Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the suspended and victimized Nigeria’s apex
bank chief is already my man of the year for 2013- he has oscillated
from my enemy to my friend, my whistle-blower and my hero. In Nigeria
where religious and tribal sentiments have beclouded our reasoning that
we do not see anything good in someone from another tribe, religion,
political party or ideological leaning, it is not surprising to close
associates that I have failed to crucify Sanusi the manner the $20
billion dollar oil thieves and their ethnically and religiously
brainwashed followers wanted.
Sanusi represents many things in Nigeria. In an earlier piece “Presidential Victimization of Sanusi and the treasonable theft of $20 billion dollars’,
I posited that “To many persons, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi represents many
things-To majority of Christians in Nigeria, he is a religious
fundamentalist who wanted to impose Islamic Banking on the nation. To
some Churches, he is the villain who ordered the freezing of the
accounts on accounts of terrorism. To some indigenes of Southern parts
of Nigeria, he is a suspected Boko Haram sponsor. To the Kano Citizens,
he is the Best successor to the throne of the Emirship of Kano. To International investors, he restored confidence in the Nigerian economy. To stock brokers, he maintained stability in the stock exchange market.
To business men, he controlled inflation and brought it to all time low
in many years. To corrupt bankers, he is the demon who is worse than
the EFCC, seeking to retrieve money that is not his father’s .To PDP
politicians; he is the Lucifer who wants to stop the accumulation of
funds to prosecute the 2015 presidential elections. To financially aware
depositors, he is the champion who ensured that every fund they
deposited in any bank in Nigeria is always available on demand even at huge cost to national treasury”.
Sanusi is my enemy because he donated CBN money to the tune of N100
million naira to victims of Boko Haram in Kano while abandoning that
of other states especially from South East of Nigeria- he could have
extended same to others.
Sanusi is my enemy because while he was proposing his Islamic Bank (which I am not against), he should have given force to our proposals for a Christian Bank.
Sanusi is my enemy because during his tenure as CBN chief, he
reserved most plum jobs for his tribesmen to the detriment of other
equally competent persons from the rest of the country.
Sanusi is my enemy because he mischievously blocked bank accounts
of many churches in Nigeria whilst seeking for sponsors of Boko Haram.
Sanusi is however my friend because he dealt with monarchical bank
chiefs who bled the Nigerian economy with sharp practices, enriching
their pockets at the expense of genuine business credit administration.
Sanusi is my friend because he frowned at the huge cost of
maintaining government establishments especially the National Assembly
while leaving little for capital development.
Sanusi is my friend because he maintained the stability of the
naira especially at the time thieving government officials at the
federal and state levels are illegally transferring over $25 billion
dollars annually at great cost to capital retention in the economy.
Sanusi is my friend because he used federal reserves to shore up
bank reserves of distressed banks, thereby giving Nigerian depositors
ultra-caste protection and restoring confidence in the banking system.
Sanusi is my friend because while hiding the identity of certain
religious leaders, he attacked their acts of aiding and abetting corrupt
practices among the banking communities in Nigeria.
Sanusi is my hero because led or (misled) the international
community to believe that poverty is largely responsible for militancy
in the north-thereby effectively drawing international sympathy to his
northern brothers- something our Igbo politicians are too timid to do.
Sanusi is my hero because he exposed the level of rot among the
governors of South South region who stole their states blind and
enriched banks and businesses in the US and Europe- while leaving their
people in poverty.
Sanusi is my whistle blower
because he refused to be bribed, settled or intimidated into stomaching
a monumental corruption that can cause $ 20 billion dollars (N3.6
trillion naira) to disappear in just eighteen months under his
constitutional oversight. He sided with the Nigerian people instead of
the looters.
I have said it at different public forums that an Igbo man who used
his influence to attract $ 1 billion dollars of national cake to
develop the South East is far better than one who stole $ 10 billion
dollars and reserved it for his family in a foreign bank. Sanusi’s
intervention fund favored the north more than the south. He is better
than other government officials who embezzled hundreds of billions for
the benefits of their family while abandoning the rest of the north in
poverty.
Sansusi in my view is not as bad as people tried to portray him. He
has a rare courage lacking in most establishment critics. He
understands the level of poverty of his people and knew what to do to
help them, hence his Islamic Bank. However, the manner the bank was
presented to the public was very offensive and attracted enemies. Sanusi
was looking for sponsors of Boko Haram and asked banks to blocked
accounts of some churches till they meet certain suspicious guidelines. I
found that act irritating, thus when my fellow senior Christian clerics
ordered me to rescue the situation, I carefully released a report on
the issue causing the apex bank to refreeze churches accounts within 24
hours.
Were Sanusi to be Igbo, with his abrasive adamancy, the entire
world would have known that some blood thirsty Nigerians murdered 2
million Igbos unjustly, and probably the international community would
have forced the Nigerian State to pay reparations in trillions of naira.
Were he to be Igbo, probably a new Niger Bridge, Onitsha Sea Port and
Umuahia International Airport would wither have been built or nearing
completion stages.
Sanusi occasionally exhibits official recklessness, which in
itself could be irritating. However, his official recklessness equally
saved the banking industry, stabilized the naira, reduced inflation and
exposed monumental corruption. Let us see Sanusi through lens devoid of
tribal sentiments or religious animosity and many could agree that
Sanusi could be an enemy, a friend, a hero and a whistle blower all
rolled into one.
