Interesting times

By Sanya Oni

Emefiele versus Obaseki

Poor Godwin Emefiele. As if the management of the monetary policy side of the national economy is not in itself enough headache to contend with, he must now find a purpose-built body armour to deflect the fiery darts thrown at him by political operatives with axes to grind. It certainly does not help that the face of the latest onslaught is the investment banker turned governor – Godwin Obaseki of Edo State. Never mind that the accuser himself merely represents that class that have shown neither shame nor sense of public duty in the face of the virtual collapse of the national economy; it is sufficient that he is not just casting the proverbial stones but actively seeking to enlist the rest us in their opportunistic, intra-elite games.

Just imagine, those who have made careers of living off rents and commissions from loan syndications (never mind that some of the packages are as toxic as they can be) and endless recycling of dubious assets– now pretending to be the new face of transparency and public accountability!

So much for our love for drama, I know a few Nigerians who would swear that the Obaseki “bombshell” was probably the next best thing since Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about the governor being garlanded by some amorphous groups for ‘courage’ and for speaking truth to power! Patriotism, leadership and honour – at least in these parts – doesn’t come in cheaper packages!

Again, so much for the so-called thunder; here is what he said: “So, in another year or so, where will we find this money that we go to share in Abuja? When we got FAAC for March, the federal government printed additional N50-N60 billion to top-up for us to share.” If I understood the man at this point, it was chiefly about his concerns about the economy particularly the looming dangers of insolvency. Indeed, the bit about ‘printing N60 billion’ would seem at this point to have been thrown in for dramatic effect – until the media amplification of same changed the entire narrative!

Unfortunately, like a monarch that could do no wrong, not only did the governor consider it beneath him to offer context and perhaps necessary clarifications to put things in order, he actually doubled down using such words like ‘monetary rascality’ – which is unfortunate considering that the issues are quite straightforward.

Why do I say this? First, quantitative easing and ‘ways and means’ are neither new nor could they be said to be strange instruments; in fact, they are routinely deployed by monetary authorities world-wide to address economic issues as they arise. To have presented the matter in the manner that he did – like some printers in Shomolu churning out loads of naira by the day – is not only opportunistic, it is cheap. Coming from man who should ordinarily know better, it smacks of a grand betrayal of leadership. Even if, as some have suggested, that the governor is privy to certain information that calls for serious concerns, there are certainly, countless avenues, including his membership of the National Economic Council, through which such could have been channeled.

Moreover, it doesn’t even require a genius to know that things are in terrible shape. With a huge chunk of the federation tied down by a raging insurgency, the other half are only now still reeling in the after-effects of the Covid-19 lockdown, only a pretender would deny that extraordinary measures are required to keep things steady – even if minimally. To think that we cannot even pump as much crude as we would have loved because the market isn’t simply there? And this at a time our import bills are not going down?

And now to imagine that the PDP – the party of Obaseki is actually the one gloating the so-called ‘monetary rascality’? A party that had the whole of 16 years to make a difference; an opportunity to turn things but in the end left Nigerian not only unliveable but vulnerable?

These are interesting times no doubt. Of course, I understand the sing-song about ballooning debts and all that! How will anyone not be outraged at Rotimi Amaechi’s Railway Exotica from Katsina to Maradi in Niger Republic with borrowed funds? Those who describe it as madness at this time are certainly not off the mark.

The problem is not Emefiele. His CBN may have tended to play deep – far too deep in my view – in active intervention – perhaps for its own good. Sure, the apex bank has merely been doing what bankers do best – throw money at problems sometimes at the risk of reducing well-intentioned interventions to an end rather than a means to an end. Talk of the man who is blessed because his sins are covered; the reason all eyes are on Emefiele is because he’s actually doing something. In this, he’s certainly far better than the nearly three-dozen accidental occupants of our executive mansions – including …!

The ultimate meltdown

Welcome to Nigeria’s season of unprecedented meltdown. Everything, from the economy to governance; leadership to the basic ethical safeguards that underpin it; nothing is spared. Where else but in Nigeria do freelance militias and other assorted loonies rule the roost while those vested with the instrument of state power are not just on permanent abdication mode but, when it suits them, supply distraught citizenry with those cheeky rationalisations that puts into question, not just their mental states but their fidelity to our national cause?

Of course, Nigeria never ceases to amaze. Here is a country whose defence minister would chide poor, unarmed citizens for playing the coward to bands of AK-47 bearing militias; think of a country where some so-called excellencies think little of inviting RPG-bearing criminals to breakfast tables in a mission dubbed as one to secure the peace! Only in Nigeria!

Now, we have minister charged with driving our digital economy; one expected to keep troves of citizens data not only caught out extolling extremist groups but actually praying for their victory in battle: ‘Oh God, give victory to the Taliban and to al-Qaeda’!

Now, he says, like Saul on that dramatic conversion en route to Damascus, he is now a born-again, turnaround fella! Just like that!

I hope that Nigerians, would, in due season, ask the relevant questions. For instance, how much does the Nigerian security establishment know of his extremist Salafist views? Were any red flags raised at any point by the Department of State Security? Or, was it a case of the institution being roundly ignored as we had in the case of Ibrahim Magu, the erstwhile EFCC chieftain?

If you ask me, I’ll say that the last has not been heard on the Isa Patami matter.