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Lemo appeals to public to support CBN’s policies

By BusinessNews Staff on February 21, 2014

Immediate past Deputy Governor, Operations, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Tunde Lemo, has called on the public to support the policies of the apex bank.

He made this call while addressing journalists at the sidelines of a farewell dinner organised for him by the Bankers Committee. Lemo noted that though CBN’s policies are sometimes not appealing to the public, they are however designed for the growth and development of the country.

He said, “The central bank is an effective tool for development, and the central bank has played a key role in the growth of the economy.

Few weeks ago, we saw how the privatisation of the power sector was conducted, and for the first time in the history of Nigeria, you saw the Nigerian banks playing a key role in a major reform of that nature. It is because of the central bank’s policy that ensured that the banks were not big but strong.

“Looking ahead, the Nigerian economy would soon become the largest economy in Africa after the rebasing and central bank will continue to support the Nigerian economy.

Now we are numbered among the MINT economies after BRICs, and I believe our march to 2020, for Nigeria to be one of the twenty biggest economies. Of course lots of the responsibilities rest on the shoulders of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and they are playing that role well.

“So I expect that the public will continue to support the central bank’s policy. It is not all the time that the policy will appear as something that is welcomed by the public, but if you do something for the public good, it may hurt temporarily, but we should be strategic enough to look at the overall benefit.

And Central Bank of Nigeria is one institution that ensures it delivers growth and development through its policies. And I am sure that they will ensure that Nigeria’s economy continues to grow in leaps and bounds.”

Lemo who was the managing director/chief executive of Wema Bank for four years, before his appointment in 2003 as Deputy Governor, Financial Sector Surveillance, advised bankers to focus on helping customers and their businesses to grow strong.

He said, “ When you are a banker, it is a position of trust and the public expects so much from you. Not just to be honest, but to be seen to be honest.

And you must always bear in mind that the interest of the customers, the people you serve, is so important, much more important than the profit, because it is only when they are there, and they remain stronger and stronger, can your banker be stronger.

But if you conduct banking to maximise profit to their detriment, when their businesses go down, it would only take time before your own business will go down.

So it is important that you support the customer, you support the business community such that they grow in leaps and bounds and that is the only guarantee that you will also grow.”

[Vanguard]

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