NGIGE's DECREE

“I hereby direct the suspension of the on-going
retrenchment pending the outcome of the
conciliatory meetings in the industry.”

“We will go a step further if they continue. We
know what to do. After all, the banks have the
licences given by the government. We know what
to do. They need to comply.”

FULL TEXT OF RENO OMOKRI's STATEMENT

I mean, the government directing banks not to
sack? Threatening to revoke their licenses? Are we
not supposed to be a democratic country? The
banks are downsizing because the economy is
tanking. The way I see it, the only way the
Federal Government can ‘direct’ private firms not
to downsize is by fixing the economy!
Those of us who have long memories will
remember Mr. Ngige as a mild mannered once-
upon-a-time political godson of Chris Uba, once a
political titan in Anambra state. Mr. Ngige is
famously remembered for sheepishly going to
Okija shrine with his Bible at the behest of Uba to
declare allegiance to his godfather.
We remember him as the anodyne governor of
Anambra who (per his own admission) was locked
up in a toilet because he was considered a
naughty boy by his benefactor and would have
remained there were it not for the intervention of
Nigeria’s then Vice President who ordered the
then Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, to
rescue the kidnapped governor from his forced
potty training!
Now, a man who allowed himself to be consigned
to a toilet is now brave enough to threaten others
because his new godfather does the same.
At this juncture, permit me to give a crash course
in history for those who do not know the genesis
of the current crisis in the banking sector.
The previous administration, led by Dr. Goodluck
Jonathan, had come up with the idea of a
Treasury Single Account (TSA). The idea was to
have a single account for the government (with a
few exceptions) as a way of minimising the
possibilities for fraud and to have a real time view
of how much the government has in its kitty.
Because of the delicate nature of the banking
sector (any banking sector, not just the Nigerian
banking sector), it was planned that the policy
would be implemented in phases so that the
sector does not experience a shock.
But while it was still implementing the policy, that
administration’s mandate ended and was not
renewed and the succeeding administration led
by President Muhammadu Buhari, in its own
wisdom, decided to pull out ₦3 trillion (about $18
billion) from the Nigerian commercial banking
sector in less than a year.
The sudden loss of such huge funds threw the
Nigerian financial sector (not just the banking
industry) into a tailspin and the industry has not
yet recovered and it is doubtful if it will recover
anytime soon.
Even in humans, it is not wise to suddenly
withdraw a drug addict from his dependent drug
in a ‘cold turkey’ manner. Such an act is inimical
and could hurt the addict much more than it
helps him and would cause withdrawal
syndromes that may even lead to death, which is
why drug rehabilitation centres recommend
gradual withdrawal if the rehabilitation process is
to be successful.
What the Nigerian banking sector is going
through is similar to sudden drug withdrawal and
it needed to have been rehabilitated, not
threatened.
If you doubt me, Google the most common signs
of drug withdrawal. The first sign Google will likely
bring up for you is ‘shakiness’. Another sign is
‘depression’. A third sign is ‘fatigue’.
Each of these three signs apply to Nigeria’s
banking sector. It is very ‘shaky’ at the moment.
Banking stocks are ‘depressed’ and there is a lot
of ‘fatigue’ in the industry because funds are not
as available as they used to be and shareholders
are breathing down the neck of management to
cut waste.
The Federal Government cannot pull out ₦3 trillion
from commercial banks to the Central Bank of
Nigeria in the name of TSA, then get the CBN to
employ the children of the party faithful and start
shedding crocodile tears because banks are
downsizing. What did they expect?
And the thing is that the Buhari administration’s
response to this incidence is upside down and
bereft of any well thought out logic.
Mr. Ngige does not want banks to sack employees
and so he threatens to revoke their licenses
should they do so. What is the most likely
consequence if that happens? Wouldn’t that
action lead to even more mass sacking?
Now suppose you have a bank with a staff
strength of 20,000 people and supposing that
because of the down turn of the economy it
decides to downsize by about 200 staff in order to
remain profitable, now again, suppose that in
response the Federal Government revokes its
license. What would then be the fate of the
19,800 staff who are still in the bank’s employ?
Can they have a job if the bank’s license is
withdrawn?
So in order to save 200 jobs, the government’s
response is to threaten 19,800 jobs. How smart!
The funny thing is that in the same week that Mr.
Ngige issued his threats, it was revealed that the
same Federal Government in whose name he is
‘directing’ banks not to sack staff is itself
planning to downsize by disengaging officers and
men of the immigration and prisons services. Is
this not hypocrisy?
Why doesn’t Mr. Ngige ‘direct’ President Buhari
not to fire immigration/prison staff or face
withdrawal of his license?
President Buhari and his team would do well to
recognise that governance is not only about
demonstrating power and issuing threats as a
strongman. An axe can cut a tree but it cannot
shave your hair!
Everyday, 18,000 new babies are born in Nigeria.
This figure is much more than the number that is
born in the whole of Western Europe in the same
period. We need to start thinking intelligently on
how to fix the economy so that our army of young
people can start businesses and employ
themselves.
That should be the priority of this administration.
If the Buhari led Federal Government does not fix
Nigeria’s economy, it will not matter how much
they threaten banks. Economies respond to
sound policy not to threats!
Where have nations that have threatened their
workforce gone? We only need to look at
Zimbabwe and Venezuela. Command and control
works only in a barrack not in boardrooms!
You cannot lock up ₦3 trillion in the vaults of the
Central Bank of Nigeria in the name of TSA and
wonder why your banking sector is collapsing.
Money was not designed to sit in bank vaults. It
should be invested!
The present Nigerian Federal Government and the
wicked servant in Jesus’ parable of the talents
have one thing in common: Both of them hid
their money in vaults instead of investing it!
Nigeria has NO Labour laws that could lead to the
license of any bank being revoked if they choose
to downsize their staff strength in response to
economic realities.
The employment contract between a bank and its
staff are governed by labour laws and where
there is a dispute they take such disputes to the
Industrial court. There are no provision in our laws
for the Ministry of Labour to intervene in a labour
dispute between a bank and its employee by
revocation of its license. By law, banks are
licensed or delicensed by the Central Bank of
Nigeria.
In this present case, the minister of Labour is
overreaching himself and it is the duty of the
opposition to call him out, especially when there
is an obvious failure to supervise on the part of his
boss.
His threat is WRONG. This is a purely economic
issue. The banks can no longer afford the same
workforce as they had when the economy was
booming. They are in business to make money.
They are not in business to be nice. Nice banks
finish last!
As long as they follow the terms of the letter of
employment contract they entered into with their
staff, the minister has no locus to intervene in a
contractual relationship between an employer
and employee.
If the government can order private firms not to
sack their workers, what is next? Will they also
order men not to divorce their wives? Where does
it end?
This game of shifting blame must end. The
minister’s comments are not in isolation. The
ruling All Progressive Congress has itself described
the mass sacking in the banking sector as a
conspiracy cooked up by the enemies of the
Buhari administration in order to discredit the
government!
I kid you not. This statement was made to the
media by the National Auditor of the party, Chief
George Moghalu!
Yes, it is a conspiracy. The enemies of the
government are the very government itself that
could not foresee the reasonable consequences of
its own actions. I guess it is also a conspiracy that
foreign airlines are leaving Nigeria. And oh, you
know the continuous decline in the fortunes of
the naira in the parallel and official markets? Well
that is also a conspiracy.
Perhaps the loss of the Peoples Democratic Party
in the 2015 election was also a conspiracy to
saddle the APC with an economy that is beyond
its capacity to manage. You never know!
The sooner this administration realises that it
must deal with things as they are and not as it
wishes they are, the better for Nigeria.
As I had previously said, 18,000 babies are born
everyday in Nigeria. This is coming at a time our
economy is contracting (by 0.36% last quarter).
Our government cannot afford another quarter of
negative growth. We must do everything in our
power to spur our economy.
One of the things we need to do is attract foreign
investors. And to do that we need to demonstrate
a consistent behaviour that proves to the world
that our government and its agencies will not
impede on the free market economy that the
private sector needs to thrive.
Dr. Ngige’s behaviour does not send this message
and though his official title is minister of Labour
and Productivity, his words are leading and are
likely to lead to more un-productivity for Nigeria’s
labour force. Seeing as our own government is
not helping the situation, we are left to say, may
God help us!

Reno Omokri is the founder of the Mind of
Christ Christian Center in California, author
of Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God and
Why Jesus Wept and the host of
“Transformation with Reno Omokri”.
http://opinion.premiumtimesng.com/2016/06/14/173348/

Following

Order to banks not to downsize is a joke of the century. The economy is bad and you are mandating people who are suffering as a result of your archaic policies not to be proactive in their own way.

Tell me something else please!

Ok

This is Epic, well articulated by Reno. Ngige should bury his head in shame

Ngige Is A Potty Trained Minister
Correct guy Reno, I yaff laff taya

Anyway am waiting for APC's Potty Trained Supporters to flood this thread.

This is a well articulated piece, I'll be expecting Ngige and lie mohammad to come after the writer while the APC e-rats will call him IPOD and NDA.

To every action there must be an equal reaction - elementary physics.

The fact that APC may not make any headway is because they see these 'reactions' as a conspiracy not response.

And until they realize this difference, they will continue to create 'jobs' rather than 'employments'.

Love jonathan or hate him but you must admit that he got the best brains around him.
Reno was very apt and thorough in his analysis. How can FG threaten to withdraw the license of a bank becaause they were downsizing. If they sack about 200 staff and you withdraw their license,you have just sacked over 2,000 remaining ones.
This govt is quite daft

Ngige is a glorified tout
See im biabia sef

From A to Z in this present administration needs a crash course on how to govern by the past administration,they look so confused at the same time has so much Ego.

If this is how we gonna be governed for the next four years, abeg Spain here I come.

millhouse:
If this is how we gonna be governed for the next four years, abeg Spain here I come.

pls don't get yourself drown, make sure you take a good and strong boat. Remember to buy a good life jacket and don't forget to keep a swim suit handy.

T

Reno, you will kill me with laughter...'POTTY'

989900E:
SMH @ Reno Omokri. [/i]

The price of medicine don go up bro, so be mindful of how u shake ur head.

The previous administration, led by Dr. Goodluck
Jonathan, had come up with the idea of a
Treasury Single Account (TSA). The idea was to
have a single account for the government (with a
few exceptions) as a way of minimising the
possibilities for fraud and to have a real time view
of how much the government has in its kitty.

This is a lie. A single account for govt revenue is in the constitution. Jonathan did not come up with the idea. See more:
http://www.naijiant.com/articles/nigerias-legislative-lawbreakers/

Government of round pegs in square holes. No one of then understands what governance is all about, from the Commander in chief, the rocket science minister to this potty trained man. truth be told, Nigeria is DOOMED

HungerBAD
Who and/or what are you following?

Apc e-warriors please this is constructive criticism as it should be so help us to pass the message to baba. Hopefully he'll change his mind in the interest of the suffering masses.

Reno if u Come near naija ...u go hear wen

na bad thing for ngige to create or establish a new bank n employ these sacked workers?

Retrenchment is an indication that all us not well with the banking system.
TSA is just putting things right by making CBN the government's Banker as we were thought in SS 1 Economics.

Banks are just feeling the change, government need to work on the economy not on Bank's CEOs.

What if these banks collapse under the weight of their overheads?

Reno is a loud mouth liar calling himself a pastor. You can read the OP of this thread for further clarification.

I mean, the government directing banks not to sack? Threatening to revoke their licenses? Are we not supposed to be a democratic country?

Does this one think democracy means spineless cluelessness? Revoking of licences is lawful and constitutional when certain terms are breached, it is not an action only done in military era.

The banks are downsizing because the economy is tanking. The way I see it, the only way the Federal Government can ‘direct’ private firms not to downsize is by fixing the economy!

What was this guy again, Special Adviser to the President or so? What a waste of funds. Your 'only way' is not the ONLY way, this is not Bible or Jesus Christ mr man. If you lack ability to think outside the box, others do.

Those of us who have long memories will remember Mr. Ngige as a mild mannered once- upon-a-time political godson of Chris Uba, once a political titan in Anambra state. Mr. Ngige is famously remembered for sheepishly going to Okija shrine with his Bible at the behest of Uba to declare allegiance to his godfather.
We remember him as the anodyne governor of Anambra who (per his own admission) was locked up in a toilet because he was considered a naughty boy by his benefactor and would have remained there were it not for the intervention of Nigeria’s then Vice President who ordered the then Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, to rescue the kidnapped governor from his forced potty training!
Now, a man who allowed himself to be consigned to a toilet is now brave enough to threaten others because his new godfather does the same.

Off point attempt to ridicule or mock the messenger. Unbecoming of a mr mind of Christ.

At this juncture, permit me to give a crash course in history for those who do not know the genesis of the current crisis in the banking sector. The previous administration, led by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, had come up with the idea of a Treasury Single Account (TSA). The idea was to have a single account for the government (with a few exceptions) as a way of minimising the possibilities for fraud and to have a real time view of how much the government has in its kitty. Because of the delicate nature of the banking sector (any banking sector, not just the Nigerian banking sector), it was planned that the policy would be implemented in phases so that the sector does not experience a shock.
But while it was still implementing the policy, that administration’s mandate ended and was not renewed and the succeeding administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari, in its own wisdom, decided to pull out ₦3 trillion (about $18 billion) from the Nigerian commercial banking sector in less than a year.

The TSA has been mouthed for so long, i can remember as far back as 2012, just like giving us electricity, or refinery, or 2nd Niger Bridge and other such promises that the last administration made. They clearly lacked will to do these things, just talk. BTW, the TSA is an IMF idea, copied from IMF by the GEJ administration. So we are tired of all these continual glorying in introducing the idea. It is like OBJ or Abacha glorying in bringing GSM to Nigeria. Find achievement please. What year do they not sack en masse in Nigerian banks? What shock is this one talking about? NOIweala that was already having high blood pressure and borrowing to pay salaries, and screming that tough times are coming. What does a twitter pastor know about economic shock? The banks were clearly ripping the government. They should be responsible enough to find ways of making money legitimately. Not paper show. You take government money to trade in stocks and bonds, and the same government have to give you massive profits and great rates. So you keep delaring humongous dividends and profits at the detriment of government every year. then they say we have a good economy, and fixed rates and Tbills are high and good. FG could simply not continue that rubbish. It is not sustainable. Like who does that? Banks should think of ways to make normal profit like it obtains in sane climes, instead of these lazy ripping of the government going on for years. That is what the TSA did, and the banks stopped smiling to the bank literally.

The sudden loss of such huge funds threw the Nigerian financial sector (not just the banking industry) into a tailspin and the industry has not yet recovered and it is doubtful if it will recover anytime soon. Even in humans, it is not wise to suddenly withdraw a drug addict from his dependent drug in a ‘cold turkey’ manner. Such an act is inimical and could hurt the addict much more than it helps him and would cause withdrawal syndromes that may even lead to death, which is why drug rehabilitation centres recommend gradual withdrawal if the rehabilitation process is to be successful. What the Nigerian banking sector is going through is similar to sudden drug withdrawal and it needed to have been rehabilitated, not threatened.
If you doubt me, Google the most common signs of drug withdrawal. The first sign Google will likely bring up for you is ‘shakiness’. Another sign is ‘depression’. A third sign is ‘fatigue’. Each of these three signs apply to Nigeria’s banking sector. It is very ‘shaky’ at the moment. Banking stocks are ‘depressed’ and there is a lot of ‘fatigue’ in the industry because funds are not as available as they used to be and shareholders are breathing down the neck of management to cut waste.

Nigeria and the banks are not drug addicts. What sort of foolish analogy is this? Should we apply same to thieves and serial rapists? This notice me fellow should get over the electoral loss and the loss of his federal government job. If banks disobey ILO laws, they deserve to be sanctioned. This is legal in any developed part of the world.

cc: eyeview
edited.

Image123:
Reno is a loud mouth liar calling himself a pastor.

One would have thought that you would have presented facts to counter his indisputable facts,instead like every other typical zombie(devoid of independent and objective reasoning),you completely ignore the point and resort to insults and name calling.
Why are you like that?

eyeview:

One would have thought that you would have presented facts to counter his indisputable facts,instead like every other typical zombie(devoid of independent and objective reasoning),you completely ignore the point and resort to insults and name calling.
Why are you like that?

Because he is a potty trained zombie.

Banks must obey labour laws. Banks are not just small private firms, most are public limited companies of systemic importance. In 2009 / 2010, the govt spent over =N=4 trillion public funds to bail out banks when could have been allowed to fail.

The govt is a major stakeholder and banks must listen to govt, period

Who doesn't know that Ngige of a guy is a clown? He's such a joke! Reno's piece is a knock-out.

KingsCity:
Banks must obey labour laws. Banks are not just small private firms, most are public limited companies of systemic importance. In 2009 / 2010, the govt spent over =N=4 trillion public funds to bail out banks when could have been allowed to fail.

The govt is a major stakeholder and banks must listen to govt, period

They have removed their 'bail-out money' now. So, the banks can do as they deem fit to save their business!

Reno

eyeview:

One would have thought that you would have presented facts to counter his indisputable facts,instead like every other typical zombie(devoid of independent and objective reasoning),you completely ignore the point and resort to insults and name calling.
Why are you like that?

He did not present indisputable facts, exact reason i called him a loud mouthed liar claiming to be a pastor. i did not insult him, only stated who he is.