OFFA BORN FIRST WOMAN AG. CBN GOVERNOR RETIRES
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Mrs Sarah Alade, Deputy Governor in charge of Policy at the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) retired from the bank on Wednesday after spending 23 years at the
bank.
She urged the Governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele to uphold the
credibility of the bank.
Alade,
who once served as acting Governor following the sack of Lamido Sanusi, now the
Emir of Kano, said this at her send-off celebration.
In
attendance was the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele; Minister of Finance, Mrs
Kemi Adeosun; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udo Udoma; and
international partners from IMF, World bank, amongst others.
“Throughout my period at the bank, I have one
slight regret and that’s during the period I was acting governor. It was the
time that the CBN was being investigated. It had never happened before that the
activity of the CBN was under investigation.”
“We
went for the IMF meetings and when we meet with investors, they asked us ‘what
is happening? We understand that there was some financial mismanagement in the
CBN.’ It was humiliating.”
“I
think for me, that was a low point. The Credibility for this institution was
eroded.”
“For
an institution this important to be subjected to that, is bad. At the end of
the day, it was not just CBN that suffered for it, but the economy as a whole
did suffer.”
“So
I want to encourage us that whatever we need to do, let us do it right. We must
not subject this institution to that type of incident again,” she said.
Sharing
her experience as acting Governor of the apex bank, Alade explained that the
investigation paralysed activities at the bank.
“I
remember that during that period, I was reminded every morning that we have
four governors. The suspended governor, the governor in waiting, the acting
governor and the investigating governor.”
“I
remember that the investigating governor told us that there should be no
initiative, no payments, no decisions making, nothing. The only thing we could
do was to just maintain the bank.”
“So
the bank was sort of paralysed. We could not do anything. For me, it was a
humiliating experience, but we did the best we could,” she said.
At
a send-forth party in her honour on Tuesday night, Governor of the Bank, Mr.
Godwin Emefiele described her exit as ‘sad’ because ‘it is the exit of a
colleague, friend, woman of virtue and someone who has done extremely well
professionally and privately.’
According
to him, Alade did an excellent job in representing ladies of CBN after spending
23 years at the bank.
“But
in life, whatever has a beginning must have an end and it is best to bow out
when the ovation is loudest. We thank her for her contributions to learning and
it will be difficult to fill the gap she is leaving behind.”
Also,
Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun described Alade as one of the brilliant
and inspiring Nigerian women in finance.
She
joined CBN in in 1993 as an assistant director in the Research Department,
where she served as Head, State Government Finance Office and Head, Fiscal
Analysis Division from the University of Ilorin, where she had lectured.
Alade
is the first staff of CBN to be appointed a deputy governor and as the most
senior deputy governor in 2015 when Mallam Sanusi Lamido was suspended as
Governor, she became the acting Governor until Emefiele was appointed.
She
served on the team of major policy studies and was involved in the preparation
of CBN’s Monetary and Credit Policy proposals over the years.
The
1976 Economics graduate of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University)
was appointed Director, Banking Operations Department in May, 2004 and in 2007,
elevated to the position of deputy governor.
She
also obtained a Masters in Commerce Degreee from the University of Melbourne,
Australia in 1983 and PhD, Management Science (Operations Research) from the
University of Ilorin in 1991.
NIGERIA, THREE OTHERS MAY LOSE 1.4 MILLION CHILDREN TO FAMINE IN 2017 – UN
he United Nations
International Children Emergency Fund, UNICEF, on Monday said that 1.4 million
children suffering from severe malnutrition could die this year from famine in
Nigeria and three other countries.
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According to UNICEF,
in Yemen, where war has been raging for nearly two years, 462,000 children are
suffering from acute malnutrition while 450,000 children are severely
malnourished in northeast Nigeria.
Drought in Somalia
has left 185,000 children on the brink of famine but that figure is expected to
reach 270,000 in the next few months, said UNICEF.
In South Sudan, over
270,000 children are malnourished and a famine has just been declared in parts
of Unity State in the north of the country, where 20,000 children live.
UNICEF director,
Anthony Lake, appealed for quick action.
“We can still save
many lives,” he said.
In January, a report
by the Famine Early Warning System Network, FEWS NET, an agency supported by
the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, said that due to
persistent conflict, severe drought and economic instability, Nigeria and three
other countries faced a credible risk of famine in 2017.
NIGERIANS
ARE SUFFERING, MBAKA TELLS BUHARI
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everend Fr. Ejike
Mbaka of the Adoration Ministry in Enugu State has advised President Muhammadu
Buhari on leadership in the New Year.
He gave the advice in
Enugu on Saturday in his New Year message at the cross over service to 2017.
He advised the
President to tackle the challenges facing the country, saying “many Nigerians
are suffering.
“Though the President is trying on corruption and security, Nigerians are hungry; they want to see more changes.
“There is the need to assist businessmen and women in their
businesses.”
He also advised the President to appoint experts who would
help him to revive the economy.
The cleric asked the President to consult Church leaders and
eminent men of God to advise him and tell him the truth about the economy.
“We cannot reach him for advice because of the kind of
people around him,” he added.
He then urged Nigerians to be patient and be prayerful “as
your sufferings and hardships would be over in 2017.
“Nigeria is set to be great again,” he stressed.
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