It would be easy to reach the conclusion as some have done that Lamido Sanusi by his suspension from his job as governor of the central bank is being persecuted because he stands against corruption. Given that he published figures which he claims is missing from the federation account in a nation already consumed by corruption, it is not too surprising that the perception of persecution is rife in some quarters, yet on closer scrutiny it would become obvious that Lamido Sanusi acted unprofessionally and went beyond his remit as governor of the central bank in his activities and public pronouncements.
All over the world and even in the most advanced democracies that we seek to emulate, public officials and appointees such as the central bank governor in particular are not allowed to be involved in partisan politics or to make political statements. A central bank governor is supposed to concentrate on his job of regulating the financial system and advising the government. A bank governor who goes beyond his professional remit and dabbles into partisan politics would immediately have to resign even in the much admired advanced democracies. In the case of Lamido Sanusi not only did he violate the ethics of his job by vaulting into partisan politics, he actually went beyond that by becoming an open critic of the government he serves.
Making reckless statements and dishing out contradictory figures which he claimed was not remitted from NNPC to the central bank was quite unprofessional. First he claimed $49 billion was missing then he revised it, apologised for the mistake and said it was $10 billion that was missing, then he revised it again and said it was $12 billion, not done; he revised it again and said it was $20 billion. He exhibited an unbelievable level of recklessness and unprofessionalism in bandying out contradictory figures over such a sensitive issue. I do not know any nation where such irresponsibility and recklessness by a central bank governor would be tolerated.
Sanusi is within his rights to go into partisan politics but he should have done the honourable thing and resigned once he became at odds with his principal and gone into full scale politicking and whistle blowing as the case maybe. Curiously he chose to stay on, arrogantly taking on an air of impunity and believing that he can quite simply eat his cake and still have it by going beyond his remit, daring the president and believing that he cannot be removed. In wearing the cloak of impunity, he obviously calculated that since the president needed the approval of the senate to remove him, the nations well worn ethnic and religious contradictions would deny the president such a majority and he could somehow remain in office in spite of his unprofessional conducts. He forgot the often spoken mantra that the law is an arse which can be twisted in all ways. It only needed sometime for the presidents handlers and advisers to find another way of giving him the booth.
Both Sanusi and the president would be guilty of impunity, but more so Sanusi who abused his office and yet refused to resign because he was intent on exploiting the ethno-religious contradictions to remain in office. Sanusi is also not a role model by any definition of the word. He is an un-liberated individual who remains within the prison walls of tribalism and religious fundamentalism, the major fault lines that has ruined Nigeria and much of Africa. For proof of that just check his activities as CBN governor. 90% of the grants he gave to universities and other institutions went to the core north. When a Christmas day attack on a church in Madalla near Abuja by Boko haram terrorists killed over 40 Christians in 2011, Sanusi ignored the victims but when shortly after Boko haram attacked and killed scores in Kano, Sanusi quickly donated N100 million naira to the victims of the Kano attacks.
It is thus obvious, that Lamido Sanusi is a sectional individual, one of the tribalists and religious fanatics that constitute Nigeria and Africa’s major fault lines. People like him, shackled by tribalism and full of prejudice is the reason Nigeria has never benefitted from nation building. His type represents a step backward not only for Nigeria but for the black race. There should be no tears for his ousting!
Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu
Email: lawrencenwobu@gmail.com
