Yar'Adua restores agenda for economic recovery

His Excellency President Umaru Yar Adua (Nigeria)

His Excellency President Umaru Yar'Adua has again made another remarkable step to rekindle the image of his administration for good, following the appointment of Mr. Sanusi Lamido as the new governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), after the expiration of Charles Soludo's 5-year tenure.

Before this appointment Sanusi Lamido has recorded long years of meritorious service and experience in the Nigeria money market and ultimately he was the Group MD/CEO First bank of Nigeria Plc.

Sanusi would in no doubt be benchmarked with his predecessor, Prof. Charles Soludo who is leaving behind some enviable track records that may be difficult for him to match. Besides, Lamido will be in full control of the management of CBN, at a time when the Nigeria economy and financial system is seemingly contending with the global economic mishap, low commodity prices, depleting foreign reserve and a depreciating naira to mention a few. Political autonomy is another factor he would have to contend with since he was appointed by the President, who also has such powers to terminate his appointment subject to the approval of the parliamentarians as the case may be.

Another onerous task that would be expected of the governor would be to draw on his wealth of experience as a credit and enterprise risk specialist, banker and economist. His antecedent in these departments especially at UBA where he performed remarkably as a risk expert before he joined First Bank would come in very handy in solidifying the operations in the Nigeria financial system and improving disclosure and transparency by banks. The CBN governor is expressly the head of the financial service industry, and as such would be accessed in the context of the viability of the industry both micro and macro.

Moreover, he would also be expected to intensify his efforts to sanitise the banking system from the problems of rapid growth. Again CBN is primarily judged and perceived to be sailing positively when there are adequate control of inflation and monetary stability and as such he would be expected to do justice to that due to the wealth of his experience. In this regard all eyes will be on him in the manner he spearhead innovative and credible banking reform, that can restore confidence in the system and curtail lapses for general economic good.

However, Nigerians would always remember former CBN governor, Professor Charles Soludo for his strategic and competent initiative, which is geared on a reform oriented monetary policy framework and also for positioning the banking industry to be fairly competitive. Essentially the 5-year Soludo's tenure as the CBN helmsman has been quite commendable. The recapitalisation and consolidation of Nigerian banks is key milestone that Soludo would always be known for in the financial sector.

Past governors of Central Bank of Nigeria who have displayed outstanding qualities while in office are Clement Isong (Akwa-Ibom), Adamu Ciroma (Yobe); Dr. Ola Vincent (Lagos), Abdulkadir Ahmed (Bauchi), Paul Ogwuma (Abia) Joseph Sanusi (Ondo) and the current Professor Charles Soludo (Anambra).

Emmanuel Ajibulu is a Nigerian and representative of modernghana.com in Nigeria with the mandate to cover newsworthy events particularly in entertainments and politics.

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