The Presidency — By Prince Emeka Obasi Business Hallmark Newspaper, November 8–15, 2009

Mr. Sanusi is driven by intense passion for his job. As a banker, he is deeply disturbed by the problems besetting the industry and is understandably eager to root out all these malfeasances. Apparently, he has a moral aversion to corruption and as a risk manager, he is angry with the culture of recklessness that is the root cause of the banking sector problems. So he is determined to pursue his programmes with religious zealousness.

But then there is a crucial question to ask, does it make it right? Is it right for Sanusi to talk anyhow because of his deep commitment and devotion to his work? What are the consequences of his statements, some of which are clearly unguarded and even reckless?

For instance, let us examine his remarks to the effect that the bank chiefs should either rot in jail or be executed. It was totally tasteless, uninformed and intemperate. Nigeria operates the common law. Under the law, an accused, no matter the enormity of the crimes he is alleged to have committed, is deemed to be innocent of those crimes until it is proved beyond every reasonable doubt. It is a fundamental fact of law that the onus of proof is on the accuser. In other words, he who alleges must prove.

As far as is commonly known, none of the sacked bank chiefs has been convicted by any court. Many of the cases are at the preliminary stages. So how did Sanusi arrive at the decision that they should either rot in jail or be executed? It is also interesting to note that none of the charges against any of the accused attracts capital punishment. So what is this business of executing them? As if to make matters worse, last week, he confidently predicted that “about three or four of the accused will surely end in jail.” Haba, Mallam!

All over Broad Street and Marina, tongues are wagging. People are asking in hushed tones, what is really going on? What do we have here? Rambo on the loose?

The modern nation state is governed by the concept of the separation of powers. Indeed, it is the independence of the various arms of government that underpins the democratic ethic. The rule of law is so critical to the success of democracy, that it has become the litmus test for the success or otherwise of a democratic state.

Perhaps, unknown to many, one of the evils Olusegun Obasanjo committed against the Nigerian people was his refusal to recognize the primacy of the rule of law in the governance of a modern democracy. Obasanjo muscled the judiciary, ignored court orders and the truth really is that under Obasanjo, Nigeria did not operate a democracy. At best it was a civilian government and at worst, an autocracy. Now you may wonder, why am I recalling that nightmare?

Simple, to fully appreciate the nobility of President Yar’Adua in allowing the rule of law full rein. Some Nigerians, including the usual chattering crowd of journalists and failed fugitive “reformers,” El Rufai, Nuhu Ribadu et al, have been struggling to portray Yar’Adua negatively as ineffectual. El Rufai even had the temerity to suggest recently that Obasanjo was better than Yar’Adua. What a joke! What a cruel, hideous joke! By insisting on the rule of law as the fundamental canon of Government, Yar’Adua has finally located Nigeria on the path of sustainable socio-economic and political development. By recognising that Governments, institutions of state and individuals are all creations of the law and thus subject to its broad dictates, the president has finally pulled the curtain on the past and opened the way to the new world.

In a democracy, the judiciary is usually free and justice works on the premise of the rule of law. It is now commonly accepted that the rule of law is a pre-requisite for the development of any economy, even more than the infractions of egregious bankers. Under the rule of law, no one, no matter how highly placed or well meaning, is allowed to be a prosecutor and a judge in his own case.

Unfortunately, that would appear to be a role Sanusi is determined to appropriate. He is not content with sacking the bank chiefs, but he is hell bent on trying them, possibly without legal representation, and executing them all. But detection and prevention of crimes, prosecution of crimes and punishment of criminals do not fall within the purview of a central banker. Inflation control, price stability and banking industry regulation are the core functions of a central banker.

A RIBADU REBORN? But why am I not surprised? Don’t you get that de’javu feeling? It is a throwback to the old order. A few years ago, an energetic and hardworking young man, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, was assigned the very important task of investigating crime. Some people, especially journalists, cheered him on. But I mourned. I spoke out then in this column, praising Ribadu’s courage and patriotism, but warning against his excesses. As I said then, an out of control police officer was a worse threat to a nation state than a corrupt public officer.

But there are interesting morals to the Ribadu saga. Life, an Hausa proverb says, “is a long distance journey often with various turns.” Is it now an abiding irony that Mallam Ribadu is today a fugitive from justice? The hunter has become the hunted. And the very lawyers, judges and institutions of state that once cheered him now stand against him.

A central banker is a magisterial responsibility — sober, reflective, circumspective and painstaking. It is not a job for wannabes or closet politicians. It is too onerous a responsibility for those on a vendetta, or propagandists, or crusaders of the political kind. It is easy to be affronted by Sanusi’s grave limitations especially given the enormity and sheer urgency of the task he is entrusted with. But perhaps the right attitude should be more of pity and even sorrow. Pity, for a well-meaning but obviously misguided young man. And sorrow that we may have gotten it wrong once again, that a successive CBN governor has set his sail on the wrong course, yet again.