Our relationships with others sometimes deepen or shrink in strange ways. When I was a Deputy Gov at the CBN, there was this bank MD that wanted my approval for certain things concerning his challenged bank. But he would not follow the guidelines we gave him, instead looking for shortcuts and expecting me to play along. One day my patience snapped. I terminated our conversation and showed him the door of my office. Long story short, the matter was eventually resolved after the bank met certain regulatory conditions. Today that MD (since retired) is

Nigeria’s economic distress is simply part of a 40-year downward trajectory that was broken only briefly by the Obasanjo civilian presidency and to some degree under Yar’Adua/Jonathan (up to mid-2014). Ever since, especially from 2015, we fell under completely incompetent economic management and have not recovered. The immediate future looks difficult. One wishes one could see what will create fundamental change, but alas! Throwing money that is not created wealth at problems will not solve our problems. It only makes them worse. We need to lay a

I have seen in the mainstream media and floating around on social media including Whatsapp, a report purported to be that of the CBN Special Investigator appointed by President Tinubu. I have some comments on this development.

1. The “report” has no signature appended, so we can’t assume it is the real and official report.

2. Assuming it is in fact the real report, it’s wrong for such a sensitive report to have “leaked” to the public before the President and his government have reviewed and spoken to it. This is because the “report” talks of

I have been a public commentator, nationally in Nigeria and internationally in the global media, for 35 years. As a lawyer-journalist, a UN diplomat, a consultant, a central banker, a university professor, or a one-time presidential candidate. It’s interesting, then, to see some who were mainly dormant in 2019 as we mounted the first real challenge to the political status quo in Nigeria, assume today the haughty position of “final” arbiters of who is virtuous in Nigeria & who is not, simply because they finally woke up in 2023. Let no one be confused.

The failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the United States, and the jitters over possible banking contagion they have generated have brought my mind back to work we did in the Lamido Sanusi-led @cenbank to establish financial stability in Nigeria after the global financial crisis. As Deputy Governor in charge of Financial Stability it was my task to supervise the execution of our many successful reforms. We took the position that no bank would fail, and no depositor would lose one kobo of their deposits. The CBN injected more than $4

The constitutional amendments just signed into law by President @MBuhari offer a hopeful example of the benefits of constitutional #restructuring of Nigeria, of which I have been a strong and unapologetic advocate. Giving states powers to establish railways and to generate, transmit/distribute electricity will help the economy of our country greatly. I hope states can smartly take advantage of this salutary development. But this is only a beginning really. At issue: should we negotiate a completely new constitution for Nigeria agreed by its peoples?

The terrible suffering & economic loss Nigerians have experienced as a result of the faulty IMPLEMENTATION of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Naira redesign policy, the entry of the judiciary into central banking functions, all show clearly how our institutions— and Nigeria — fail when institutions that are meant to be operationally independent become politicized.Currency functions are a core part of any central bank’s mandate. To that extent I had no problem with the policy. Except for two vital issues. First, the 90-deadline, which I warned was too short

Builders- Nigerians who built important institutions in our country that molded generations of leaders. They are many. We don’t give them enough credit. Professor Kenneth Dike, pre-eminent historian, the first Nigerian Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan. He became Biafra’s Ambassador to Ivory Coast during the Nigerian Civil War and then Professor of African History @Harvard . Dike molded the first and second generations of Nigerian professionals, top civil servants and businessmen who studied at Ibadan. He brought a home-grown

What is so special about Abeokuta in Ogun State? The town has produced almost exclusively Nigeria’s political leaders from the Southwest region: Olusegun Obasanjo, MKO Abiola, Ernest Shonekan, not to mention the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti &his famous parents Adetokunbo Ademola, the first indigenous Chief Justice of Nigeria, Dr. Moses Majekodunmi, former Sole Administrator of the Western Region in 1962, the Williams brothers Rotimi (Timi the Law) Williams SAN and Akintola Williams, doyen of the accountancy profession in Nigeria.

My take on the election outcome:
1. Without prejudice to whoever would have won, @inecnigeria ‘s performance was woeful. The institution and election management in Nigeria need a complete overhaul. Elections must be made logistically efficient and transparent. 2. The 28% turnout, being even lower that the 34% of the 2019 election, is deeply disappointing. This phenomenon needs a separate interrogation to understand why it happened when 87 million voters collected their PVCs.
Such voter turnout levels undermine the meaning of democracy.

What I saw, past, present and future, that made me decide to exit partisan politics in Nigeria completely: We aren’t ready for real democracy. Too much poverty &the financial corruption it enables. Too many evil, powerful vested interests. Weak institutions. Illiterate electorate Disappointed that @inecnigeria , despite all assurances they gave us, has disappointed again. “Tactical disenfranchisement”. Police colluding with thugs. Delayed uploading of results to BVAS. Whether it’s just operational incapacity, human factor, or more, the result is the same.

From the standpoint of economic transformation, presidential candidate @PeterObi has a strong, even if controversial point: that the economy cannot be driven just by (physical) infrastructure. The foundation of economic transformation is human development (social infrastructure). Unless and until we understand this, our economy cannot make real progress. It is the mass education and skilling of millions, access to healthcare, potable drinking water (not the business of pure water and water tankers) that lays the foundation to moving millions from poverty

As I ate smoked salmon made in Chile last night as part of my dinner, my mind went to what Nigeria’s economy could have been, and still can become: a value-added, export led economy that breaks the “resource curse”. Chile, previously copper-dependent, earned $90 billion from such exports last year. Chile is one of the very few countries of the world to have successfully broken the resource curse and diversified its economy away from dependence on natural resources. This is no easy feat. The resource curse, which afflicts Nigeria, operates in this way:

I fully agree with those who say oil has been a curse to Nigeria. Many of those question the ultimate value of the reported Kolmani oil find in Northern Nigeria. But I am also practical enough to know three things. First, some countries like Saudi Arabia, Gulf States, Norway were smart enough to use oil to build their economies, but diversified into other means of wealth creation and also built up savings (reserves/Soveregn Wealth Funds) for the rainy day that have served them well.Secondly, the real secret of the wealth of nations does NOT lie in natural

Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed’s comment to @nassnigeria that she was not aware of the Naira redesign by @cenbank should not mislead anyone into thinking the CBN owes her that kind of information. The Bank only needs the approval of President @MBuhari for this particular exercise. It received that approval. There are only three issues on which, in the CBN Act of 2007, the Bank should obtain external authorization, and only from the President of Nigeria, for its operations: 1. Any alterations to the legal tender (the Naira); 2. any investment of the Bank’s

I fully support the @cenbank redesign of the Naira. If 80% of bank notes in circulation are outside the banks, that's troubling. The CBN obviously wants to force all those notes back into the banking system. Those with the notes must surrender to get new ones or else it becomes illegal tender after January 31 2023. This is also a way to withdraw currency from circulation, an unorthodox way of tightening the money supply since the country is battling high inflation. The flip side is that people who are holding huge amounts of cash outside the banking

I was very disappointed to view the video clip of H.E. Atiku Abubakar @atiku , a former Vice-President of Nigeria, telling an audience in Kaduna that what the North needs is a northerner to be President, and not a Yoruba or Igbo candidate. I have a lot of respect for Atiku who, despite his flaws (which all the other leading contenders also have) ,I have always regarded as a truly cosmopolitan politician in our country.His reference to his “building bridges” across the country does not negate his clear message

The effort by some members @nassnigeria to pass a Bill removing the Governor @cenbank as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, and to remove the power of the Board to fix the Bank’s budget & set the salaries of its staff is completely wrongheaded and should be dropped. Such an amendment to the CBN Act of 2007 would finally destroy the institution by disrobing it completely of its institutional independence as enshrined in the Act. It would make the Bank, a statutory corporation under the law, to become a mere Agency or Department of the Govt.

Things are so bad in Nigeria today that whoever becomes our next President -no matter the party- will have no choice but to try (and be seen) to improve the economy and our security. The real question for the electorate is: who will do it better? Who can break away from the old ways of corrupt patronage, and promote competence and merit? Who can unify Nigeria and create a sense of Justice, equity and inclusion? Who can handle Nigeria’s complexity?

H.E. @PeterObi paid me a visit yesterday morning at my residence in Abuja. I was very glad to receive him. We discussed the state of the nation and his aspiration to lead our country from 2023. I have always enjoyed a warm fraternal relationship with “Okwute”. We collaborated closely when he was Governor of @AnambraStateGov and I, also an Anambra indigene, was Deputy Governor of @cenbank . I recall his keen interest in education and our close coordination when, as CBN DepGov, I influenced a corporate social responsibility investment of N1 billion

Kenyans, Africa and the world await the result of yesterday’s presidential election in the East African country, which appear to be close at this point. While voter turnout in Nigeria is a very low 35% in the past two election cycles, observers are noting the relatively “low” turnout of 65% or 14 million voters in yesterday’s Kenya election. @RailaOdinga , former Prime Minister and scion of a political dynasty whose father was one of Kenya’s founding fathers, and @WilliamsRuto , current Deputy President to President Uhuru Kenyatta (son of Kenya”s