When Chukwuma Soludo was appointed the Central Bank Governor by Olusegun Obasanjo, there were criticisms following his appointment. Some experts were stunned by Obasanjo’s decision not to appoint a banker but instead pick a professor and lecturer to head the sensitive government agency. Soludo immediately justified the critics by raising the banks’ capital base to N25 billion naira from N2 billion. I remember an article titled Soludo; Banking is no Ludo to ridicule his bold move to strengthen the financial services through a well-capitalised bank.
Soludo, now the governor of Anambra state, once said he meets with Obasanjo every 3 am to brief the president on the state of the economy and his reforms. That is a massive amount of hard work for a lecturer who was used to sleeping at that time. Res Ipsa Loquitur, the fact speaks for itself. Obasanjo’s administration was a strong point in Nigeria’s economy, given the performance of his successors. The exchange was N120 per dollar during his time, unlike the current rate of over N800 per dollar. Nigeria was stable, and people were less hungry than they are today. There was hope for the nation and her people. Although average in communication and presidential mannerisms, Obasanjo was faithful, available and teachable to a reasonable extent. He discovered and gathered the best of technocrats like Soludo and Nasir El-Rufai, among others. He was successful with being teachable and listening to expert opinions. He performed well during his eight-year tenure and failed in two areas. Obasanjo would have been a hero had he successfully delivered the power project. Instead, he wasted many resources without any legacy of outcome. He pushed for a third term in office, which was infamously aborted. Maybe the third time would have been a success story in its illegality.
To be vulnerable as a leadership coach, I secretly supported Obasanjo’s third time agenda due to his performance and secondly due to the fact. The fact is that nearly all the third-world countries that transformed into first-world countries were not led by a democratic government. Democracy in African settings without institutions is a veritable platform for corruption, entitlement, poverty, and deprivation of value. We can see that all over the place. Ghana’s transformation was not in a democratic setting. The Rwanda trajectory is in a camouflaged democracy.
Fast forward to our current ordeal; the economy is at its lowest ebb. The recent probing of the Central Bank of Nigeria attests that Godwin Emefiele needed to be more faithful, available and teachable as the CBN Governor. The scandals and revelations regarding his infamous policies, the printing of new notes, and the suffering he inflicted on Nigerians are unforgettable. Kingsley Moghalu described Emefiele as the worst CBN governor in history. No one had the licence to make such a pronouncement than the erstwhile CBN Deputy Governor. The revelation that Buhari did not approve the Naira redesign project was a testimony to the absentee nature of Buhari’s presidency and the lack of oversight over Emefiele, who had a free day in office to take instructions from Buhari’s aides and family members.
Where is Muhammadu Buhari? Buhari did much damage to Nigeria and Nigerians. He set Nigeria backwards for twenty years with eight years of being the most aloof, insensitive and incompetent president the world has ever witnessed. Would Nigeria learn her lessons?
Fast forward to our current ordeal; the economy is at its lowest ebb. The recent probing of the Central Bank of Nigeria attests that Godwin Emefiele needed to be more faithful, available and teachable as the CBN Governor. The scandals and revelations regarding his infamous policies, the printing of new notes, and the suffering he inflicted on Nigerians are unforgettable.
Let’s do a pairing game. Soludo is a CBN Governor under Buhari, while Emefiele is a CBN Governor under Obasanjo. Would the outcome be different?
Let’s assume Soludo is a FAT person. A CBN Governor who is faithful, available and teachable (FAT). He would have followed the ethics of his position and done the right things working with any leader. However, having an absentee president like Buhari will give him a free hand to do what is good for the nation and the position of trust bestowed on him. Let’s assume the known Emefiele, who is unfaithful, unavailable and unteachable, got himself a role under Obasanjo. Obasanjo’s availability and demand for accountability would make Emefiele to have to sit up to his duties or be excited for lack of performance and conformity with the ethics of his position. In a nutshell, Obasanjo’s availability and accountability posture, whether he was an expert or not, contributed to the success of Soludo and the progress the economy witnessed under his watch as the CBN Governor. It would not have been better if Soludo was not alive to his responsibility because he would have been replaced by Obasanjo, who was alive to his duty as the chief economic officer of the country.
If Buhari was alive to his responsibilities even with apparent lack of capacity, Emefiele would not have had a free day to wreak havoc on over two hundred million Nigerians. Therefore, there is leadership absenteeism Buhari exuded that gave Nigeria out his appointees with their own agendas. We voted for a man without capacity, thinking his perceived integrity would save us. Unfortunately, his integrity was soiled in the scandals of those he appointed, and his lack of capacity destroyed value for Nigerians. It is good that President Tinubu is saddled with the responsibility of clearing the mess he was a messenger in creating. He need not complain as he was part of the people who sold an incapable and nepotic president to us.
A leadership vacuum is more damaging to the people than to the leaders who decide to live in the vacuum. The leaders are happily fulfilling their ambitions and egos with the title of being the leaders. At the same time, those who bear the brunt of their ineptitude are the institutions, people, and organisations’ images that are set backwards.
Buhari’s experience should be preserved in our memory for a long time. It will be a learning point in deciding who to elect or not to elect. Tinubu did not create the problems but got to fix them, even at a cost to him and his people. For people like Emefiele, who are dominant in our private and public life, a free day from the leaders’ scrutiny is an opportunity to do what is best and rightful without being monitored. It is time to show the strength of your character and do what will outlive your position as a leader. It is not an opportunity to cut corners, be unavailable to your conscience, damage people, and destroy the trust in your position.
Emefiele’s ordeal is strange and well-deserving in a country that lacks accountability. I hope the government will see this to an end and put more searchlights on all those who have an absentee leader in Buhari. If Tinubu could do this for Nigeria, posterity will judge him right, irrespective of his position in the next four years. I know that neither Atiku nor Obi has the character and wherewithal to lead us out of the messes Buhari inflicted on us.
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