Why won;t they drop him,when they have gone to calculate how much they have in the banks and with the new policy on redenomination,they will have less money when counting it thus reducing their status,dead cats.

And do you know if soludo himself does not belong to the club of the rich?  He was in the news a little while ago when he was charged to court by a hapless individual. The individual told the court that Soludo was treaspassing on his land.  The land was in one of the choice areas in Abuja and he wanted to forcefully eject that guy from his land using his powerful connection and influence with the powers that be at that time.  His intent was to build his Computer company on that guy's land.

Yar'Adua made the right decision, but he must forgive Soludo, or risk sabotaging the stability of the Nigerian economy.

Dblock, perhaps, you could address the banking policies instituted by Soludo which led to a high rate of unemployment in the banking sector. Moreso, does it really make economic sense to spend lots of money in instituting coins that are becoming obsolete in the Nigerian society. Or, maybe, he was just staging a comeback for the popularity of coins with the Nigerian masses. I cant really say if his economic policies are sound or not, but there was an outcry in certain quarters when he ordered banks to come up with a certain amount of money, or risk being shuttered. And true, there are some people who lost their jobs as a result of this policies.

Ndipe:

Dblock, perhaps, you could address the banking policies instituted by Soludo which led to a high rate of unemployment in the banking sector. Moreso, does it really make economic sense to spend lots of money in instituting coins that are becoming obsolete in the Nigerian society. Or, maybe, he was just staging a comeback for the popularity of coins with the Nigerian masses. I can't really say if his economic policies are sound or not, but there was an outcry in certain quarters when he ordered banks to come up with a certain amount of money, or risk being shuttered. And true, there are some people who lost their jobs as a result of this policies.

Hahahaha.

The policies that resulted in unemployment in the Banking sector, is expected.

Prior to the consolidation. Nigerian Banks were small, weak, obsolete and incapable of providing adequate services. The consolidation however changed this, it strengthened the Market, Making Nigerian Banks the second strongest on the Continent, and thus improved services. This also meant that the Banks had Larger Capital Bases, hence they had the money to open more branches (equipped with ATMs etc) and making Nigeria less of a cashless economy.

However like you said the process, resulted in lost jobs, due to the Merger of the Larger banks and the dissolving or demotion of the smaller banks. However since, the Mega Banks are now growing at a steady rate (Due to the consolidation), jobs will be recreated. This is because there will be more confidence in the Banking Sector, there will be ease of transactions and More Branches with more employees.

So in essence, although there is a temporary loss of jobs, in the end there will be more jobs available in the sector than prior to Soludo's consolidation and there will be better services been provided.

Soludo is a great man.

hence they had the money to open more branches

DOESN'T THIS TRANSLATE TO NEW JOBS ? AND WOULD THE PERSON WHO IS AGAINST BANK CONSOLIDATION PREFER THAT NIGERIA BANKS REMAINS THE WAY THEY WERE B4 SOLUDO CAME IN ? SOMETIMES ITS LOOKS AS IF SOME PEOPLE LOVE TO SEE NIGERIA GOING BACKWARD

[center]Here is the Market Capitalization South Africa's largest Banks

FirstRand Bank
Market capitalization = $19.3 billion

Standard Bank
Market capitalization = $19.2 billion

Absa Bank
Market capitalization = $13.5 billion

NedBank
Market capitalization = $9.0 billion

Here's the Stats for Nigeria's Largest Banks

Zenith Bank
Market capitalization = $3.75 billion

Intercontinental Bank
Market capitalization = $3.5billion

First bank
Market capitalization = $3.4 billion

UBA
Market capitalization = $3 billion

Union Bank 381
Market capitalization = $3 billion

GT Bank
Market capitalization = $2.55 billion

Oceanic Bank
Market capitalization = $2.02 billion


With such large Market Capitalizations, Nigeria Banks now have the Capital to expand, provide jobs and Fuel the Private Sector. [/center]

We must give Soludo Credit for this.

nigeria is such a wonderful country that anything is possible.
the only country where a winning team is changed.
like obj like yar adua - na the same people.
i can only believe yar adua when obj is out of the picture but as long as he is there, forget it as snake can never give birth to a goat.
imagine a useless woman sleceted by obj telling us to give her N628 million to renovate a house. such a criminal will be recieving praises tomorrow even from ribadu while we go naked in the streets demanding for uzo kalu's head - leaving the objects for shadow just for the interest of the big and unrepentant fool in uttah farm.

Well if it is true that Soludo has sucessfully transformed the banking sector, then, what are the grievances against him by the likes of Yaradua? It is not a smart move to drop someone whose handiwork has propelled the banking industry into a state of achievement, and further on, has sucessfully worked to restabilize the Naira. As of last year, the Naira was trading for 140 to one dollar, and now, it's dropped to 128. Is that not remarkable?

Soludo is only a human and if he has done some mistakes with his recent naira policy , the government should not humiliate him like this , why not treat this matter internally , why not call soludo to aso rock and thrash it out with him , should all that he has achieved suddenly be swept aside because of this his recent naira policy ? Yaradua might be a good man , but he might be listening too much to wrong people and wrong advise .I wonder what the foreign investors and the outside world like the world bank would be thinking about the economic policies of this administration .

So in your opinion, Soludo's policies in restoring the value of the Naira was not viable, economically?

Ndipe:

So in your opinion, Soludo's policies in restoring the value of the Naira was not viable, economically?

Ndipe are you referring to me ? because my last post did not in anyway go along the above quote .

You did not imply so, you simply raised a controversial issue that may have rankled the likes of Yaradua, and I hastily implied that you did. Pardon me, but what are your views on the recent attempt by Soludo to restore restore (?) the value of the Naira?

Personally i think the policy was not bad, but assuming that it is , the president and his AG have not handled things the best way, wrong signals have been sent to the rest of the world especially the foreign investors . i will not be surprised if soludo resigns .

It will be a shame if that man resigns. I could be wrong, but from what I have read about him (excluding the controversial attempt to restore the value of the Naira) Soludo appears to have the interest of Nigeria at heart.

Ofcos he does have the interest of the nation at heart, but having been humiliated this way, it now depends on his kind of person for him to remain , he might feel he has lost confidence of the president and would want to leave or he might decide to fight on , sooner or later we would see where he stands .

I agree with egoldman.

Regardless of the problems with the re-denomination or the processes that might have been broken, Soludo has done too much for Nigeria, for him to be humiliated. Apart from the costliness of the re-denomination, and the due processes that he failed to consider, there is nothing wrong with the re-denomination. The Pros outweigh the Cons.

Soludo wasn't voted Africa's best Central Bank Governor for nothing.

Yar'Adua can fire soludo if he wants, but Soludo will simply attain another country's citizenship and work wonders for that country.

I was informed that Soludo would be resigning in about 48hrs , i dont know how true this is , but am trying to see if i can get a link to such news online .I would not really blame the man if he decides to go, though it would surely send very wrong signals to the outside world and the foreign investors .

It's apparent that they want to remove soludo without offending the man who put him there.

i still don't believe making Shamsudeen the finance minister is a wise decision, the issue is that he will always watch his back and won't be comfortable with soludo as the CBN governor.

The guy should just pack his bag and go honourably, before they mess him up.

ilugunboy:

It's apparent that they want to remove soludo without offending the man who put him there.

i still don't believe making Shamsudeen the finance minister is a wise decision, the issue is that he will always watch his back and won't be comfortable with soludo as the CBN governor.

The guy should just pack his bag and go honourably, before they mess him up.

Yes, to those of us who are not well-versed in politics, that decision was not a wise one. When they say politics is a game, you bet it is true, but you've got to know the tricks of the game. An astute politician would have recognized that the presidency or the power brokers behind the appointment of ministers have laid a land mine ahead of him with the appointment of his deputy as the Federal Finance Minister, and he would have tread softy not to hit the mines.

Unfortunately Soludo is a scholar, a first class economist, not a career plotician or career civil servant. He was not schooled in the art of the political intrigues that goes behind the corridors of power. He trust only on his intellect and brain power, both of which are not sufficient to succeed in politics without a godfather of a sort. I think it is absolutely correct to say that OBJ was Soludo's godfather and since OBJ is no longer in power, he needs another godfather to protect him from misiles being thrust at him by those opposed to him and those interested in his job.

I read today in This Day that he holds first class in Economis, distiction in both his masters and PHD and above all he is an excellent speaker. If you have this God given talents plus a job that is the envy of all, you cannot at all times be free from arrogance and pride. And on ocassions when you are in such fits of pride and arrogance it is possible that you have stepped on the toes of some powerful people. To say that these people are now in power and are looking for ways and means to ease him out of office with this opportunity that have presented itself will not be far from truth.

For a country lik NIGERIA, XPECT THE UNXPECTED

I think this is a very untoward development.
Soludo has more than proved his mettle in handling CBN affairs n' matters relating to the Nigerian economy at that.
Does he have to go the way of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala?
Why are we sacrificing the sages while gnomes like David Mark n' the PDP imposed politicians bestride our nation like the parasites that they are.

am not quie happy d way they r treatin prof. Soludo, i forsee him been thron out soon, or disgraced out of office. he is workin hard to restore our lost glory, but this moni bags r scared of his policies. well, as a fellow economist, i really believe inhis proposed economic policies. Presidency should pls give him a chance.

am not quie happy d way they r treatin prof. Soludo, i forsee him been thron out soon, or disgraced out of office. he is workin hard to restore our lost glory, but this moni bags r scared of his policies. well, as a fellow economist, i really believe inhis proposed economic policies. Presidency should pls give him a chance.

I can never believe it that Soludo did not seek the president's consent before embarking on the Naira redenomination. Its not just possible. They are all ganging up to frustrate him out of that place irrespective of his achievements. Why cant our leaders differentiate between professionalism and politics? If he is eventually frustrated out of CBN, another country that knows his value would snatch him, he would be a plus to them and our own loss.

Abeem:

Yes, to those of us who are not well-versed in politics, that decision was not a wise one. When they say politics is a game, you bet it is true, but you've got to know the tricks of the game. An astute politician would have recognized that the presidency or the power brokers behind the appointment of ministers have laid a land mine ahead of him with the appointment of his deputy as the Federal Finance Minister, and he would have tread softy not to hit the mines.

Unfortunately Soludo is a scholar, a first class economist, not a career plotician or career civil servant. He was not schooled in the art of the political intrigues that goes behind the corridors of power. He trust only on his intellect and brain power, both of which are not sufficient to succeed in politics without a godfather of a sort. I think it is absolutely correct to say that OBJ was Soludo's godfather and since OBJ is no longer in power, he needs another godfather to protect him from misiles being thrust at him by those opposed to him and those interested in his job.

I read today in This Day that he holds first class in Economis, distiction in both his masters and PHD and above all he is an excellent speaker. If you have this God given talents plus a job that is the envy of all, you cannot at all times be free from arrogance and pride. And on ocassions when you are in such fits of pride and arrogance it is possible that you have stepped on the toes of some powerful people. To say that these people are now in power and are looking for ways and means to ease him out of office with this opportunity that have presented itself will not be far from truth.

So shameful to see people celebrate the misguided politics that has always put a cog in the wheel of progress, and that is why Nigeria is in the sorry state that it is today.

If American leaders played politics with the future of their country you would not have found it attractive to go and reside there.

McKren:

So shameful to see people celebrate the misguided politics that has always put a cog in the wheel of progress, and that is why Nigeria is in the sorry state that it is today.

If American leaders played politics with the future of their country you would not have found it attractive to go and reside there.

What gives you the impression that I was celebrating the misfortune of this great man. Did anything in my write up support this? Somebody suggested that the decision to appoint Soludo's former deputy as Minister of Finance was a bad one and I tried in my write up to rationalize why that action was taken. It does not mean that that theory is the gospel truth neither was it true that I was happy at the turn of events for Soludo? Far be it from that.
Food for thought: If you are happy at someone's misfortune, remember destruction awaits you at your own doorstep.

Now back at the last line of the punch you threw at me about how American leaders plays their politics. I live in America by the grace of God, but home is home, no matter what. Having lived here for more than a decade now, I am, by virtue of my stay here, able to appreciate that politicians are the same the world over. To assume that American leaders do not play politics like our Babariga politicians is perhaps a mistaken assumption. What makes the political game different is no more than the fact that politicians here are accountable to the people who elected them into office. Naija politicians are not. Also, the social infrastructures that serves as checks and balances here are virtually non-existent in our country.

Today the US Attorney General was forced to resign from office. Why did he resign? Who forced him to resign? Do the research. This is a classic example of political games played by politicians and the checks and balances that are built into the system to forestall abuses.

I dont understand the economics of this decimalisation too well but from what i know, it would only reduce the exchange rate of the naira but it doesnt increase the purchasing power of the naira. again, there is the possibility of the economy crashing like it did in argentina and we begin to rebuild again.I must say i am very sceptical about the whole thing.
That said, i dont like the way YarAdua is going about things. It makes him look incompetent.

Since you know that Yar'adua is not incompetent, the way he "looks" is irrelevant to this discussion.

Soludo has bowed to the president's demands and suspended the program: Punch Report. Yay!

I hope Yar'Adua made the right decision, and I hope Nigerians understand the implications of Yar'Adua's actions, whether it be positive or negative. the decision will have a dramatic impact on the citizenry

Note that Soludo has been shaping the Nigerian economy for years, any major change in administration and the Nigerian economy could be destabilized. This is more than a Naira re-denomination!

Jobs, growth, poverty etc could all be potentially be impacted upon by Yar'Adua's decision, whether it be Negatively or positively. However it appears that it will be be the latter, because the Nigerian economy has been growing steadily under Soludo's Admin!

Iyke, I appreciate your objectivity and open-mindedness, I  like most other Nigerians supported this president fervently when it became obvious that he was Obj's choice. This we did because of the fact that we saw Obj, his other problems notwithstanding, as a reform-minded leader and him picking the current president gave us hope that the reforms initiated by Obj would continue under the current president. But the Events of recent has put doubts in our minds as we wonder whether there is a better future for Nigerians under this new president. With all the lackluster decisions that he has made so far I wonder how long it will be before this man realises that he as a President is only going to be as good as the people he surrounds himself with, and so far, I am not sure that he has made a any efforts to surround himself with the right people instead of sycophants and yes members. For any one with the intellect of Soludo or Chigbue to be treated in this way makes me believe that Obj may not have been such a great democrat but he does had an eye for picking the best and the brightest a talent that Mr Yaradua from all indications seem to lack. Is the job of the economic team about moving the country to a sound economic state or is it an ego trip and only about Mr. Yaradua and his power brokers. No doubt that Mr. Soludo erred in not intimating the president about his plans to re-denominate the currency, but is the president's response not an over reaction?  How can you have an economic team that does not consist of a man who heads the central bank of the nation and is responsible for most of the monetary decisions in that nation, and a man with a strong track record of reforms that have yeilded great value and credibility to our economy? As for Mrs Chigbue there is no doubt that she has done the country proud in a position where most of her predecessors did not make it this far and could not point to any tangible achievement during their tenure. She has performed her job diligently with honesty and  compassion in a Country where corruption is so entrenched that any attempt to choke it off is met with such fierce resistance the like of which we have seen recently from the big and mighty in Nigeria and the Nlc who are made uncomfortable by the fact that for ones the refineries might be sold to people who might demand accountability and dedication to duty. As was rightly stated in this forum these two will not miss their jobs if their jobs were to be taken away from them at this time, but it will be a great loss to this country, both of them are smart and well educated and will definitely survive, but the biggest losers in this president's ego trip and rush to establish himself as his own man, free from the shadows of his predecessor, will no doubt be the Nigerian masses and the international community that has started to develop interest in the Nigerian economy due to the Privatization scheme headed by Mrs Chigbue at the BPE and the monetary, banking and other reforms instituted by the CBN under the able leadership of Mr. Soludo. These two afterall came to their current positions not through political connection or God-fatherism but through their ability and their track record of good performance and now their being made to pay a price for having such an enviable position withot any political God father, afterall we are in Nigeria, how dare you get a plum job based on your ability and performance record instead of on who you know. All these decisions no doubt have politics written all over them and a misguided politics at best. Unfortunately thats why our country with all its potential remain in its current deplorable state.  I do hope that our president with his credibility gap brought to bear by the percieved electoral irregularity that brought him to power will be able to reverse his course before it is too late.

Yar'Adua dissolves Economic Dream team, Nigeria's economy plunders, Professor Umaru scratches his head, and wonders why. Poverty High? No not high enough, economy crumbles, growth stagnant, Professor Umaru scratches his head, him ask his Northern economists wetin dey happen, them say ask Soludo, nah him sabi the thing, Professor scratches his ass, says, see me see trouble.