It’s always easy for people to vent their anger and frustration on other people, and never on themselves. It’s also very common to see people who consider themselves less privileged and less connected declare war and organize mobs to lynch “the crooks” who in other words, are people considered to be more fortunate, richer and generally more opportuned than they are. I’ve monitored events since “the earthquake” that hit the banking sector recently. I’ve observed how members of the public, albeit, comprising mainly of people who believe they would have been rich if not for the bank debtors, have risen in gross condemnation of the affected banks as well as the said debtors, be they debtors who legally have loans and are servicing such loans or those who have defaulted in their loans. To the majority of the desperate public, “all have sinned and come short of the glory of Nigerians.”
It astounds me how we so quickly rush to rubbish the efforts of one another, especially how we wait till someone steps out of power before launching massive attacks. To me, it’s an act that goes beyond cowardice, but actually betrays the shallow depth of innovation, self-assessment and all-round creativity and responsibility bearing ability which Nigerians have rapidly transformed to over the years.
Now, I’m not launching a public campaign in support of or against principal actors, executors, enforcers and victims in this current bank hurricane Yes, indeed, a bank hurricane. I choose to refrain from using the word ‘ banking crisis ‘ beacuse it is not one. We are not passing through any crisis that came about through the glut from demand and supply factors in the industry.
While I will not make any conclusive remarks about the current scenario until I hear from all parties concerned including the immediate past CBN governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, I will use this great opportunity to salute the banking meastro who has done well and taken our banking industry to the level no other banker, administrator or CBN governor till date has been able to do.
Let us give honour to whom it is due. Soludo did not just something, but many things which are highly commendable and which have contributed to the strength in which the Nigerian banking sector currently thrives in. I have and will always respect the great Professor.
I am sorry to disappoint the majority of Nigerians as I will not join in the band wagon of massacre upon the rich and the hardworking and the powerful. The banks, the CBN governor and any such past and current administrator, CBN governor, Sanusi, Yar’adua, Soludo, Onyiuke, Otedola, Dangote, Akingbola, Ibru, Adigwe, et al are not the cause of our problems. We are the sole cause of our own problems and each person in and outside Nigeria, so long as you are a Nigerian, should go into introspection and know how best to reinvent yourself and rise against all odds so that you can get back on the track towards maximizing your potentials and offering the best you can to see to a better Nigeria. No country is paradise.
So long as we are not ready to take responsibility by ourselves for our own condition, no one will. Did the Dangotes and the Otedolas tie the legs of every Nigerian and slaughter anyone who attempted to get rich? We are in a capitalist-oriented world and economy, so the more you are able to coordinate your ideas and capitalize on your endowments while creating opportunity for yourself, the more things improve for you. While some people expect success to always come to them at the very first attempt, such is, has never and will never be the case. There’s always a price to pay for every step of success and we must identify such price and be willing to pay it as we aim to progress higher.
On a final note, I enjoin all stake holders in the banking sector, regulators, bankers, debtors and customers alike to join hands and not just sustain, but rather exceed the legacy that has already been created for the banks by the past Soludo administration.
Nigeria’s claim to gigantism can only be proven not by media campaigns or verbal assertion, but by response to trails and displaying true character in times of trouble.
