Kudos: Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor Wins Two International Banking Awards

By Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” John Quincy Adams

For Winning Two International Banking Awards: Kudos to Central Bank of Nigeria Governor… Mallam Lamido Aminu Sanusi

Given the financial fiasco we have seen or read about in the last couple of years; housing crash, Madoff, Wall Street, Banking issues and such, it’s a wonder anyone pays attention to those who make great effort to correct systemic problems. I was quite glad to read today on the BBC News site that one of my own, Nigerian Banker and Governor of the Central Bank, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, had won two international banking awards.

According to the BBC News article, he was “named Central Bank Governor of 2010 for both the African continent and the entire world, by the prestigious  The Banker magazine.” The Banker magazine covers international financial affairs and is owned and published monthly by The Financial Times Ltd.  Mallam Sanusi was appointed to his position in June of 2009 and has received kudos for implementing reforms in the Nigerian banking system. Since assuming office, Mallam Sanusi has initiated a radical anti-corruption campaign aimed at saving 24 banks, embarked on the bailout of several banks and dismissed their chief executives, limited the tenure of bank bosses to a maximum of 10 years and insisted on greater transparency by instituting a stricter disclosure policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria. He is highly regarded in the banking world  as a risk management expert.

Mallam Sanusi comes from an esteemed Northern Nigerian family. His father was a top level administrator in the Ministry of Foreign Affair and his grandfather was the Emir of Kano. He studied economics at both the undergrad and graduate levels and taught the subject at his Alma mater; Ahmadu Bello University. Mallam Sanusi’s steady rise in the banking field began in 1985 when he joined a subsidiary of Morgan Guaranty Trust Bank of New York, and Baring Brothers of London. He later joined the United Bank of Africa and, by 2005, moved to the Board of First Bank of Nigeria as an Executive Director. First Bank is the oldest bank in Nigeria and one of Africa’s biggest financial institutions. In January 2009, he became First Bank’s Group Managing Director and by June 2009, he was appointed Governor of the Central Bank.

This is terrific news especially as many nations, including this one, continue to find ways to recover from the economic downshifts of the last several years. It is not lost on me that this is important because of the negative press that Nigeria has gotten in the past with 419 scams, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s the attempted bombing on a flight from Amsterdam, and a slew of other pernicious pr nightmares that have been that great nation’s lot… It is also not lost on me that outside of the BBC News, I have not read about this award to an African national elsewhere…. For a change, let’s applaud something positive that happens on the African continent.

What are your thoughts on the subject?  Why do other international media channels limit the type of  news they share on Africa? Do share! Thank you…

Positive Motivation Tip: When we look for the good in others, we honor the good in ourselves…