The Nigerian economy is in grave danger of possible collapse, due mainly to wrong actions, decisions and comments of the governor of the Central Bank, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and if not urgently attended to the damage that he may leave after his tenure in office will take the nation’s economy more than 10 years to recover from.
This was the view of a professor of political economy and Director of Lagos Business School, Prof Pat Utomi while reacting to the change of position by Sanusi in the investigation of the almost $50billion he alleged was missing from the coffers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
Describing Sanusi as the wrong man for the job of the Central Bank governor because of his inability to control his emotions and lack of depth on some economic issues, Utomi wondered why Sanusi will always want to be the first to comment on critical national issues despite his sensitive position.
Reacting to the change of position of Sanusi who had in a memo to President Goodluck Jonathan, which was leaked to the press, accused the government-owned oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, of systematically diverting over N8 trillion crude oil sales proceeds being sales proceeds between January 2012 and July 2013, Utomi cautioned Sanusi to watch his steps.
Wondering if Sanusi is not aware of the implications of whatever he says about the economy, Utomi said, “the comments of a Central Bank governor can make an economy to collapse, the damage Nigeria has suffered from some of his mistakes will take the nation about 10 years to recover from.”
“I have always told him when we were friends that the last person to comment on an issue like missing money in the economy should be the Central Bank governor, because the comment of a Central Bank governor can make the economy to collapse.
“He cannot help himself, that is why I have always said that he is the wrong person for the job, because he reacts to emotion rather than thinking it through and if you are in such position you cannot afford such a luxury,” he said.
