{"id":35531,"date":"2015-01-28T16:06:12","date_gmt":"2015-01-28T15:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=35531"},"modified":"2015-01-28T16:38:39","modified_gmt":"2015-01-28T15:38:39","slug":"okonjo-iweala-says-soludo-a-failed-cbn-governor-an-embittered-loser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/okonjo-iweala-says-soludo-a-failed-cbn-governor-an-embittered-loser\/","title":{"rendered":"Okonjo-Iweala Says Soludo, A Failed CBN Governor, An Embittered Loser"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi<\/span>
Okonjo-Iweala has described the five year tenure of Prof Chukuwma Soludo<\/span>
as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria as a failure and a disaster<\/span>
to the banking and economic sector.<\/span>

Soludo who was the apex bank governor between May 2004 and May 2009 who<\/span>
also failed in his bid to Govern Anambra State had in an article claimed<\/span>
that the Nigerian economy under President Goodluck Jonathan had performed<\/span>
woefully.<\/span>

Reacting through a statement issued by her Special Adviser Communications,<\/span>
Mr Paul Nwabuikwu, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said Soludo through his article has<\/span>
committed what she described as \u201cintellectual harakiri.\u201d<\/span>

Okonjo-Iweala while the article was laced with abusive and unbecoming<\/span>
language, it shows Soludo, whom she described as an \u201cembittered loser in<\/span>
the Nigerian political space\u201d can get so derailed by misquoting economic<\/span>
facts and maliciously turning statistics on their head to justify a<\/span>
hatchet job.\u201d<\/span>

The Statement reads:<\/span>

1.\u00a0 \u00a0 For anyone who has not read Professor Charles Soludo\u2019s article in<\/span>
the Vanguard (online version) on January 25 2015, I would encourage them<\/span>
to do so. It is littered with abusive and unbecoming language. It shows<\/span>
how an embittered loser in the Nigerian political space can get so<\/span>
derailed that they commit intellectual harakiri by deliberately misquoting<\/span>
economic facts and maliciously turning statistics on their head to justify<\/span>
a hatchet job. We hope all the intellectuals in the international circles<\/span>
in which Professor Soludo has told us he flies around in will read what a<\/span>
Professor of Economics has chosen to do with his intellect.<\/span>

2.\u00a0 \u00a0 In this one article Soludo has shamelessly pandered to so many past<\/span>
leaders that Nigerians are asking one more time \u2013 what position is Soludo<\/span>
gunning for now? He claims in his article that he has had his own share of<\/span>
public service, yet he has failed twice in his attempts to be Governor of<\/span>
Anambra State and Vice Presidential candidate of various parties. There is<\/span>
definitely an issue of character with Prof. Charles Soludo and his<\/span>
desperate search for power and relevance in Nigeria. Nigerians should<\/span>
therefore beware of so-called intellectuals without character and wisdom<\/span>
because this combination is fatal.<\/span>

3.\u00a0 \u00a0 But let us turn to the main subject of Soludo\u2019s discourse. So much<\/span>
of what is written is outright nonsense and self-seeking aggrandizement<\/span>
that need not be dignified with a response. It is totally remarkable that<\/span>
Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the man who presided over the worst<\/span>
mismanagement of Nigeria\u2019s banking sector as Governor of the Central Bank<\/span>
of Nigeria between May 2004 and May 2009, can write about the<\/span>
mismanagement of the economy.<\/span>

4.\u00a0 \u00a0 Nigerians must be reminded of his antecedents as CBN Governor, and<\/span>
even prior to that, as the Chief Economic Adviser to the President. The<\/span>
consolidation of the banking sector was a good policy idea of the Obasanjo<\/span>
Administration but Soludo went on to thoroughly mismanage its<\/span>
implementation leading to the worst financial crisis in Nigeria\u2019s history.<\/span>
So what did Soludo do?<\/span>

5.\u00a0 \u00a0 After consolidation, the regulatory functions of the Soludo-led CBN<\/span>
were very poorly exercised. As Governor, he failed to adequately supervise<\/span>
and regulate the now larger banks \u2013 an anomaly in Financial Sector<\/span>
Supervision. In fact as every Nigerian knows, in his time there was very<\/span>
little separation between the regulators and the regulated which is a<\/span>
violation of a key requirement of Central Banking success. This led to<\/span>
infractions in corporate governance in many banks as loans and other<\/span>
credit instruments running to hundreds of billions of naira were extended<\/span>
to clients without following due process, and several of these loans could<\/span>
not be paid back. This massive accumulation of bad debts or non-performing<\/span>
loans as they are called in the banking sector meant that our banks were<\/span>
ill-positioned to deal with the global financial crisis when it hit.<\/span>


6.\u00a0 \u00a0 In fact, the banking sector was brought to its knees and required a<\/span>
massive bailout by Nigerian tax payers. This bailout was done by his<\/span>
successor (now Emir of Kano) who cleaned up all the bad debts and<\/span>
transferred them to the newly-established AMCON, from where they are<\/span>
managed today. So let it be noted for the record books that Soludo\u2019s<\/span>
single-handed mismanagement of the banking sector led to an incredible<\/span>
accumulation of liabilities that will cost tax payers about N5.67 trillion<\/span>
(being the total face value of AMCON-issued bonds) to clean up. Let it be<\/span>
noted also that this amount, which is more than the entire Federal<\/span>
Government 2015 Budget, constitutes the bulk of Nigeria\u2019s \u201ccontingent<\/span>
liabilities\u201d mentioned in Soludo\u2019s article. It is only in Nigeria where<\/span>
someone who perpetrated such a colossal economic atrocity would have the<\/span>
temerity to make assertions on public debt and the management of the<\/span>
economy.<\/span>

7.\u00a0 \u00a0 Let us now look at some of the points he makes. Luckily, Soludo has<\/span>
told us that he has been busy travelling internationally, hobnobbing with<\/span>
his global partners. It is obvious from this article that from the<\/span>
rarefied heights at which he is flying he is completely out of touch with<\/span>
what is happening with the management of this economy. Take his comments<\/span>
on the mismanagement of the economy and the imposition of the austerity<\/span>
measures. The present fall in oil prices, a global phenomenon over which<\/span>
Nigeria has no control, has given every charlatan the opportunity to<\/span>
attack the economy, and by extension the managers of the economy<\/span>

8. It is true that the economy grew well during the second-term of former<\/span>
President Obasanjo as a result of the reforms supported by the President<\/span>
and implemented by the Economic Management Team. Please note that the<\/span>
Finance Minister under whose leadership that good performance took place,<\/span>
including massive unprecedented debt relief, is still Finance Minister<\/span>
today. But thorough examination of the facts on performance under the<\/span>
Jonathan Administration will also reveal that at a time when global<\/span>
economic performance was mediocre, with GDP growth averaging about 3<\/span>
percent per annum, Nigeria\u2019s GDP growth \u2013 averaging about 6 percent per<\/span>
annum \u2013 is indeed remarkable. Even more interesting is the fact that the<\/span>
oil sector did not drive this economic performance but the non-oil sector<\/span>
(Agriculture, Manufacturing, Telecommunications, the Creative Economy, and<\/span>
so on), which shows that the current Administration\u2019s diversification<\/span>
objective under the Transformation Agenda is working. Transformation<\/span>
equals diversification<\/span>

9. This current government managed to control inflation, which he Soludo,<\/span>
was not able to do during his time at the helm of monetary policy in<\/span>
Nigeria. When he left the Central Bank in 2009, inflation \u2013 which hurts<\/span>
the poor and vulnerable in the society the most \u2013 was above 13 percent per<\/span>
annum.\u00a0 Now, inflation is at single-digit, at 8 percent per annum. What<\/span>
about exchange rates? Well this administration again managed to stabilize<\/span>
the naira exchange rates, such that between May 2011 and the end of 2014,<\/span>
official exchange rates against the dollar rarely moved out of the N153 to<\/span>
N156 band. It is only with the recent dramatic fall in oil prices and the<\/span>
consequent impact on our foreign reserves that the exchange rate has<\/span>
become quite volatile. The drop in oil price has been heavy and rapid<\/span>
impacting all oil producing nations significantly. Nigeria is no exception<\/span>
and appropriate fiscal and monetary policy measures are being put in place<\/span>
to manage this situation.<\/span>

10. In fact, history will recall that careless remarks by Prof. Soludo<\/span>
(then Chief Economic Adviser to the President) hypothesizing a possible<\/span>
naira devaluation, condemned the naira to a free fall towards the end of<\/span>
2003. Ray Echebiri, in his 2004 article in the Financial Standard, wrote<\/span>
that not even the assurances given by the then CBN Governor, Mr. Joseph<\/span>
Sanusi or President Obasanjo that any plans to devalue the naira existed<\/span>
only in the head of Professor Soludo could halt the fall of the naira from<\/span>
N128 to the dollar in the official market to about N140 between September<\/span>
and December 2003.<\/span>

11. It is true that our foreign reserve accumulation is less than what it<\/span>
should be but the reason for this has been fully given, not as excuses but<\/span>
simply as fact: lower oil production and crude oil theft along with the<\/span>
refusal to save in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) are the reasons.<\/span>
Contrary to what Soludo said, oil production under President Obasanjo was<\/span>
higher than current levels. Quantities produced averaged 2.4 million bdp,<\/span>
2.22 million bpd, and 2.21 million bpd in 2005, 2006, and 2007<\/span>
respectively but has declined now to between 1.95 and 2.21 million bdp due<\/span>
to vandalism of the pipelines and the resulting \u201cshut-ins\u201d to fix the<\/span>
problem. It is true that had production been at the previous levels and<\/span>
had there been willingness to save we would have had more money in the ECA<\/span>
and also in the reserves. But the overriding setback to savings is that<\/span>
the State Governors felt it was their constitutional right to share the<\/span>
money. Please recall that even as we speak the States have taken the<\/span>
Federal Government to the Supreme Court on this issue<\/span>

12. Soludo\u2019s claim that 71 percent of Nigerians live below the poverty<\/span>
line is misleading and disingenuous. He uses 2011 statistics on poverty by<\/span>
the NBS to support his argument while ignoring more recent figures. But as<\/span>
stated in the Nigeria Economic Report 2014 by the World Bank, poverty rate<\/span>
in Nigeria has dropped from 35.2 percent of population in 2010\/2011 to<\/span>
33.1 percent in 2012\/2013. By the way, the reason why our poverty numbers<\/span>
have been so wrong is that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), under<\/span>
Soludo\u2019s supervision as CEA and Vice-Chair of the National Planning<\/span>
Commission, departed from the international standard method of poverty<\/span>
measurement. Is he now ignoring the right economic statistics to wilfully<\/span>
manipulate information?<\/span>

13. No doubt we have a problem with unemployment in this country and we<\/span>
must deal with it. Indeed this Administration is dealing with it and<\/span>
stands proud of what it has accomplished so far and is pushing hard to<\/span>
accomplish much more. As a first step, the Administration, through the<\/span>
office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President and the NBS, worked<\/span>
hard to determine how many jobs we need to create in a year. What you<\/span>
don\u2019t measure you cannot make progress on. Why didn\u2019t Soludo do this when<\/span>
he was CEA?<\/span>

14. We need to create about 1.8 million jobs a year in this country to<\/span>
cater for the new entrants into the labour market, but we also need to<\/span>
deal with the backlog of the unemployed and the underemployed, e.g. those<\/span>
selling on the streets. Dealing with this global challenge of unemployment<\/span>
is not an easy task for any country, as can be seen from the experiences<\/span>
of developed countries particularly in the euro area. But the Jonathan<\/span>
Administration is making good progress, creating an average of about 1.4<\/span>
million jobs per year by driving quality growth in key sectors like<\/span>
Agriculture, where the bulk of new jobs are being created, Housing,<\/span>
Manufacturing, Financial Services, and the Creative Industries like<\/span>
Nollywood.<\/span>

15. In addition we have special programs to promote job creation among the<\/span>
youth and these include:<\/span>

\u2022\uf020Promoting entrepreneurship among the youth through the<\/span>
\u201cNagropreneurs\u201d program to support 750,000 youth farmers with grants and<\/span>
training, and the YOUWIN program that is directly supporting up to 5,400<\/span>
young entrepreneurs with grants, training, and mentorship and so far<\/span>
beneficiaries are creating an average of 9 jobs each, for themselves and<\/span>
others. About 22,000 jobs have been created by the first 2,400 youwinners.<\/span>

\u2022\uf020Graduate Internship Scheme: that is reducing the vulnerability of<\/span>
unemployed graduates by enhancing their employability. The Scheme targets<\/span>
up to 50,000 unemployed graduates in the 36 states of the Federation and<\/span>
FCT and about 22,000 graduates have so far been placed by the program.<\/span>

\u2022\uf020Community Services Scheme under SURE-P: developed to empower<\/span>
young unskilled Nigerians, women and people with disabilities. About<\/span>
120,000 mostly young workers have been engaged across the country<\/span>

16. On the issue of debt, Nigerians deserve to know the truth and we have<\/span>
said it before. The truth is that the government borrowed in 2010 to pay<\/span>
an unprecedented 53.7 percent wage increase to all categories of federal<\/span>
employees as demanded by labour unions.\u00a0 The total wage bill rose from<\/span>
N857 billion in 2009 to about N1.4 trillion in 2010, and as a result,<\/span>
domestic borrowing increased from N200 billion in 2007 to about N1.1<\/span>
trillion in 2010 to meet the wage payments. Where was Soludo at the time?<\/span>
Why did he not react to the borrowing then? Was it because he wanted to<\/span>
pander to labour in preparation for his political career?<\/span>

17. It is noteworthy that since 2011, the Administration of President<\/span>
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been prudent with the issue of debt and<\/span>
borrowing. The Economic Management Team not only looks at debt to GDP<\/span>
ratio, where Nigeria has one of the lowest numbers in the world at 12.51<\/span>
percent but it looks at debt service to revenues. That is why in spite of<\/span>
the rebasing and a larger GDP, the administration has taken a prudent<\/span>
approach to borrowing. The prudent approach helped to drive down domestic<\/span>
borrowing from N1.1 trillion in 2010 to N642 billion in 2014. In fact for<\/span>
the first time in our nation\u2019s borrowing history we even managed to retire<\/span>
N75 billion of domestic bonds outright in 2013.<\/span>

18. Despite the present tough situation, we do not plan to go on a<\/span>
borrowing spree but to keep borrowing modest at a level sufficient to help<\/span>
us weather the present situation. We have already ramped up efforts to<\/span>
generate more non-oil revenues for the government while cutting costs of<\/span>
governance. Therefore, Soludo\u2019s claim that this Administration is reckless<\/span>
with debt does not hold true.<\/span>

19. Since Soludo seems so ignorant to what has been achieved by the<\/span>
Jonathan Administration, let us present just a few examples of them here<\/span>
again. This information is easily verified.<\/span>

\u2022 We are improving infrastructure across the country. For example, 22<\/span>
airport terminals are being refurbished, and five new international<\/span>
airport terminals under construction in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, Abuja,<\/span>
and Enugu. Soludo\u2019s kinsmen in the South East now have an international<\/span>
airport in Enugu, and for the first time in Nigeria\u2019s history can fly<\/span>
direct from Enugu to anywhere in world for which they are very grateful to<\/span>
this Administration. But with Soludo being up in the air with his<\/span>
international travels, he has not touched ground in the Southeast to<\/span>
observe this development for himself.<\/span>

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Various road and bridge projects have either been completed or are under<\/span>
construction. Those completed include the Enugu \u2013 Abaliki road in<\/span>
Enugu\/Ebonyi States, the Oturkpo \u2013 Oweto road in Benue State, the Benin \u2013<\/span>
Ore \u2013 Shagamu highway, and the Abuja \u2013 Abaji \u2013 Lokoja dualization, and the<\/span>
Kano \u2013 Maiduguri dualization. The Lagos \u2013 Ibadan expressway and the Second<\/span>
Niger Bridge are under construction.<\/span>

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rail from Lagos to Kano is now functional, as is parts of the rail link<\/span>
between Port Harcourt and Maiduguri. All these have brought transport<\/span>
costs down. We recognise that more needs to be done in the power sector,<\/span>
but bold steps (like the privatisation of the GENCOs and DISCOs) have been<\/span>
taken, and our gas infrastructure is being developed to power electricity<\/span>
generation<\/span>

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In Agriculture, over 6 million farmers now have access to inputs like<\/span>
fertilizers and seeds through an e-wallet system, which is more than the<\/span>
403,222 that had access in 2011. Rice paddy production took off for the<\/span>
first time in our history, adding about 7 million MT to rice supply. An<\/span>
additional 1.3 million MT of Cassava has also been produced and as a<\/span>
result, the rate of food price increase has slowed considerably, according<\/span>
to the NBS.<\/span>

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In Housing, we have put in place a new wholesale mortgage provider \u2013<\/span>
the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Corporation (NMRC) \u2013 to provide affordable<\/span>
mortgages to ordinary Nigerians, starting with those in the low-middle<\/span>
income bracket. This sector will help the economy grow as we tap it as an<\/span>
economic driver for the first time. Mortgage applications from 66,000<\/span>
people are currently being processed and 23,000 have already received<\/span>
mortgage offers<\/span>

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Manufacturing sector is reviving with new automobile plants by Nissan,<\/span>
Toyota, etc. This is in addition to the backward integration policy in key<\/span>
sectors like petrochemical, sugar, textiles, agro processing and cement,<\/span>
which Nigeria is now producing 39,000 MT and exporting to the region.<\/span>

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Creative sector is now a factor in our GDP, with Nollywood alone<\/span>
accounting for 1.4 percent, creating over 200,000 direct jobs and nearly 1<\/span>
million indirect jobs. This is the first Administration to recognise its<\/span>
importance and support its further development with a grant program.<\/span>

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A new bank \u2013 the Development Bank of Nigeria \u2013 will soon be operational<\/span>
and this bank will help bridge the access to finance gap, which is a major<\/span>
constraint for the private sector especially SMEs. The bank will provide<\/span>
long-term (5 \u2013 10 years) financing at affordable rates for the first time<\/span>
in our nation\u2019s history.<\/span>

20.This is the path that the government has been on before this fall in<\/span>
oil prices. The response to the economic shock has been spelled out to the<\/span>
Nigerian public over and over again, and the Administration intends to<\/span>
focus on managing this crisis appropriately. This year will be difficult.<\/span>
To say anything less to Nigerians will be untruthful. It would have been<\/span>
better if there had been a bigger cushion of the Excess Crude Account to<\/span>
manage this situation but despite this the nation can rise to the<\/span>
challenge. More importantly, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the<\/span>
Economic Management Team are seeing this as an opportunity to diversify<\/span>
the revenue sources of an already diversifying economy. In fact let me at<\/span>
this juncture use this opportunity to comment on Soludo\u2019s appalling<\/span>
statement that rebasing brings no policy value. Rebasing has enabled us to<\/span>
better grasp the new diversified nature of our economy. This provides the<\/span>
basis for our present drive to support different sectors with appropriate<\/span>
policy instruments to enhance their development. Rebasing has also enabled<\/span>
the Administration to create the platform from which to drive our work on<\/span>
increasing non-oil revenues. These are areas of critical policy value.<\/span>

21.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Soludo mentioned the issue of the Economic<\/span>
Partnership Agreement with the EU, noting that this Administration has not<\/span>
been vocal or clear on its direction with this agreement. On the contrary,<\/span>
the Administration, particularly the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and<\/span>
Investment, has been clear on this issue but since Soludo has been in the<\/span>
air he probably has not been aware of this. Just recently, the Minister of<\/span>
Industry, Trade and Investment reiterated again to the corporate sector<\/span>
that Nigeria has not signed and does not propose to sign the EPA in its<\/span>
present form.<\/span>

22.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The point is that this government has been<\/span>
pursuing the right economic policies, and its efforts have been<\/span>
acknowledged nationally and internationally. Let me say that there are<\/span>
objective ways to measure performance. There are international<\/span>
institutions globally accepted to do this. They have acknowledged this<\/span>
Administration\u2019s good economic management up to the recent crisis and even<\/span>
now.<\/span>

23.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 We cannot go by someone\u2019s subjective view,<\/span>
driven by bitterness and bile. We need to look to the truth and to<\/span>
professionalism. This is where Professor Soludo totally fails. For the<\/span>
other gratuitous, political, and personal attacks, we are sure that those<\/span>
mentioned will respond appropriately. It is a sad day for Nigeria and the<\/span>
economics profession that someone like Soludo, a former CBN governor<\/span>
should write such an article. If Soludo wants to regain respect, he should<\/span>
return to the path of professionalism. He certainly needs something to<\/span>
improve his image from that of someone whose sojourn into National<\/span>
Economic Management ended in disaster for the banking sector, his sojourn<\/span>
in politics, ended in overwhelming rejection by the electorate, and more<\/span>
recently, his sojourn abroad, has put him out of touch with the reality of<\/span>
the Nigerian economy.<\/span>


Paul C Nwabuikwu<\/span>
Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister<\/span>
of Finance.<\/span>

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Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. NgoziOkonjo-Iweala has described the five year tenure of Prof Chukuwma Soludoas the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria as a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\nOkonjo-Iweala Says Soludo, A Failed CBN Governor, An Embittered Loser - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/okonjo-iweala-says-soludo-a-failed-cbn-governor-an-embittered-loser\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Okonjo-Iweala Says Soludo, A Failed CBN Governor, An Embittered Loser - 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