The Cartoonist Blogger

In what has sent tongues wagging and tempers rising over the sheer invidiousness of the gesture, Mallam Sanusi Lamido, CBN Governor made a donation of N100 million to victims of the recent Kano bomb blast perpetrated by Boko Haram.

Any attempt to bring succor to people in sorrow and assuage their pain deserves commendation. Mallam Sanusi in ordinary terms and different circumstances has performed a noble act of philanthropy. But that act has won him, not the commendation, but the anger and condemnation of many Nigerians who see in his apparent act of kindness evidence of double standard, moral failure if not criminal abuse of position. For one, Mallam Sanusi who many have for long seen as a religious bigot, fundamentalist and ethnic throwback, is from Kano. He is in fact from a prominent lineage of the Kano ruling elite. Sanusi’s critics want to know what makes Kano deserving of this act of philanthropy than other towns and cities of, even the North, that have come under the terrorist ministration of Boko Haram. Is this not a case of partiality to one’s kith and kin?

A more fundamental question, one that calls attention to potential abuse of office of a criminal kind, is that which seeks to know from which source Sanusi derives the authority to dole out such largesse. As a public servant, a political appointee, is the CBN governor empowered to dole out such amount of funds, the question goes? Even ministers have a financial ceiling (N50 million?) beyond which they cannot go without approval from a higher authority.

Many Have Been Asking From what section of the rules and regulations guiding the office of the CBN governor does Sanusi get the authorization to give out public money in this fashion? Was it his personal money? If not, where did he get the money from? And why was it presented as a personal act of kindness? However, the CBN has come out to say that the donation was part of its Corporate Social Responsibility which is backed by regulation.

Another report gave it out that Mallam Sanusi has promised to return the money should it be found that it was unauthorised. But where will he get the money to repay from- the same CSR fund from which he took it in the first instance? What evidence can the CBN provide for past acts of CSR in this regard?

The donation of N100 million is quite a little sum compared to the loss and pain, a lot of it irreparable, suffered by the people of Kano and other parts of Nigeria that have been visited by the mindless terrorism of Boko Haram. How much can be paid to the many dead or their dependants who died or lost property in Kano? Is it those made orphans, widows and widowers, in the Christmas day bombing in Madalla that some donation of money will compensate? No amount of money would be enough for such people. But what is being questioned here is the principle behind Mallam Sanusi’s act of kindness.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has said the apex bank has reached the desired degree of stability for the Naira and does not have a cause to be concerned over inflation due mostly to recent stability in its core components.

He said: “When the naira reached N167 to the US dollar in October, every currency was going through a crisis. Now, we have retraced that. We have created the stability that we needed. We have stopped the panic”

Inflation rose to 10.5 per cent in October from 10.3 per cent in September, but Sanusi said a breakdown of month-on-month numbers shows that “inflation has come down on all three components: headline, core and food inflation.” According to him, “year-on-year, core (inflation) hasn’t increased which has not been the increasing trend seen in the past. Month-to-month (inflation) has been moderating and core (inflation) is also not increasing (which) would suggest that as far as non-structural components are concerned at this moment … we don’t have a cause for concern.”

The CBN governor, also, disclosed that the bank might reduce its exposure to euro and buy Chinese renminbi. He added that the exposure to renminbi might “most likely” result in arbitrage deals to the detriment of the euro.

Well Thanks that the Price is currently stable and won't go above these figures.

Nigeria's state asset management firm AMCON has signed an agreement to take over three nationalised banks that failed to recapitalise after a $4 billion bailout in 2009, its chief said on Saturday. AMCON was set up last year to absorb bad bank loans, exchanging them for government-backed bonds, with the aim of rebuilding commercial bank balance sheets.

"The primary objective is to stabilise the banking system ... AMCON will now supervise the management of these banks," AMCON head Mustapha Chike-Obi told reporters at a conference in the commercial hub Lagos.

Amcon, as the state-owned company is known, took over Afribank Plc, Bank PHB Plc (PLATINUM) and Spring Bank Plc (SPRINGBK) on Aug. 6 after the central bank revoked their licenses the day before, saying they were unlikely to meet a Sept. 30 deadline to recapitalize. This action is the latest by the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Lamido Sanusi to clean up the banking industry after the global financial crisis led to about $10 billion of toxic debts on lenders’ books.

The central bank deputy governor said recapitalisation agreements signed with investors by four of the other rescued banks would solve around 80 percent of the banking crisis.

Nigeria will inject 679 billion naira ($4.5 billion) into three banks nationalized by the government two days ago in a further step to restore stability in the banking system of Africa’s biggest oil producer. The cash injection into the new banks will raise their capital adequacy ratio to the required 15 percent and enable them to repay the capital provided by the central bank in 2009, The funds will be raised through bond sales today and paid to the banks, Mustafa Chike-Obi, managing director of Asset Management Corp. of Nigeria, said by phone from Lagos.

“The Nigerian Stock Exchange has placed the shares of the affected banks on full suspension as a first step towards their delisting from the Daily Official List,” the bourse said today in a statement on its website. This means that no trading will occur in the shares of these banks as they “no longer exist following the revocation of their licenses.”

Amcon, which was set up by the government to buy the bad debt of banks, assured depositors on Aug. 6 they won’t lose their money. New boards of directors were appointed for the lenders, which were renamed Mainstreet Bank Ltd., Keystone Bank Ltd. and Enterprise Bank Ltd. respectively.

Amcon appointed Jacob Ajekigbe, a former managing director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc, as chairman of Keystone Bank and Oti Ikomi as managing director, it said in an e-mailed statement. Falalu Bello was named chairman of Mainstreet Bank, with Faith Tuedor-Matthews the managing director. Emeka Onwuka, a former managing director of Diamond Bank Plc, was appointed chairman and Ahmed Kuru managing director of Enterprise Bank.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should share in the blame for the crises which led to last week's acquisition of Bank PHB, Spring Bank and Afribank.

NLC President, Comrade Abdulwahed Omar, said this was because the interim managers who were appointed by the CBN failed to revive the fortunes of the banks although he conceded that the reasons given for the takeover of the banks seemed plausible.

Omar, in a statement made available to THISDAY in Abuja Tuesday, queried the guarantee being offered that the bridge banks floated by the CBN through the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) would not suffer the same fate.

He called for measures to be put in place to protect depositors' funds and workers in the affected banks as well as attempts to redress the plight of shareholders some of whom are poor Nigerian working people.

He again called for more vigilance by all stakeholders in the banking sector while calling for a rooting out of the issue of falsification of financial records for narrow gains and make-believe profits.

This move many believe will help strenghten Nigeria's banking sector.

Single tenure was not my idea; it was the idea of the committee that I chaired - Says President Jonathan.

Reacting to criticism that has followed reports that President Goodluck Jonathan plans to forward a bill to the National Assembly that calls for the establishment of a single term tenure for the president and governors, the president pointed out that the idea did not originate from him, but was raised, discussed and accepted in a committee that included all political parties, except ACN.

The inter-party committee had been set up by the late President Yar’Adua, who sent a memo to the Justice Muhammadu Uwais Committee on Electoral Review, as a contribution to the committee’s efforts to find lasting solution to the crisis of confidence that trails elections in Nigeria.

“Before I take any decision, I used to consult. But, that is not the end of consultation. It is a major chain. So, before I can send such a bill to the National Assembly, I will consult with the governors because, any constitutional amendment involves the states and if they are not on the same page with you, there is no way such an amendment can easily sail through.”

“I have not even discussed with the governors. I have never. He also explained how the issue got to the attention of the populace, saying “I asked one or two people about this and I felt that it was a good idea. So, the issue leaked out to the press and instead of talking about whether the issue is a single tenure or we should continue with the tenure, people are rather pinning it to elongation of tenure.

“Because of those challenges, the late President set up the Justice Uwais Committee to look into Electoral Reform and so on. He also asked all the parties to come together and form a team so that all the parties will submit a common position. And he asked me then as the Vice-President, to chair the inter-party committee to come up with a common memorandum to the Justice Uwais Committee. “I chaired that committee. We invited all the parties that formed government and they participated. Only ACN did not participate. To be fair to them, the other parties attended and we spent almost three weeks or a month. The report is there.

“Because the way the information flowed, we said we will correct the impression. I have nothing to do with the four year presidency that Nigerians have given to us. We just wanted to clarify it and I think we need to mention that it was not my idea; it was the idea of the committee that I chaired which we believe those of us, the majority members of the committee believe, is the best option.”

On The Other Hand Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has said contrary to public perception, it was not his idea to introduce Islamic banking - also known as "non-interest banking" - into the Nigerian financial system. The credit, he said, should go to his predecessor in office, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, whom he said developed the processes and procedures for the formation and implementation of the system before he left office in 2009.

"I inherited the idea. A committee on the formation of Islamic bank was appointed and this was led by a Deputy Governor of the CBN Mr. Tunde Lemo... the committee was fully satisfied with the proposal and formation. So this is not my idea, I met it on ground."

Here are some Other Comments Made by People in response to the Comic Presentation of this issue. and sorry this funny comic photo is not my Idea oh I only copied it.

Thanks.