Latest Update: Relocation Of CBN From Abuja To Lagos A number of important departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will move from ...
Latest Update: Relocation Of CBN From Abuja To Lagos
A number of important departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will move from Abuja, where it currently has its headquarters, to Lagos, where it was formerly situated until the 1980s, subject to the completion of the necessary procedures. At that point, the organisation moved to Abuja along with all other national institutions since the nation's capital was being transferred from Lagos. Important line departments including Banking and Supervision, Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Consumer Protection, Payment System Management, and Financial Policy Regulations are scheduled to move to Lagos. Olayemi Cardoso, the new governor of the CBN, took the effort to bring about this change, citing a number of reasons.
The plan has been faced with a wall of opposition from various places, including the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), although this is less surprising than the justifications offered for it in the first place.
One of the stated explanations for the apparent "return to Lagos initiative" is the security concerns raised by the apex bank's frequent travellers, who must go around the nation to oversee and inspect banks. Even the most devoted road user in the nation must travel through Nigeria with extreme caution due to the increasing level of insecurity on the nation's roadways. Furthermore, vigilance and proactive measures to save lives ahead of likely risks to life and property are mandated by the various travel alerts from the Nigerian Police Force and the embassies. This is wise advice for both individuals and corporate organisations whose jobs entail frequent travel on the nation's roads. Furthermore, the CBN undoubtedly ranks among.
The CBN further cites the fact that more over 4,000 people work at its Abuja office area, despite the building's purported capacity of 2,200 employees. Another reason given was the necessity to reduce expenses and the physical strain that the nation's field employees—the majority of whom have their headquarters in Lagos—face when they frequently travel outside of Abuja in order to oversee the country's banks. The top bank makes the case that by moving the planned departments to Lagos, the assigned officers will be less expensive and closer to their operational areas.
Though the CBN's arguments could be persuasive in some ways, they don't address other, more important factors that the majority of Nigerians find troubling in this regard. Because if the effort is taken in the right context, it presents a challenge to balance the needs of the country with the convenience of the CBN employees, who naturally should have access to the best working circumstances. This is not intended to discuss the institution's regionalization.
From an operational standpoint, it is necessary to take into account the effects on the nation of shifting these crucial sectors of the organisation from Abuja to Lagos in order to appease petty demands. What else would keep the CBN relevant and in Abuja if these departments are gone from the Abuja headquarters? is the question that naturally arises.
Aside from the planned relocation's functional inconsistency, there are further elements that cast doubt on the plan and increase the likelihood of problems. Interestingly, and perhaps more concerningly, the agenda for the "return to Lagos" is also somewhat tainted by ethnic bias favouring the South West geographical zone, since those in positions of authority to set the agenda and drive it are all from the region. Those in Nigeria who subscribe to this school of thinking point out that President Bola Tinubu, President Femi Gbajabiamila's chief of staff, Minister of Finance Yomi Edu, and CBN Governor Oluyemi Cardoso are all natives of that area.
Because of the potential for tacit regionalization of the CBN, the initiative's opponents, which include the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), have legitimate concerns that should be taken into account for the good of the country.
From a historical standpoint, the initiative also fails to meet the main goal of moving the capital of the country from Lagos to Abuja, which was justified by the need to relieve traffic in Lagos and ensure that national institutions are centrally located in relation to the entire nation. What would happen in other regions of the nation if the institution's spatial extension to Lagos alone were a viable solution? Will the relocation exercise take them into account as well?
In the meantime, another factor raises concerns about the bank's potential operational disintegration as a result of this drive rather than the more common practice of consolidation and modernization in better-organized regions. This particular school of thought criticises the bank specifically for remaining stuck in the past and basing its current hopes for improved services, primarily on geographical development.
Interestingly, the CBN hasn't exactly won over Nigerians with its subpar oversight of the nation's financial sector; instead, it should be concentrating on improving its internal issues, such as corporate incompetence and corrupt leadership. Thus, there is already widespread agreement that the institution does not need to be severed, despite what the "return to Lagos agenda" seems to suggest.
Meanwhile, comparisons with other wide area operational institutions, such as the World Bank, provide insights into the lack of creativity in the central bank's gambit, given the seeming preoccupation of the CBN leadership on spatial growth with the "return to Lagos" objective. For example, the World Bank manages much of its administrative and financial services delivery not from its headquarters in Washington, D.C., but rather from its office in Chenai, India (previously Madras). The World Bank has complicated operations and projects throughout the world.
The World Bank's Chenai operations are so effective that, when needed, all parties involved in the organization's business throughout the globe receive payment notifications, administrative alerts, and any other pertinent service. Comparatively, if the World Bank, which operates in thousands of locations and nearly 200 countries, each with unique cultural, linguistic, political, and economic systems, can be so effective at using pertinent ICT capacity, why can't the CBN, which has a far smaller operational brief to cover?
Currently, the CBN faces the difficulty of thinking creatively and taking necessary action. Citing as a post-script a well-known statement by renowned dramatist Ola Rotimi that "the gods are not to blame," this is informing CBN Governor Oluyemi Cardoso that his justifications for moving the CBN from Abuja to Lagos are not at fault, but rather a lack of suitable corporate strategy.
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