
WHO WILL REBUILD UKRAINE?
The West should convert frozen Russian assets, both state's and oligarchs' owned, into a full seizure and set them aside for the future rebuilding of Ukraine. Like the Marshal Plan, call it the Putin Plan.
A HERO IS BORN.
I am staying put. I will not run away and abandon my people. The fight is here in Ukraine. What I need are weapons and ammunitions, not a ride out of town like former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani - President Volodymyr Zelensky.
IT IS WHAT IT IS.
"There is too much hate in America because there is too much anger in America." - Trevor Noah.
WORD!
A life without challenges is not a life lived at all. A life lived is a life that has problems, confronts problems, solves problems and then learns from problems. - Tunde Fashola.
NOW, YOU KNOW.
When fishing for love, bait with your heart and not your brain, because you cannot rationalize love. - Mark Twain.
JUST THE FACT.
In our country, you can shoot and kill a nigger, but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings - Dave Chappelle
DO YOU?.
“What you believe in can only be defined by what you’re willing to risk for it." - Stuart Scheller.
HEDGE YOUR CRISIS.
Never get in bed with a woman whose problems are worse than yours. - Chicago PD.
OUR SHARED HUMANITY.
Empathy is at the heart of who we are as human beings. - Cardinal Matthew Kukah.
WORD.
"If you cannot speak the truth when it matters, then nothing else you says matters.” - Tucker Carlson.
#MeToo MOVEMENT: A BAD NEWS GONE CRAZY.
"To all the women who testified, we may have different truth, but I have a great remorse for all of you. I have great remorse for all of the men and women going through this crisis right now in our country. You know, the movement started basically with me, and I think what happened, you know, I was the first example, and now there are thousands of men who are being accused and a regeneration of things that I think none of us understood. I’m not going to say these aren’t great people. I had wonderful times with these people. I’m just genuinely confused. Men are confused about this issue. We are going through this #MeToo movement crisis right now in this country." - Harvey Weinstein.
RON DELLUMS: UNAPOLOGETICALLY RADICAL.
"If it’s radical to oppose the insanity and cruelty of the Vietnam War, if it’s radical to oppose racism and sexism and all other forms of oppression, if it’s radical to want to alleviate poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, and other forms of human misery, then I’m proud to be called a radical.” - Ron Vernie Dellums.
WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN LIFE - STEVE JOBS
“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me. God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth. Memories precipitated by love is the only true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on. The most expensive bed in the world is the sick bed. You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear sickness for you. Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – Life. Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. Treat yourself well. Cherish others.” - SJ
EVIL CANNOT BE TRULY DESTROYED.
"The threat of evil is ever present. We can contain it as long as we stay vigilant, but it can never truly be destroyed. - Lorraine Warren (Annabelle, the movie)
ONLY THE POOR WISH THEY HAD STUFF?
“I’m not that interested in material things. As long as I find a good bed that I can sleep in, that’s enough.” - Nicolas Berggruem, the homeless billionaire.
Friday, June 5, 2009
SANUSI LAMIDO SANUSI, THE NEW CBN HONCHO?

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Sanusi Assumes Office As CBN Governor
ReplyDeleteBy David Agba Snr Correspondent, Abuja
Forty seven-year-old Lamido Sanusi on Thursday mounted the saddle as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, a smooth transition from being First Bank Managing Director.
Officials of CBN corporate affairs confirmed his arrival in Abuja, to take over from Deputy Governor, Ernest Ebi, to whom Chukwuma Soludo handed over before his exit on Monday.
Sanusi would also hold meetings with top management, including Deputy Governors and departmental Directors, who would brief him on the state of affairs to enable him get a grip on his tasks.
The Senate unanimously confirmed his appointment on Wednesday after nearly four hours of grilling which left the Senate hopeful of him doing a good job as CBN Governor.
The screening provided insight into the thinking of Sanusi on a variety of issues, including inflation, interest rates, Naira re-denomination, foreign exchange, financial regulation, consolidation, economic blue-print, and the payments system.
He said "re-denomination is done after you've conquered inflation. We've not reached that stage yet."
A risk expert, Sanusi believes in closer supervision of the financial institutions, stressing that markets should be properly regulated.
"If you have a market economy and there are not enough checks and balances, you'll have a market running out of control."
His position on the economic blue print of the government is instructive, saying infrastructure is the first item that needs tackling.
"My view is that until we address the infrastructure problem in this country, we will not even begin to solve our problems.
"As a matter of fact, my view is that in the seven-point agenda, if we could just focus on two or three things and finish them up in the next four years, we will be far more effective in contributing to this country than focusing on seven.
"This is a country where we do not have linkages. And because of the absence of linkages, we don't have economic growth. We produce gas and export it, we do not have power plants. We produce crude oil, we import refined petroleum products.
"If we can set up power plants and set up our refineries, their multiplier effects on the economy and on growth will be amazing. If we don't do that we cannot grow."
The usual suspects are cashing in to rattle sabres and generally constitute themselves into a nuisance as a bargaining chip for something untoward. This is their stock in trade and is to be expected. The President knew that Soludo's tenure was going to expire on May 29. He ought to have sent the name of a replacement for such a vital post at least a month in advance.
ReplyDeleteThe president of the United States, Barack Obama was commendably fast off the block in nominating a replacement for the departing Supreme Court Justice David Souter. It has since been well known that the Obama administration has candidates lined up and vetted to send forth if any crucial openings occur. In the case of David Souter's retirement, President Obama had hardly any notice at all about the impending retirement. President Yar'Adua on the other hand had all the notice in the world about when Soludo's fixed tenure would end. It is a shame he was not pro-active.
What is as nauseating as it is unacceptable is the intellectual and moral dishonesty involved in the self-serving anti Sanusi campaign. Those involved in this dirty enterprise might care to recall as the Next on Sunday so sensibly pointed out last Sunday that " ...under the former President, the finance minister (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala), the CBN governor (Soludo), the chief economic adviser to the president (Osita Ogbu), the chief of due process in procurement (Oby Ezekwesili), the chief of the privatization agency (Irene Chigbue), the director general of the stock exchange (Ndidi Okereke-Onyuike), the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (John Edozien) and so forth, all had the same ethnic background."
A stress test of the 'banks' will reveal something rather untoward. This is why some people who might be having useful discussions with the Economic and Finance Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the director of public prosecutions are very disturbed. Frankly, I can't say I blame them. What normal human being wants to get off the gravy train?
Furthermore, a stress test of some the banks could lead to the dissolution of their boards and a government-led re-capitalisation. Here we can see that there is a lot more in play than meets the eye. Again, here we are in complete agreement with the editorial of Next on Sunday which correctly pointed out that "....we need a new CBN chief appropriate for these dire economic times, one who would be more alert to recklessness by large financial institutions, who pays more attention to risks that may endanger our economic health, who removes the vulgar flamboyance now clearly attached to the office, and whose reputation for straight dealing and integrity will inevitably make it easier for a necessary cleanup of our banking system to commence."
It is however ironic that the federal character purveyors are being hoisted by their own petard. The debilitation of the system becomes obvious by the day. Those who have long championed this iniquitous system are now becoming its victims. How the revolution devours its own!Unfortunately, Yar'Adua himself has not been of great help. He has foisted an image of insularity, and inward-looking parochialism. There is a lot of ammunition which can be used against him on this front. Since the inception of his administration a general impression has been allowed to take root that appointments have been generally skewed towards a section of the country. This is now being seized upon as a weapon to use against an otherwise inspired nomination. This is the sort of unintended(?) hassle the federal character process brings forward. The day must soon come when a few key offices of state requiring proven technical capacity and preparation will have to be insulated from the federal character logjam. We must face up to the reality that as society becomes more complex and talent even more scarce the federal character bugbear will have to be reinvented.
...Again, Federal Character Tension Mounts In Abuja
ReplyDeleteFrom Martins Oloja (Abuja Bureau Chief)
THE impact of the performance of the new Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, at the Senate screening last week had fizzled out by the weekend.
Reason: Tempers of political leaders and observers have been rising in Abuja over what some of the distraught persons called "brazen northernisation of Nigeria's public service offices."
This grumbling over national question is crystallizing, as some political leaders, even within the ruling party, are still smarting that most of the notable ministries, including the Petroleum Resources, Agriculture and Water Resources, Finance, National Planning, Federal Capital Territory, Works and Housing, Justice, among others, have gone to the North.
But in the North itself (where there are 19 States and three geopolitical zones) there are loud complaints that most of the jobs are going to only a few northern States, especially Kano, Katsina, Bauchi and Kaduna.
The renewed agitation over national question, which resurfaced last March as top vacancies existed in the federal public service, was exclusively reported in The Guardian of March 15 and 22.
Then that the Yar'Adua administration was said to be gathering intelligence on where the likely successors of Ms Amal Pepple, current Head of Service; Mr. Mike Okiro, Inspector-General of Police and Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, then CBN Governor, would come from.
Last week, successor to Soludo, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, a noted "risk management" expert, emerged from the mainstream of the banking sector.
But Sanusi's sheer brilliance at the televised Senate screening was overshadowed by hushed talks at the Senate chambers about the curious domination of the finance, military and security sectors by indigenes of Kano State and, indeed, the North.
The Finance Minister, Dr. Mansur Muhtar; the National Planning Minister, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman (formerly finance minister); Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, CBN Governor; National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Abdullahi Sarki Mukhtar (rtd), and Chief of Army Staff, General A. Dambazau, all hail from Kano State.
The Chief Economic Adviser to the President is Malam Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi from Katsina State. In the same vein, the current Accountant-General of the Federation (appointed by Obasanjo) is from Gombe State.
Minister of State, Remi Babalola, insisted that the seven-point agenda is vital to economic transformation, and the government would pursue the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Vision 2020 that would make Nigeria one of the 20 largest economies.
ReplyDeleteSanusi had said at his job interview with Senators last week that infrastructure is critical to the actualisation of the agenda, and until it is tackled the country will not solve problems.
He maintained that "the seven point-agenda, if we could just focus on two or three things and finish them up in the next four years, we will be far more effective in contributing to this country than focusing on seven.
"This is a country where we do not have linkages. And because of the absence of linkages, we don't have economic growth. We produce gas and export it, we do not have power plant.
"We produce crude oil, we import refined petroleum products. If we can set up power plants, set up our refineries, their multiplier effects on the economy and on growth is amazing; and if we don't do that we cannot grow."
But Adeniyi explained that sourcing power or gas could not be divorced from the Niger Delta question, just as other issues such as physical and food security could not be ignored.
"Even at that, paying more attention to power and infrastructure does not mean you have to neglect the Niger Delta, because if you do, the power agenda would be dead on arrival.
"I know that power is central to everything, and so does (Yar'Adua), and that is why he is taking the Niger Delta situation very seriously - because without tackling that problem, we will not have power after we have made so much investment in turbines.
"I am also aware that once the current negotiations with the owners of about 3,000 trailers on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway are concluded, hopefully within the next few weeks, the company which recently won the concession of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway will commence work. Many others lined up for concession will follow".
"(Yar'Adua) said at the time those trees were planted years ago and with probably billions of Naira spent to nurture them, someone must have known that the airport road was designed for 10 lanes.
"Yet, they erected NEPA (electricity) poles and planted trees very close to the four-lane road such that to extend the road now, you have to cut down those beautiful trees and the power poles will have to be relocated. That episode alone tells a story about our nation."
Besides, he noted, "the dredging of River Niger, which has been so much talked about since independence, will also be undertaken this year. The contractors have mobilised to the site and are just waiting for the water level to rise. The dredging will start next month with expectation that it will be completed before December.
"Last week Tuesday, (Yar'Adua) held a meeting with the Governors of the eight states along the River Niger channel, which is more than 500 kilometres - Niger, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Imo, Rivers, and Bayelsa - on the benefit derivable from the project not only to these states but the entire nation and the West African sub-region."
"I am not sure that is what Sanusi meant. He was talking of focus and prioritisation. The new CBN governor knows that the seven-point agenda presents a multi-pronged development platform.
"The issues and challenges are not mutually exclusive. No doubt, power sector is the number one priority of this administration. All resources are channeled to power sector solution. How do we attain the MDGs and the National Vision 2020 without focusing on human capital, national security, food security, and wealth creation?" he queried.
"The bottom-line is transformation of poverty to prosperity. We are all on the same page (with Sanusi) on the welfare of Nigerians."