Contrary to some complaints around the country, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele got confirmed by the Senate following his clearing by the lawmaking body last week. The CBN boss was reappointed by President Muhammadu Buhari recently following the coming to an end of his first tenure. His first term of five years is due in June and this reappointment makes him the first chief executive of the apex bank to be reappointed since (at least) 1999. It is impossible to have a public servant working for five years without some negative perception of him or her. Emefiele is no exception, however it appears his good performance far outweighs his bad. If it’s not broken why fix it, says a popular lingo!
First it is commendable that contrary to perception out there that there is a simmering dogfight between the executive and the Senate, yet the legislature cleared this appointment in the shortest possible time. This says a lot about the appointee and the fidelity of our political class when a matter is of proven national importance. This will go down truly as fastest approval; the nation’s national parliament has ever granted to President Buhari’s nominees under the outgoing Senate. All thanks to the dexterity of the President of the Senate Bukola Saraki. It was devoid of the usual albeit necessary foot-dragging and politicking as experienced in the past. This confirmation will help the president in his core areas of focus which include security, the economy and fighting pervasive corruption.
The reappointment and confirmation of the CBN boss is a testament to his performance on the job. At some point in the life of this administration he was the lone economic bulwark against all sorts of macros and micro economic issues. His management of the foreign exchange market has helped to stabilize the naira, the longest. Although there were hiccups at the beginning following multiple economic problems including a recession, he and his team soon steadied the boat and has been cruising ever since. His interventions in economic activities like the large agriculture value chain have been commendable. The same will be said of what the CBN intends doing with the textile industry. There have been similar interventions in various other sectors that in years to come if properly monitored will improve our economy and get people working again.
It is equally commendable that the president appears to be more interested in stability than pandering to sometimes rigged public opinions. In our country it is unusual to find chief executives allow appointees a long time on the job. From all intents and purposes Emefiele has done his job creditably. Removing him may satisfy some partisan interests and even hailed since human beings just like big men lose their jobs; yet a new person will come to learn on the job and waste precious time while what the country needs at the time is consolidation and expansion. The president did well.
However, this does not mean there are no freeloaders in government at the time. Some of President Buhari’s appointees have overstayed their welcome. Some need rest as they have since attained the age of retirement. Some have lost drive, passion and ideas. It is important that they are eased out as the administration winds down its first term. Such agencies abound although some of the leadership are tenured as such will not be legal to terminate their engagement if they did not commit a serious criminal offense. However, it is important that Buhari begin to prepare names of competent people that will take over some of the government establishments. We are Nigerians; we understand how our people respond to things like Emefiele’s appointment. Other appointees will begin to feel they too will retain their jobs. It should not necessarily follow.
As the former MD of Zenith Bank prepares for his second tenure, he must therefore double his efforts. His reappointment is a measure of confidence and another call to service. We expect him to cover grounds he failed to cover in his first term. The issue of financial inclusion, expansion of tech savvy products in the banking system, illegal and high charges on customer transactions, foreign exchange and foreign reserve and we expect a quicker and easy method of accessing loans and special interventions. The banks appear to be completely profit driven to the detriment of real banking operations.
The people are not happy with bank charges and it appears the CBN is not interested in such complaints. We expect a more responsive CBN in the next five years as Emefiele prepare to take another oath as governor of the CBN.
