In my over 30-years of watching and observing the perfunctory management of the Central Bank, this I should say, is the first time the management of the bank is actually speaking and addressing cogent issues that the bank should have been keenly aware of. Nigeria is finally growing up. Sanusi, unlike many others before him, have finally de-personalized his appointment, as those before him seemed to relish in hollow accolades of being seen in the public as the "CBN Governor". Mallam Sanusi is actually taking his job seriously and should be commended for ushering in the management styles of the bank into the 21st Century. He is not running the bank as a private enterprise. He, I am surprised, is actually putting Nigeria first in his policy decisions. Maybe, through his examples, the neferious elements who had over-used the name of our Central Bank in numerous commercial undertakings would now stop.

The role of the Central Bank is not to engage in commercial activities with the "general public", as many of these bogus documents have seemed to portray. The role of the Central Bank is to engage in policy-making decisions with regards to the financial health of the nation by enforcing regulatory policies as set forth in the Constitution by working in tandem with Banking Committees set forth by the country's legislative bodies. In it, every top management or executive position MUST be vetted by the Senate or House of Reps Banking sub-Committee. Through this means, the mental health of the individual seeking appointment must be examined to ensure that such persons do not have hidden agendas for wanting to work with the Central Bank.

Furthermore, appointments to the Central Bank should not necessasily be based on some political considerations such as geopolitical zoning or character building categorization of the nations ethnic make-up. Even though it may be necessary in some form so as to avoid collusion. But, all appointments should be based strictly on qualification and a wanton desire to rid Nigeria of the indices of avarcious mentality and inauspiciousness that the rest of the world had heretofore, used as a benchmark for defining Nigeria. Our first love and moral obligation is to seek always to protect the image of Nigeria. No ethnic leaning or linguistic preference or religious affiliations should be used as a barometer for deciding how Nigeria should be governed. Those who use language as a means of solidifying their political affinity or as a means of defining Nigeria have yet to understand the essence of a true democratic system. A leader is someone who seeks common grounds for purposes of ensuring that those that are led are able to relate to them. The essence of leadership, therfore, lies in an ability to communicate with the general public. In order to seek a national office, leaders must develop the sense of adaptability especially in a culturally heterogenous environment (liguistically speaking) like Nigeria.

Without deviating wholly from the subject of this article, I would hope that Mr. Sanusi would take heed to these suggestions, as he attempts to clean up the accumulated mess which many of his predecessors had left untouched. In matters pertaining to the image of the country, there should be no sacrificial cows. Every mess should be expunged, and employees whose activities run counter to the goals of the Central Bank must face criminal prosecution. I might also add that Mr. Sanusi should attempt to codify the bank's stationeries whereby, it would be easy to detect from whose department Central Bank's letterheaded correspondences are found floating the world-wide web. The damage done to the image of the country through these neferious acts are sometimes so disheartening that many Nigerians find themselves running for cover.

In summation, however, I am totally in agreement with the steps Mr. Sanusi is taking to rid Nigeria's Central Bank of the negative images which the civilized world have used to define the entire nation. A word of caution: I would be the first one to critisize Mr. Sanusi if I were to see him overstep his constituted bounds. This is the essence of a democracy. As long as he seeks consent of the National Assembly for the institution and enforcement of his policies, Mr. Sanusi would have no problems from me. Nigeria is too diverse a country for an individual to want to act as the lone ranger. Military dictators attempted to rule by fiat without going through a robust democratic process, and the result was immeasurably devastating to the entire nations social, political and economic system. We are just now beginning to see democracy at work, and that my friends, is how a country should be run.