Leadership (Abuja)
Barnabas Omali
1 January 2009
opinion
Today is significant in the history of First Bank of Nigeria Plc because it is the day that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi formally commences his tenure as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank.
The first time I saw Lamido Sanusi was at the annual picnic Ahmadu Bello University chapter of the Nigeria Economics Students Association hosted in April 1983 in honour of my class, the graduating class of the Economics Department. The event was held at the tranquil university farm in the afternoon of that memorable Saturday and the weather was simply remarkable.
Today is significant in the history of First Bank of Nigeria Plc because it is the day that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi formally commences his tenure as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank.
The first time I saw Lamido Sanusi was at the annual picnic Ahmadu Bello University chapter of the Nigeria Economics Students Association hosted in April 1983 in honour of my class, the graduating class of the Economics Department. The event was held at the tranquil university farm in the afternoon of that memorable Saturday and the weather was simply remarkable. The day was bright and dry. The soft rays of the sun coupled with the gentle breeze that caressed our bodies which had been under stress from preparations towards the final examinations, added to the conviviality of the day, thus, making the whole experience an unforgettable one. The farm was sparsely forested by trees that had been carefully planted to provide shades from what could be an extremely harsh sun. The man-made lake also complemented the scenery and reinforced the ambience.
As we ate, drank and danced to various musical beats, amidst boat riding on the lake I noticed a personality I was sure I had never seen or met. He was slim with facial features that looked mildly caucasian. He had come to the picnic along with Professors: Bright Ekhuarhere, Ode Ojowu, Mike Kwanashie, Uka Ezenwe, Sam Nahamya (Ugandan) and Mensa (Ghanaian) who at the time were members of the academic staff of the department. When I inquired about him, I was simply told that his name was Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and he had returned to the department to work for a master's degree in Economics, having received a bachelor's degree from the same department in 1981.
The one thing that gave him away for notice was his reserved calmness which was only interrupted by the intermittent discussions he was engaged in, with Professor Ekhuarhere. We never met formally while we were on campus but our careers as bankers had caused our paths to cross in 1997 when we had resumed in United Bank for Africa as Hakeem Belo-Osagie's new hires. Before this time, Lamido Sanusi had gone to take another degree in Shari'ah and Islamic Studies from the International University of Africa in Khartoum, Sudan and had also worked in ICON Merchant Bank.
At an informal meeting, that Keem (as Hakeem Belo-Osagie is popularly called) had with Relationship Managers and Credit Risk Managers to discuss how to drive and improve the credit process with the aim of engendering the bank's commercial banking business, Lamido Sanusi, who had just accepted an offer to join the bank but had not even resumed, articulated his positions on the various issues that included risk assessment and credit policy. His refreshing submissions were guided by profound logic and objectivity backed by an in-depth knowledge of the operating environment, business dynamics and associated risks. As relationship managers listened, the expression worn by all was that of a general acknowledgement that he is quite deep in knowledge, very articulate and has a strong professional disposition. He spoke with the erudition of one who had not only mastered the English language but also pronounced the words without any trace of the usually familiar incursions that the local accents made, which often sold Nigerians out to their tribal enclaves (apologies to the likes of Prince Jegede Shokoya of the New Masquerade fame). I was beginning to know him.
Lamido Sanusi made remarkable contributions to the development of the risk management function in the pre-Tony Elumelu UBA, thereby earning well deserved promotions that took him to the position of general manager. He drove the transformation of the Credit Risk Management Division into an Enterprise Risk Management Sector, as well as spearheading UBA's Basel 2 focus through the establishment of the framework, policies, processes and systems necessary for compliance with the guiding principles of the new capital accord. As relationship manager, he was our ever ready and willing, sounding board for guidance on how best to structure knotty credits such that all the associated risks are adequately mitigated. This was a very helpful process as Lamido Sanusi's opinion almost guaranteed the smooth passage of a credit proposal through the approval chain. His contributions also impacted on risk management practice in the industry and by the time he left UBA in 2005, he had become a visible tower whose credit judgments could be ignored by only a reckless lender. As a mark of his effectiveness, he spearheaded the rescue of one of the biggest branches of UBA in the north when it was almost annihilated through the exuberance and recklessness of those who would stop at nothing to lend money to even the most ill-intentioned borrower. His appointment as Executive Director, Risk and Management Control in First Bank of Nigeria along with four others in 2005 was breaking news in the industry. Lamido Sanusi had earned his place.
However, the man's name does not echo in the banking industry alone because he is also a very strong voice in social engineering. This is a reputation he has built from many years of active participation in public discourse on matters relating to society, political economy and religion. Many Nigerians and indeed friends of Nigeria who are sufficiently interested in the issues affecting Nigeria would recall the deep intellectual and practical insights that Lamido Sanusi provided during the shari'ah debate. And if he had remained in the academia instead of the banking career he chose, he would have been a visiting scholar to some of the world's best known ivy-league institutions.
In all of these, Lamido Sanusi does not betray his royalty as his personality is drenched in humility. A scion of the Fulani ruling house of Kano, Sanusi's diplomat father was the son of Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi, the 11th Emir of Kano.
His appointment as managing director of First Bank of Nigeria is, therefore, a resounding testimony of his outstanding professionalism and intellectual excellence. In other climes where the markets are very sensitive to the news of such appointments, the scramble for the shares of First Bank by discerning investors who appreciate that the appointment will translate into good and professional management that will in turn deliver marked improvements in the bank's performance indices, would have driven the price into an upsurge. But the activities of a modern day, private sector "Professor" who has no research publications to support the claim, has robbed the market of such dynamics as should have been.
Lamido Sanusi will be stepping into the big shoes of Mr Moyo Ajekigbe who has undoubtedly piloted the bank to unprecedented heights. To be appointed the chief executive officer of a bank as big and contemporary as First Bank is definitely not an invitation to a tea party, but the industry and indeed the numerous shareholders of First Bank are assured by the fact that the resume that he comes to the spot with, adequately prepares him for this challenge and more. As he takes over the position of helmsman of the elephant-sized but nimble First Bank of Nigeria Plc, this is wishing Sanusi Lamido Sanusi a glorious and successful tenure.
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