A part of public discourse is the right of a rejoinder. Without that, there cannot be civilized discourse that can guarantee peaceful co-existence.
A rejoinder, in this regard, can be described as an answer or response to an opinion or question. In what may be regarded as a rejoinder to my article of last week, one Etim Etim, in a piece titled “Herbert Wigwe, Access Bank and the danger of a single story”, attempted to give his own narrative of what he considered to be counter-narrative against my and other people’s viewpoints particularly on how Access Bank acquired Intercontinental Bank. In what I see as an effort to launder the poor circumstances surrounding the acquisition of Intercontinental Bank, I am happy that Mr. Etim did not go the whole length to defend Nigerian banks or Access Bank in particular of other misdeeds that I chronicled in my article as being perpetrated by the banks in Nigeria which are affecting the economy and destroying the living of a common man. However, in his words, “I have also read an article written by Muiz Banire, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), in which he flippantly referred to the acquisition of Intercontinental by Access Bank as ‘’tilapia swallowing a whale’’. This is a misleading and false imagery purportedly indicating that Intercontinental was bigger than Access at the time of the transaction…Senior lawyers like Banire have a responsibility to speak with some knowledgeability, otherwise they would misrepresent their clients”. While I believe that Mr. Etim is entitled to his opinion and enjoys freedom of information under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I believe that his assumption of having a better knowledge of the facts surrounding the unfortunate transaction in issue, is rather arrogant and misinforming. His attempt at castigating other viewpoints to suit his sponsored article and referring to my position as representing a client, is quite disingenuous. I am not holding brief for anyone as many Nigerian banks that are my clients were not spared in my independent analysis of what I know is the truth of what is playing out in the financial sector of the country, Nigeria. It is clear that my position is in defence of the interest of an average Nigerian and the nation itself whose economy has been worsened by all manner of sharp and illicit practices in our financial institutions. This definitely calls for an intervention and a new investigation into the circumstances that led to Intercontinental Bank being declared distressed and how Access Bank was able to acquire it. Is it in the books of Intercontinental Bank that the owners of Access Bank were owing Intercontinental Bank at the time of purchase or otherwise. Mr. Etim did not refer to or explain this. Another question is how much was paid by Access Bank for the acquisition of Intercontinental Bank and how was the fund raised? If there is so much allegation of sleaze surrounding a particular transaction of this magnitude, it behooves all men of good conscience to call for a thorough review and investigation. While Mr. Akingbola might justifiably have his nose against the wall as regards certain misdeeds for which he was tried or is still being tried, as I am not aware of the present situation of things as regards his travails, I know, and I challenge anyone to contradict me that I have never been counsel to the man and cannot hold his brief in the media in a matter of this nature. However, it is still imperative to still raise some questions. Was Intercontinental Bank that distressed as to make it an impossible candidate for a bail-out as was extended to other banks? Was it that poor that the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) was unable to rescue it through its mandate to purchase bank debts as eligible bank assets? I know that AMCON had come into existence by 2011 and Access Bank did not acquire Intercontinental Bank until 2012. I honestly believe that with the volume of information that is now in the public domain on the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of the bank, there is need for the present regime to re-examine the situation. We do not hold any grudge against anyone save for the need to protect our financial sector and guarantee a better society for all. Our financial sector cannot be floundering on the mattress of illegalities like this and men and women of conscience would keep quiet. It is not a defence of a single individual but a thorough examination of the circumstances that threaten our liquidity and safety of deposits of many people. We must be able to see the end of this issue and we thank God that Access Bank is not a one-man institution as Aigboje Aig-Imoukuede is alive and well and can still talk on how they acquired Intercontinental Bank and whether the transaction was free of the alleged malpractices. That aside, I believe that efforts being made by the Central Bank of Nigeria to reposition the Naira and redeem our sliding economy deserve some encouragement. The apex Bank needs to be more determined as my recollection of its Governor’s antecedent is a testimony of someone who does not do things in half measures. I pray and believe that he shall achieve the best for the country as his failure, God forbid, is a continuation of suffering for the common man. I will then advocate stronger measures to be put in place to protect our fiscal operations. An economy that is led and guided by wild market speculations like ours cannot thrive. It is important that all the elements and factors responsible for the fall of the Naira must be fully addressed. The government must place on priority, the manufactory sector of the nation. A consumer economy cannot survive in this world of competition as its failure to earn foreign currency cannot place it in a good stead to achieve balance of trade. We must look at our exchange relations and strengthen our productivity. That is when we can earn dollars to shore up our foreign reserves. The government must also look for the possibility of lessening our dependence on dollar. The Nigeria-China trade relations, for instance, seems to have been taken out of dollar-dependent syndrome. A huge percentage of our trading activities hold with China as majority of our imports is from there. Just as the President of Kenya was once reported to have said, why should such a trade relation be dollar-dependent. The late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had prescribed for Nigeria a trade relation that is denominated in other currencies so as to strengthen our currency. Under President Muhammadu Buhari, the idea was muted and an agreement was said to have been signed on our trading activities with China to be paid for in Yuan. Such trade arrangement can also be made with other countries with whom we have high volumes of transactions. Our dollar-dependent economy is not profitable to our present situation. In addition to that, I believe that banking in Nigeria, as a profession, needs to be more disciplined. The way and manner we carry on banking business is appalling. It is only in Nigeria that young men and women are employed and thrown onto the streets to be scouting for deposits. This has exposed many of our youths to exploitation in different quarters. Young men and women in marketing departments of our banks are given senseless and exorbitant targets to source for deposits otherwise they would lose their jobs. As soon as Bank A employees are leaving your office, Bank B employees are entering to come and ask for the same deposits. It is a circus show of embarrassment. Woe betides you if you assist your cousin or ward to secure a job in a bank. Without being an employee of the bank, you will join your cousin or ward to be scouting for deposits. Just two days ago that I was to effect transfer of fund, but was confronted with huge commission, said to be flat rate regardless of the quantum. This practice as I believe is exploitative and unfair as there ought to be a threshold of decline in the percentage. In the same vein is the substitution of management fees for commission on turnover. A catalogue of malpractices dominates the banking halls and the Chartered Institute of Bankers has a lot to do to clean up the mess. It is not that other sectors are populated by angels. There is a moral decadence that has pervaded the society and demolished the fabrics of decent survival. We must start from somewhere. There is nothing that says that our banking sector cannot be the starting point. We must re-energise our moral faculties if we desire to survive as a people. Our banks cannot be lords onto themselves. They must form part of the revolutionary process to clean up the Augean stables. We must re-orientate our banking sector to protect our fiscal policies and assist in birthing the necessary development that can make the nation a beacon of hope. The dreams of our founding fathers must be rekindled in a fashion that will make them proud of their sacrifices. Anything short of this cannot be part of genuine efforts at nation building.