by acting on the basis of CBN auditors’ findings to remove the board and management of 5 bank when it had not even had time to assess the findings of the audit report, nor finished the auditing of the remaining 14 banks were working to an answer; Why would Sanusi rush to take action against 5 banks when the auditing of the remaining 14 banks is still ongoing?

Sanusi in an interview yesterday in Kinshasa where he’s attending a conference of African central bankers said tiven what’s happening with oil prices and the improvements with peace in the Niger Delta”, we should not fear the current terrible outcomes of his hast action.

But in view of the declaration yesterday by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), that they will be compelled to resume with ferocious attacks on the oil industry at the end of their ceasefire on September 15, 2009 is Sanusi not being overly optimistic? 

In my article elsewhere, I wrote:

It is important to separate the multifaceted actions taken this week by Sanusi and analyse each on its merit rather than lumping them together. In this way, we could then analyse his decision to sack the bank bosses clear-eyed and devoid of emotion: 

Sanusi’s actions were threefold; Firstly, sacking of the Bank executives, releasing what CBN’s examiners unravelled following the audit exercise; secondly, releasing the names of Billionaire debtors that brought down the 5 Nigerian Banks and the details of their account, and: thirdly, handing them over to the EFCC for arrest and possible prosecution.

As one CEO stressed: "it would be uncharacteristic for the CBN to remove the boards and management of financial institutions without meeting them and informing them of the infractions they had committed, be it under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) or the CBN Act.

The rule of thumb is that they must be informed and are always instructed to rectify the infractions (including recapitalising the banks, where necessary), failing which the CBN can decide to impose whatever sanctions it deems necessary”.

Why is Sanusi trying to destroy the bank confidence built up by the era of consolidation, complicated matters and harmed the economy?

Nigerians must be watchful. We have often been witnesses of Public officials  cloth  selfish group interests as national interest. The CBN is entitled to sanitise the banking sector, and ensure bank customers conform to banking rules and regulations.

Rather than premature praise singing, it is time Nigerians begins to assert themselves and hold up our public officials to public scrutiny. Our problem is that we don’t hold these men to account.

The fact is; for good or for ill, Sanusi is now there as the governor of the Central Bank of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the custodian of our commonwealth; so that whatever he does impacts and is reflected on you and me.

Same goes for other public officials; it is only by holding their feet to the fire will we make sure they are NOT carrying out a hidden agenda that is inimical to both your interest and mine.

I have also written elsewhere that this is the type of aggressive approach we should bring to bear on examining our public officers. 

Sanusi and the CBN must go the whole hog for full disclosures on the remaining Banks. The procedures now begun should run their full course. The regulatory, supervisory and law enforcement authorities must work to contain the hypocrisy in the financial sector. The implications of non-conclusion of these initiatives will be horrendous.

Mr. Sanusi had assured the nation that the process is far from over as many more banks' books are still under examination. Nigerians await his findings. Due process and fairness must be adhered to.

His appointment as govertnor of the CBN heralded much promise to the Nation, Over the years, some of the personnel that have been appointed to Nigeria's elevated position of Central Bank governorship left reputable legacies but many – the majority, had a disastrous tenure. Sanusi must not be allowed to thread that ignoble path.

Daniel Elombah publishes www.elombah.com

afamefuna@elombah.com

Robot  # 1 | 24.08.2009 11:08

...Read the full article.

Nkutikut  # 2 | 24.08.2009 11:33

I dey siddon look!

Simbili  # 3 | 25.08.2009 15:41

Free cinema as usual......

acube  # 4 | 27.08.2009 14:33

Now that the initial euphoria of Hurricane Sanusi – the Tsunami that blew away the Chief Executives of 5 major banks in Nigeria, and exposed the nyash of Nigerian billionaires, political and business men of timber and calibre as mere debtors - has blown over, it is now time to sit back and reflect on the terrible consequences of Sanusi’s hasty action on the Nigeria financial market and ask sanusi a few questions. While Nigerians are generally happy that action are being taken to clear the rot in the banking sector, yet some are asking: Why would Sanusi rush to take action against 5 banks when the auditing of the remaining 14 banks is still ongoing? Could he have been compelled to move pre-emptively by the increasingly desperate actions of Erastus and Cecilia - kowtowing to all the emirs north of the Niger and abusing her links with the Guardian respectively? Why wait to conclude all 24 audits if the sick babies were already known and - more importantly - knew themselves? The self awareness of sickness explains the now famous Vanguard article referred to below. Obviously if the FIVE had consistently taken up 90% of the EDW facility and had dominated a similar percentage of the interbank market after Sanusi had guaranteed it then they knew their heads were on the chopping block since Sanusi was a very known quantity. They thus could come out with straw man articles that they felt would crimp Sanusi or anyone else used to replace Soludo who was so obviously compromised as guv. And yes. By the time the article was published Sanusi was known as front runner for the job. On Sunday June 28, 2009, LEADERSHIP Newspaper reported that the managing directors of 5 Nigerian major banks, “led by a Delta State-born Igbo-speaking boss of a first generation bank that is also one of the biggest banks in Africa, were said to have raised the slush fund of N2.5 billion to lobby President Yar’adua not to appoint Sanusi as Central Bank Governor; Is Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on a vendetta against this “Delta State-born Igbo-speaking boss” and her cohorts for leading the campaign against his candidacy? I read this back then and my view was that it was Jim Ovia the paper referred to. And shouldn't the real question be why Cecilia, Jim or any other bank MD would spend even a farthing lobbying for or against any prospective CBN guv? The rules of BOFIA and accounting are plain and easy for anyone to apply. If the MDs had ensured their banks were compliant they would not have to fear even the appointment of Turai as CBN guv. On March 23, 2009, under an article Group Plots Takeover of Five Top Banks; The VANGUARD Newspapers reported that ANTI-CONSOLIDATION forces have regrouped with the hope of dismantling the structures and forcing a takeover of the top five banks (The number 5 again!). The grand plan by the group, Vanguard said, is to cause panic and uncertainty in the industry and make the target banks look unsafe for depositors. Is this Sanusi’s agenda? Pls see response above. In the same article, Vanguard says that the group at work is made up of former bank owners who lost out during the consolidation exercise, a powerful clique in the present government, and some aggrieved persons in three of the six geopolitical zones in the country who felt left out in the consolidation exercise, Further, they ultimately plan to instigate government to take equity holdings in the targeted banks. Pls see response above. Now that Sanusi by injecting N400 Billion into 5 banks took equity holdings in the targeted banks, I wonder! Does that mean it would have been better to leave patently weak banks tottering until they fell from the sheer weight of years of mismanagement and corruption? Which of those banks did not have staff fleeing for other banks? Or did anyone else have N420b to save the banks with? On August 4, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in a certain telephone conversation said: “the removal of any bank’s board and its management would not in any way solve the systemic problems in the banking sector, and that the CBN’s immediate concern was on how to institute measures that would ensure that the banks are healthy and can meet minimum capital and liquidity ratio requirements to perform their primary role of intermediation at interest rates that do no emasculate the lending public”. What changed between August 4, and August 14? Reading that purported statement without preconception all I hear him saying is that removal of the MDs was not sufficient to save the banks. I don't hear him saying removing them is not necessary. The big question for those that know Sanusi-or those that thought they knew him- is: Who pushed him to act different from the viewpoint he expressed barely ten days earlier? Pls see response immediately above. Seeing the terrible repercussions on the Nigerian economy – the depreciated value of the Naira, freezing of foreign credit line, Standard & Poor's yesterday cut of Nigeria’s sovereign credit ratings by a notch to B-plus from BB-minus - Was Sanusi properly briefed on the effect his action would have on investor’s confidence on our economy and its banking system? Finally, was due process followed in sacking the bank bosses? Now this is a riot. Which devalued currency? What has changed about the naira between two weeks ago and now? How does any marginal blip compare to the gut wrenching plunge that our dear brother from the south confessed he deliberately orchestrated to help the govt finance the budget deficit in the face of lower dollar revenue? Can we just imagine Sanusi making that same statement and how the conspiracy theorists would have gone to town? Foreign credit lines to those banks were already frozen and there was an expose early this year about a PR ploy of Intercontinental's when it re-announced the granting of a piffling amount by the IFC, AFC or whoever which actually happened over a year ago as a new and validating event. S&P was the same dupe that told us these now troubled banks were the best thing since Croesus. but they performed the same havoc in its home country and were duly criticised after the meltdown stripped them and their patrons naked. As usual though, even as something goes out of fashion in the West it gains renewed currency in Naija. The release yesterday by Standard Chartered Bank's long term regional analyst puts paid to the issue of investor confidence and all other issues raised in this paragraph. Rather unusually for a bank, the report referred directly to the S&P opinion and thrashed it. Now that Sanusi has indicated no more bank bosses will be sacked no matter the findings of the result of the audit of the remaining ten banks; wouldn’t this give credence to the argument that the reserve bank by acting on the basis of CBN auditors’ findings to remove the board and management of 5 bank when it had not even had time to assess the findings of the audit report, nor finished the auditing of the remaining 14 banks were working to an answer; Why would Sanusi rush to take action against 5 banks when the auditing of the remaining 14 banks is still ongoing? Sanusi has not entirely ruled out the sacking of any other MDs. He merely said he thought it unlikely. I would have wondered what sort of insider Sanusi was and what sort of CBN guv he is if he did not know even before the audit which banks were in trouble. I would expect anybody working for even six months in the Treasury of any Nigerian bank to quickly know which banks it was unsafe to entrust interbank funds to. Or why was the interbank market frozen until Sanusi guaranteed it? If, despite his knowledge of the sector, the auditors, on close examination, find that there are other equally and criminally imperilled banks I trust he would do the necessary. Sanusi in an interview yesterday in Kinshasa where he’s attending a conference of African central bankers said tiven what’s happening with oil prices and the improvements with peace in the Niger Delta”, we should not fear the current terrible outcomes of his hast action. But in view of the declaration yesterday by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), that they will be compelled to resume with ferocious attacks on the oil industry at the end of their ceasefire on September 15, 2009 is Sanusi not being overly optimistic? Sanusi is neither the JTF commander nor the occupant of Aso Rock. He can but hope others would do their jobs as well as he is doing his. In my article elsewhere, I wrote: It is important to separate the multifaceted actions taken this week by Sanusi and analyse each on its merit rather than lumping them together. In this way, we could then analyse his decision to sack the bank bosses clear-eyed and devoid of emotion: Sanusi’s actions were threefold; Firstly, sacking of the Bank executives, releasing what CBN’s examiners unravelled following the audit exercise; secondly, releasing the names of Billionaire debtors that brought down the 5 Nigerian Banks and the details of their account, and: thirdly, handing them over to the EFCC for arrest and possible prosecution. As one CEO stressed: "it would be uncharacteristic for the CBN to remove the boards and management of financial institutions without meeting them and informing them of the infractions they had committed, be it under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) or the CBN Act. The rule of thumb is that they must be informed and are always instructed to rectify the infractions (including recapitalising the banks, where necessary), failing which the CBN can decide to impose whatever sanctions it deems necessary”. Why is Sanusi trying to destroy the bank confidence built up by the era of consolidation, complicated matters and harmed the economy? Sanusi warned during his FT interview that while making losses wasn't a crime concealing such losses was criminal. I believe the same holds true in all jurisdictions and is more than enough reason to throw out an entire board of directors. Why do we find this so alarming when we did not complain when Cadbury's CEO and Finance Director were sacked and reviled nationally for less grievous offences even though all that was at stake was their continued provision of Bournvita and Knorr? Yet when the CBN decides to save people's livelihoods, savings and lives we all say it has gone too far. Nigerians must be watchful. We have often been witnesses of Public officials cloth selfish group interests as national interest. The CBN is entitled to sanitise the banking sector, and ensure bank customers conform to banking rules and regulations. It also ensures bankers conform to the rules Rather than premature praise singing, it is time Nigerians begins to assert themselves and hold up our public officials to public scrutiny. Our problem is that we don’t hold these men to account. No one has yet raised a single valid point against Sanusi. What are we to hold him to account for? The fact is; for good or for ill, Sanusi is now there as the governor of the Central Bank of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the custodian of our commonwealth; so that whatever he does impacts and is reflected on you and me. And the whole world has been saluting his courage and integrity. check out the foreign media and institutions. Even Yaradua knows this is the best thing that ever happened to his govt. Same goes for other public officials; it is only by holding their feet to the fire will we make sure they are NOT carrying out a hidden agenda that is inimical to both your interest and mine. Pls do so but try and get something we can sink our teeth into next time. no use falsely crying wolf so much that if Sanusi actually decides to feral tomorrow no one would believe those raising the alarm. I have also written elsewhere that this is the type of aggressive approach we should bring to bear on examining our public officers. Sanusi and the CBN must go the whole hog for full disclosures on the remaining Banks. The procedures now begun should run their full course. The regulatory, supervisory and law enforcement authorities must work to contain the hypocrisy in the financial sector. The implications of non-conclusion of these initiatives will be horrendous. He has said he will be publishing NPLs above N100m in all banks. I trust he won't lose his courage from the numerous critics who have suddenly discovered the need to xray CBN policies. too bad they were not as up and doing when Soludo was allowing banks to buy their own shares and play the pump and dump scam in our stock market. or when he woke up to say he would spend a few more billions redenominating our currency just as soon as we had gotten used to the spanking new notes he had just printed for billions. or when he, about the same time, produced naira coins worth less than 1US cent and felt he could browbeat us into carrying the worthless weights around. last I heard about that he tried selling the stock of coins as scrap to metal bashers. not one peep from the latter day CBN watchdogs then. or when he stopped foreign banks with deep pockets and standard processes from taking over the cherished babies of his banking cohorts. Mr. Sanusi had assured the nation that the process is far from over as many more banks' books are still under examination. Nigerians await his findings. Due process and fairness must be adhered to. If you and your like will stop distracting him he will get on with the business. His appointment as govertnor of the CBN heralded much promise to the Nation, Over the years, some of the personnel that have been appointed to Nigeria's elevated position of Central Bank governorship left reputable legacies but many – the majority, had a disastrous tenure. Sanusi must not be allowed to thread that ignoble path. By God's continuing grace he shall not only perform well on this job but will be useful for our bleeding land at an even higher level.

acube  # 5 | 27.08.2009 14:40

Now that the initial euphoria of Hurricane Sanusi – the Tsunami that blew away the Chief Executives of 5 major banks in Nigeria, and exposed the nyash of Nigerian billionaires, political and business men of timber and calibre as mere debtors - has blown over, it is now time to sit back and reflect on the terrible consequences of Sanusi’s hasty action on the Nigeria financial market and ask sanusi a few questions. While Nigerians are generally happy that action are being taken to clear the rot in the banking sector, yet some are asking: Why would Sanusi rush to take action against 5 banks when the auditing of the remaining 14 banks is still ongoing? Could he have been compelled to move pre-emptively by the increasingly desperate actions of Erastus and Cecilia - kowtowing to all the emirs north of the Niger and abusing her links with the Guardian respectively? Why wait to conclude all 24 audits if the sick babies were already known and - more importantly - knew themselves? The self awareness of sickness explains the now famous Vanguard article referred to below. Obviously if the FIVE had consistently taken up 90% of the EDW facility and had dominated a similar percentage of the interbank market after Sanusi had guaranteed it then they knew their heads were on the chopping block since Sanusi was a very known quantity. They thus could come out with straw man articles that they felt would crimp Sanusi or anyone else used to replace Soludo who was so obviously compromised as guv. And yes. By the time the article was published Sanusi was known as front runner for the job. On Sunday June 28, 2009, LEADERSHIP Newspaper reported that the managing directors of 5 Nigerian major banks, “led by a Delta State-born Igbo-speaking boss of a first generation bank that is also one of the biggest banks in Africa, were said to have raised the slush fund of N2.5 billion to lobby President Yar’adua not to appoint Sanusi as Central Bank Governor; Is Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on a vendetta against this “Delta State-born Igbo-speaking boss” and her cohorts for leading the campaign against his candidacy? I read this back then and my view was that it was Jim Ovia the paper referred to. And shouldn't the real question be why Cecilia, Jim or any other bank MD would spend even a farthing lobbying for or against any prospective CBN guv? The rules of BOFIA and accounting are plain and easy for anyone to apply. If the MDs had ensured their banks were compliant they would not have to fear even the appointment of Turai as CBN guv. On March 23, 2009, under an article Group Plots Takeover of Five Top Banks; The VANGUARD Newspapers reported that ANTI-CONSOLIDATION forces have regrouped with the hope of dismantling the structures and forcing a takeover of the top five banks (The number 5 again!). The grand plan by the group, Vanguard said, is to cause panic and uncertainty in the industry and make the target banks look unsafe for depositors. Is this Sanusi’s agenda? Pls see response above. In the same article, Vanguard says that the group at work is made up of former bank owners who lost out during the consolidation exercise, a powerful clique in the present government, and some aggrieved persons in three of the six geopolitical zones in the country who felt left out in the consolidation exercise, Further, they ultimately plan to instigate government to take equity holdings in the targeted banks. Pls see response above. Now that Sanusi by injecting N400 Billion into 5 banks took equity holdings in the targeted banks, I wonder! Does that mean it would have been better to leave patently weak banks tottering until they fell from the sheer weight of years of mismanagement and corruption? Which of those banks did not have staff fleeing for other banks? Or did anyone else have N420b to save the banks with? On August 4, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in a certain telephone conversation said: “the removal of any bank’s board and its management would not in any way solve the systemic problems in the banking sector, and that the CBN’s immediate concern was on how to institute measures that would ensure that the banks are healthy and can meet minimum capital and liquidity ratio requirements to perform their primary role of intermediation at interest rates that do no emasculate the lending public”. What changed between August 4, and August 14? Reading that purported statement without preconception all I hear him saying is that removal of the MDs was not sufficient to save the banks. I don't hear him saying removing them is not necessary. The big question for those that know Sanusi-or those that thought they knew him- is: Who pushed him to act different from the viewpoint he expressed barely ten days earlier? Pls see response immediately above. Seeing the terrible repercussions on the Nigerian economy – the depreciated value of the Naira, freezing of foreign credit line, Standard & Poor's yesterday cut of Nigeria’s sovereign credit ratings by a notch to B-plus from BB-minus - Was Sanusi properly briefed on the effect his action would have on investor’s confidence on our economy and its banking system? Finally, was due process followed in sacking the bank bosses? Now this is a riot. Which devalued currency? What has changed about the naira between two weeks ago and now? How does any marginal blip compare to the gut wrenching plunge that our dear brother from the south confessed he deliberately orchestrated to help the govt finance the budget deficit in the face of lower dollar revenue? Can we just imagine Sanusi making that same statement and how the conspiracy theorists would have gone to town? Foreign credit lines to those banks were already frozen and there was an expose early this year about a PR ploy of Intercontinental's when it re-announced the granting of a piffling amount by the IFC, AFC or whoever which actually happened over a year ago as a new and validating event. S&P was the same dupe that told us these now troubled banks were the best thing since Croesus. but they performed the same havoc in its home country and were duly criticised after the meltdown stripped them and their patrons naked. As usual though, even as something goes out of fashion in the West it gains renewed currency in Naija. The release yesterday by Standard Chartered Bank's long term regional analyst puts paid to the issue of investor confidence and all other issues raised in this paragraph. Rather unusually for a bank, the report referred directly to the S&P opinion and thrashed it. Now that Sanusi has indicated no more bank bosses will be sacked no matter the findings of the result of the audit of the remaining ten banks; wouldn’t this give credence to the argument that the reserve bank by acting on the basis of CBN auditors’ findings to remove the board and management of 5 bank when it had not even had time to assess the findings of the audit report, nor finished the auditing of the remaining 14 banks were working to an answer; Why would Sanusi rush to take action against 5 banks when the auditing of the remaining 14 banks is still ongoing? Sanusi has not entirely ruled out the sacking of any other MDs. He merely said he thought it unlikely. I would have wondered what sort of insider Sanusi was and what sort of CBN guv he is if he did not know even before the audit which banks were in trouble. I would expect anybody working for even six months in the Treasury of any Nigerian bank to quickly know which banks it was unsafe to entrust interbank funds to. Or why was the interbank market frozen until Sanusi guaranteed it? If, despite his knowledge of the sector, the auditors, on close examination, find that there are other equally and criminally imperilled banks I trust he would do the necessary. Sanusi in an interview yesterday in Kinshasa where he’s attending a conference of African central bankers said tiven what’s happening with oil prices and the improvements with peace in the Niger Delta”, we should not fear the current terrible outcomes of his hast action. But in view of the declaration yesterday by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), that they will be compelled to resume with ferocious attacks on the oil industry at the end of their ceasefire on September 15, 2009 is Sanusi not being overly optimistic? Sanusi is neither the JTF commander nor the occupant of Aso Rock. He can but hope others would do their jobs as well as he is doing his. In my article elsewhere, I wrote: It is important to separate the multifaceted actions taken this week by Sanusi and analyse each on its merit rather than lumping them together. In this way, we could then analyse his decision to sack the bank bosses clear-eyed and devoid of emotion: Sanusi’s actions were threefold; Firstly, sacking of the Bank executives, releasing what CBN’s examiners unravelled following the audit exercise; secondly, releasing the names of Billionaire debtors that brought down the 5 Nigerian Banks and the details of their account, and: thirdly, handing them over to the EFCC for arrest and possible prosecution. As one CEO stressed: "it would be uncharacteristic for the CBN to remove the boards and management of financial institutions without meeting them and informing them of the infractions they had committed, be it under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) or the CBN Act. The rule of thumb is that they must be informed and are always instructed to rectify the infractions (including recapitalising the banks, where necessary), failing which the CBN can decide to impose whatever sanctions it deems necessary”. Why is Sanusi trying to destroy the bank confidence built up by the era of consolidation, complicated matters and harmed the economy? Sanusi warned during his FT interview that while making losses wasn't a crime concealing such losses was criminal. I believe the same holds true in all jurisdictions and is more than enough reason to throw out an entire board of directors. Why do we find this so alarming when we did not complain when Cadbury's CEO and Finance Director were sacked and reviled nationally for less grievous offences even though all that was at stake was their continued provision of Bournvita and Knorr? Yet when the CBN decides to save people's livelihoods, savings and lives we all say it has gone too far. Nigerians must be watchful. We have often been witnesses of Public officials cloth selfish group interests as national interest. The CBN is entitled to sanitise the banking sector, and ensure bank customers conform to banking rules and regulations. It also ensures bankers conform to the rules Rather than premature praise singing, it is time Nigerians begins to assert themselves and hold up our public officials to public scrutiny. Our problem is that we don’t hold these men to account. No one has yet raised a single valid point against Sanusi. What are we to hold him to account for? The fact is; for good or for ill, Sanusi is now there as the governor of the Central Bank of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the custodian of our commonwealth; so that whatever he does impacts and is reflected on you and me. And the whole world has been saluting his courage and integrity. check out the foreign media and institutions. Even Yaradua knows this is the best thing that ever happened to his govt. Same goes for other public officials; it is only by holding their feet to the fire will we make sure they are NOT carrying out a hidden agenda that is inimical to both your interest and mine. Pls do so but try and get something we can sink our teeth into next time. no use falsely crying wolf so much that if Sanusi actually decides to feral tomorrow no one would believe those raising the alarm. I have also written elsewhere that this is the type of aggressive approach we should bring to bear on examining our public officers. Sanusi and the CBN must go the whole hog for full disclosures on the remaining Banks. The procedures now begun should run their full course. The regulatory, supervisory and law enforcement authorities must work to contain the hypocrisy in the financial sector. The implications of non-conclusion of these initiatives will be horrendous. He has said he will be publishing NPLs above N100m in all banks. I trust he won't lose his courage from the numerous critics who have suddenly discovered the need to xray CBN policies. too bad they were not as up and doing when Soludo was allowing banks to buy their own shares and play the pump and dump scam in our stock market. or when he woke up to say he would spend a few more billions redenominating our currency just as soon as we had gotten used to the spanking new notes he had just printed for billions. or when he, about the same time, produced naira coins worth less than 1US cent and felt he could browbeat us into carrying the worthless weights around. last I heard about that he tried selling the stock of coins as scrap to metal bashers. not one peep from the latter day CBN watchdogs then. or when he stopped foreign banks with deep pockets and standard processes from taking over the cherished babies of his banking cohorts. Mr. Sanusi had assured the nation that the process is far from over as many more banks' books are still under examination. Nigerians await his findings. Due process and fairness must be adhered to. If you and your like will stop distracting him he will get on with the business. His appointment as govertnor of the CBN heralded much promise to the Nation, Over the years, some of the personnel that have been appointed to Nigeria's elevated position of Central Bank governorship left reputable legacies but many – the majority, had a disastrous tenure. Sanusi must not be allowed to thread that ignoble path. By God's continuing grace he shall not only perform well on this job but will be useful for our bleeding land at an even higher level.