CBN Rumours

I am sure by now you've all heard/read the rumours that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi will be appointed to succeed Charles Soludo as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The interesting thing about Sanusi is he has written a wealth of articles and essays (and given several speeches) on a variety of social, political and cultural issues in Nigeria. Many of these essays are available on the web.

Over the years, I have read a number of his write-ups. I will NOT say whether I agree or disagree with some or all of what he has had to say. I WILL say that he is the first Nigerian to be appointed, elected (i.e. rigged) or coup-de-tat-ed into a major office for whom I can say that I have some idea of what he really thinks on a few of the key issues facing Nigeria.

People in leadership positions in Nigeria are usually blank canvases, on which various people project their own biases, prejudices, insecurities and fears. We end up supporting people and opposing people based on rationales that have nothing to do with reality, or with the person we are supporting or opposing. Too often the "leaders" themselves have nothing substantive to add to national discourse, no sense of what we need to do, where we need to go, and how we are going to get there, and are quick to resort to the bland, meaningless, popular cliches we have been hearing since before Independence, albeit changing the name slightly so as to claim it to be a new initiative. At worst they exploit our prejudices and biases to keep us arguing with ourselves while they enjoy office without having to justify why we should assent to their holding office. And then there are the intellectuals, who seem intent on reminding everyone that they have PhDs, constantly using unnecessary big grammar and complicated syntax to say the simplest of things -- and never quite managing to write or say anything that inspires or mobilizes the mass of the Nigerian public into collectively creating an atmosphere where true reform and transformation are even possible and feasible, much less actually happening.

Sanusi has spoken his mind on a lot of issues. Having perused his comments over the years, I know more about his line of thinking than I do that of most of the governors, ministers, parastatal heads, etc. Regardless of agreeing or disagreeing, that gives me more confidence in him as a potential appointee to high office than any of them, weird as that may sound.

Actually it is not so weird.

In a true, substantive democracy, individual citizens have to deal with the fact that their preferred party is not always going to be the one in power. One of the things that gives those citizens confidence, even if an opposition party (from their perspective) is in office is the fact that they KNOW what that opposition party stands for. They know it, and they know that while it is not necessarily their own opinion, it is an opinion they can live with.

If the Sanusi appointment is factual, then I support it.

There is a lot of side controversy over the fact that Soludo will be stepping down. In actuality, his tenure is up, and the issue is its non-renewal. Actually when you look at the list of Central Bank Governors from 1958 till to today, it seems Nigeria (rightly or wrongly) rarely gives a CBN head more than 5 or 6 years in the job. It has only happened twice.

Interestingly, I have heard from a source connected to the head of the Independent National Electoral Commission that Mr. Soludo WANTS to step down because he wants to contest the Anambra State Governorship next year in 2010. I have reasons to trust this source (reasons enough that I won't name him), and as such I cracked a smile when I read this article about Governor Peter Obi of Anambra calling on the government to retain Soludo.

With the feuding Uba brothers, APGA's Obi, Emeka Offor in the background and Soludo possibly tossing his hat in the ring, the Anambra elections will be interesting even if they are ultimately "manipulated".