By Mohammed Nuru Yakubu
As president Buhari navigates the last bent of his tenured administration and with dizzying clusters of critical decisions to take –any such decisions taken at this period, expectedly, should posses a merit of parallel with the knack for leaving worthy lasting legacies for which he would be remembered. Lately, captains of critical institutions and agencies found to be tottering under the crushing weight of managerial incompetence, poor performance and abysmal results have received the big stick of the president. In cases where dismissal, termination or non renewal of tenure is the proper thing to do, the president has demonstrated remarkably stubborn resolve to the fidelity of moral obligation at the instance
Against the backdrop of strongly built reputation of many years standing in human social relations of ‘duties and responsibilities’, the aphorism which says “ one good turn deserves another’ –expands its relevance and purpose in situations where ‘trust and capacity’ compete for attention at a common point of mutual interest. While the most important element in any system remains the human element – any working system comprises few critical componential force which drives the vision of the entire system with a defined mandate upon which it will be assessed. A curious mark of mutual obligatory rights however compels both the giver and taker of responsibilities to unlimited assurances of performance and assessments. As the accepting unit explores the terms and obligations of a contractual agreement to its logical end and within the limit of its capacity, the giving unit attends to its share of obligation by raising the bar of objective and fair assessments of services rendered. 
With the shaky state of the nation’s economy -a fate Nigeria shares with the rest of the world currently witnessing constrained economic choices, agencies and parastatals whose chords of activities are connected and sensitive to the vibrations in the economy have the eyes of the president rivetly focused to ascertain the level of their asset or liability status in navigating the treacherous cloud of uncertainty pervading the nation.
So when the news was flashed across several media channels that the tenure of the current management of Nexim Bank has been renewed by the president –one could easily conclude that the president has identified and acknowledged the bank’s contribution as relevant and helpful to the rest of his obligations to Nigerians and the legacy he intends to be remembered for. To this effect, and curiously so, NEXIMS management tenure renewal package from the president came with unusual excitable flavors of footnotes which dwelt on the significant remarkable strides the bank made in the period
In the statement issued by the Special Adviser, Media & Communications to the Minister of Finance, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, announcing the re-appointment of the current management – the names of the trio , Abba Bello, Managing Director- an iconic Banking guru, and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Bala Bello, -an audacious investment mandarin , Executive Director (Corporate Services), and Stella Erhuvwu Okotete, Executive Director (Business Development) were specifically identified as the three daring corporate musketeers who advanced the frontiers of fortunes of the bank to remarkable heights from a hopelessly bearish state of nose-diving productivity and decadence. Citing specific sections of the NEXIM BANK Act to justify and consolidate its position –the statement reminded the nation that their re-appointment as members of the current management of the bank commenced on 10th April, 2017 and their first five-year term is due to expire on 9th April 2022.:
“Section 11(4) of the NEXIM Bank Act specifies that the Managing Director and the Executive Directors shall hold office for a period of five years and shall be eligible for re-appointment for a further period of five years…
“Accordingly, as the expiration of the first term drew near, it became necessary to appraise their performance since assumption of duties across the core mandate areas of the bank for the purpose of their re-appointment or otherwise.” The outcome of the appraisal revealed that the current management team with the support of the board had performed well as exemplified by key achievements. “Evidently, the operating profit, previously in the negative (N8.030billion) at the inception of the current management, has increased to N3.825billion in 2021, and there is an improvement in returns on capital earnings from -15.31 in 2016 to 2.72 in 2021.”“There is a reduction in non-performing loans from 94% in 2017 to 29% as at December 2021, and there is an increase in the total assets of the bank by approximately N136.132billion or about 222% from the inception of the current management in 2017 to 31st December 2021.“There is an enhanced liquidity position of the bank through additional funding totallingN103.755billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), N3.936billion from the Federal Ministry of Finance, US$50million from the Nigerian Content Development Management Board (NCDMB) and US$25million from the African Export-Import Bank.”
Other areas of interest highlighted in the statement are the remarkable loan recovery effort of the bank -from N40.780million in 2016 to an annual average recovery of N1.243billion between 2017 and 2020”
The statement also mentioned the staggering N144billion loans the bank disbursed to export-oriented entities in the non-oil sector and the approximately US$375million export proceeds within the period. Drenched in its conviction arising from verified performance assessment of the bank and armed with this pool of information, -the conclusion is most inevitable a thumbs up to the management . This was not before heralding the resultant rating the bank earned as being among the best three Development finance institutions and best five public institutions in a survey carried out by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences ( ICPC)
The extent the statement went to justify the reappointment of the current executive to spearhead another pioneering role of firmly putting the bank on a solid footing of consolidation was unusual and against the trend of what we usually see in other cases of tenure extension. This obviously showcases the extra significant status and the critical role the bank plays in the government’s economic recovery blue prints and the level of trust the placed on the management. It also clearly shows, in no uncertain terms, that other critical stakeholders –the supervisory body- central bank, the ministry of finance and board members were collaborative partners in the bargaining chapter of fortunes exploits of the bank. Long before now, the bank was justifiable loud in alerting the public of the difficult operating environment – inclusive of the humongous quantum of inherited rot , low staff morale on account of deep -seated insider abuse of the past management and the effort-retarding clippers of COVID -19 effects,.The challenging operating environment provides a better basis of appreciation of its effort. The result posted at the end boldly vindicates its decision to supplant despondency with ‘ WILL and ‘DETERMINATION ‘ in forging a new frontal positivity by refusing to take cover under the shadow of intimidating odds and dark period to explain out poor results. Those in the know of the clear lack of purpose and vision the bank was marooned in before the current management came on board would find no exaggeration or unmerited favor in the president’s effusive language of satisfaction and congratulation to the current management. That the past managing director of the bank has been slammed with 49 count charges by the EFCC – with a portion including N1.4 billion frauds, impersonation, etc summarizes the deplorable position of the bank before now.
On any objective scale , it rather exacts to a well-deserved thank you message and a resultant merited reward for creditably discharging the huge responsibility the management was saddled with , just as the president discharged the moral burden indexed in the mantra of ‘ one good turn deserves another’ .
Mohammed Nuru Yakubu
E-mail: [email protected]