In many people’s eyes, Mr. Godwin Emefiele is a villain. A villain who should not still be occupying his post as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, if these people have their way. Evidently, President Muhammadu Buhari thinks otherwise, so does Mr. Emefiele himself. In fact, he has indirectly declared himself as the Messiah of Nigeria’s economy.
According to Emefiele, there would have been a total collapse of the nation’s economy or a more critical situation had it not been for his policies as borne by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He said this while speaking yesterday at the All Civil Society National Economic Summit, held in Abujain a message conveyed by his Special Assistant, Mr Emmanuel Ukeje.
In justifying this claim, Emefiele pointed at two decisions of the CBN that from his own perspective has helped the state of Nigeria’s economy. The first is the decision to ensure bank recapitalization. “For instance, prior to recapaitalition, the total number of commercial banks could not match asset base of a single South African bank. But this is not the case anymore as our banks are now robust.” he said.
Secondly, the adoption of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) was touted as blocking loop holes to ensure a far more sanitised environment provided for in the banking industry. “The same goes for TSA which removed sharp practices in some banks as instances arose where you had banks using government money lodged with them to buy government bonds. In other words, government was buying bonds back with their own cash through these banks which basically reaped the system”, Emefiele stated.
With the nation’s economy in recession, the first in many decades, the forex scarcity still remaining an issue and the value of the Naira against the dollar burgeoning, critics of Mr. Emefiele and his policies will continue to have a field day slating him, which will continue to divide Nigerians as to his role- Hero or Villain?