Hysteria is in the DNA of many Nigerians, especially those who are, for parochial or partisan reasons, decidedly and desperately against Mr Godwin, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. Since some groups publicly announced that Emefiele should contest the presidential seat come 2023, there has been mass hysteria in the traditional and new media.
This is apparent in the deluge of dilettante opinion articles, editorials, blog posts, blurbs, and tweets all alluding to the fact that the CBN Governor is being propelled to contest by a phantom ‘cabal’ in the presidency because of his growing popularity and influence.
Some even said he should resign which could only have been products of a puerile imagination. A mere mental fabrication, because the much-touted clamour for Emefiele to contest exists, for now, in the minds of those rooting for him; nowhere has the CBN Governor said he would be contesting for anything.
According to a Financial Analyst, Mallam Ibrahim Abubakar, “That he has not shown interest or made any public declaration about the purported aspiration does not, however, negate his qualification and competence for it. He is supremely qualified, perhaps even more so than those who have already thrown their hats into the ring, especially if his sterling stewardship at the CBN is anything to go by. As things stand though, Emefiele has continually reiterated that his job at the CBN, for which he was re-elected for a second term by President Muhammadu Buhari, remains his focus”.
“Still, detractors would not allow him a breathing space. Just yesterday, an online medium again went to town with the canard that Emefiele just took delivery of three airplanes for a phantom presidential campaign. The report quoted a ‘source’ as saying, “Emefiele has brought in three airplanes for his campaign. He was asked to resign. He has allocated about N500 billion for his campaign.”
“Pray, who concocts such spurious and inane allegation about a public officer? Yes, Emefiele is the CBN governor; the man in charge of Nigeria’s vast wealth, literally; but does that mean he would wilfully and unilaterally just dip his hands into the apex bank’s till? If he had access to such funds, would he not be better off establishing as many banks as possible considering that the recapitalization of Nigerian banks done about a decade ago only required a N25billion capital base?”
It is not surprising that this barrage of unwholesome attacks is targeted at the CBN Governor at a time when his stock continues to rise across the world given his widely acknowledged strengthening and stabilisation of the Nigerian economy in the face of a global crash of oil prices. The take away from all of these is that necessity is the regular excuse of vandals. It is the mephistophelean plea used to legitimize devilish deeds.
