CAN BANK RECAPITALISATION TURN AROUND NIGERIAN ECONOMY?
On July 6, 2004, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced a new banking policy called consolidation or recapitalisation, which raises the minimum capital base of banks to N25 billion from N2 billion. Banks were given up till December 31, 2005 to meet this requirement. The policy has reduced the number of banks operating from 87 to 25, which were able to scale the hurdle through merger, acquisition or other means. Naturally, some sections of the parasitic ruling elite who have lost their veritable source of making cool profit are opposed to the policy. Accordingly, 11 out of the 14 failed banks have gone to court to challenge their liquidation. This court action is what the CBN has given as reason for its inability to fulfil its promise to pay depositors their N177 billion funds trapped in the failed banks by April 16, 2006. Charles Soludo, the Governor of CBN and some other pro-big business, pro-establishment technocrats have argued that the policy of recapitalisation, which is an i
