By Olalekan Adetayo

Saturday, 22 Jan 2011

The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido, has said that four of the big commercial banks in the country will sign a Memorandum of Understanding in the next couple of weeks as a way of starting a process of capitalisation.

He said the move was part of the banking reforms being carried out by the CBN.

Lamido stated this in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, during his investiture as the Man of the Year 2010 by the African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc, publishers of the Tribune titles.

Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State was decorated as the newspaper’s Governor of the Year 2010 at the ceremony.

Reeling out the various gains of the reforms in the banking sector, Lamido said that the nation would have lost over N2tn if the CBN did not act at the time it did then.

He said that though the reforms met with resistance from Nigerians initially, the various revelations from the affected banks had vindicated him and the management team.

He said, “When we started, the reforms met with anger, shock and allegations of hidden agenda based on religion and ethnicity. Those who commented then did not have access to the information available to us.

“Over N2tn would have been lost if we did not act the way we did. They were using your money to buy aircraft and properties abroad. They were using your deposits to speculate in stock exchange. We have since been vindicated that the decision was taken in good faith. We have not finished yet.”

Lamido said that there was the need for hard work in 2011 and 2012 before the CBN could say confidently that the crisis was completely over.

He said the bank’s achievements in the last 18 months had shown that there was hope for the country if Nigerians remained focussed.

Akpabio, while commending the organisers of the event, dedicated his award to the children of the state, who he said had a bleak future until his administration introduced free education and therefore restored their hope for a better tomorrow.

Earlier, the newspapers’ Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Rev. Sam Adesua, said that the event was organised to encourage public officers to be on the side of probity and good governance.

In doing that, Adesua said the newspaper was adopting the social responsibility theory of the press, which states essentially that the purpose of a press outfit is to inform, entertain and sell, and resolve conflicts through discourse.

He said that out of several eminent Nigerians who qualified for the award, the two were found to be outstanding. He said Lamido was chosen because he introduced and implemented a comprehensive set of banking sector reforms.

“The policy was loved by many, condemned by some, but it has recorded global acclaim,” Adesua added.

In justifying Akpabio’s award, the MD said the governor constructed Africa’s first underground tunnel, stretching from Ikot Ekpene Road in the state capital to the Atlantic Ocean.

Through the project, he added, the problem of erosion, which had been ravaging the state for years, had been effectively checked.

Source: Punch