Yemie Adeoye

I have never been an advocate of government probes of preceding governments, simply because I have always believed that it is capable of slowing down a supposed good cause, aimed at good governance, and delivery of democratic dividends to the people.

But pardoning this gentleman, and former Governor of Nigeria’s central bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, and failing to probe his tenure as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor will be an aberration, a difficult task, and tall order even for the Catholic Pope, were he to be the sitting President of Nigeria.

It will also be a colossal disservice to Fatherland, and a crime against humanity, especially the downtrodden, most of whom suffered severe hardship weeks before the last Presidential election, due to the dumbest, haphazard and cynical CBN policy in the history of policies. We all saw before our very eyes for the first time in our nation al history, Nigerians buying Naira with Naira. The banks across major cities of Lagos and Abuja, our capital and its commercial counterpart, suddenly stopped functioning, the chaos that ensued was indeed monumental and unprecedented. All these because one man. I sincerely do not want to remember that episode. It was a nightmare for want of words, one which memory will linger for a long time.

So you can imagine my disdain, when news filtered in that the government of President Tinubu was going to charge this man to court for a one count charge of possession of firearms, after his well publicized, albeit well deserved arrest. That was most cynical in my thoughts.

Now, seeing the Aljazeera report, stating that the charges against the former CBN Governor have been upwardly reviewed to 20 counts, I became most hopeful, as it began to make sense to me, even if I had some highly reliable back sources, who shared this news, and more with me even before it breaks.

Everything we are currently suffering as per the Naira/Dollar exchange rate is due to this very wicked individual, and his thoughtless policies while he held sway as the nation’s number one banker. He alone for reasons best known to him, single-handedly set the stage for our current national misfortune.

There are questions begging for answers now if we must move forward. For instance how much did Emefiele spent on his hurriedly planned new Naira redesign, and printing? And where is the money?? No one seems to have it! That is a big issue for audit, and must never be swept under the carpet, lest we have a repeat of this nightmare in the future.

I gathered also that about 50% of Nigeria’s foreign reserve has been staked as ‘surety bonds’ for all of Nigeria’s numerous foreign loans, and this was without legislative approval. Hence Naira fall against global currencies as we now see today, is inevitable.

We also recall how he told the that Aboki FX, an online foreign exchange trading platform was the sole reason behind the free fall of the naira. He even challenged his critics to “come out, lets us fight” just as a five year old would probably say or act, and this was before international cameras. Indeed when he made this cynical statement, the naira was trading for less than N500 to a dollar, and when he left, it was above N700.

Thus, without prejudice to the current government in Nigeria, and the case before the tribunal, any government that had emerged the winner of the last presidential election in Nigeria would have had this monster to deal with,  the land mines and booby traps were well laid out, and the absent minded former President signed everything that was brought to before him in his last days in office, thereby earning that befitting title, and setting the stage for our collective and current suffering

This is aside the subsidy debacle, another huge monster that must be tamed before it consumes all in its way. These are indeed perilous times, and sadly the people are the worst for it.

But at times like this, we should identify who the real enemies of the people are, before they sneak back into our midst, mingle with us again, and emerge as one of our leaders against the battles ahead for the future.

This gentleman, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele was never fit to head a community bank, let alone a bank as respected as zenith Bank, thereby getting to the prestigious and esteemed office he last occupied and destroyed. How Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Nigeria’s former President ended up head-hunting him, and replacing an enigma like the former Emir of Kano, and current Khalifa, HRH Mohammad Sanusi Lamido II with this gentleman will forever remain a mystery for future unraveling. His appointment is infact one of President Jonathan’s most thoughtless policy to Nigeria and Nigerians. The next time any individual appears before the national Assembly for that very sensitive position, the grilling should be world-class.

If members of the relevant committee need to hire international consultants for that purpose, that is exactly what must be done. Now, we all know, and understand the extreme importance of that esteemed office, and should never leave it at the hands of mediocres ever again, as lives depends on it.

Yemie Adeoye, a Public Affairs and Energy analyst writes from Texas, USA.