An employee of Sterling Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading commercial bank, Mr. Emmanuel Olawoye, has emerged as a winner in the Next Generation Class of 2020 at the just concluded 55th Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Bankers’ Dinner held virtually and physically in Lagos at the weekend.
Mr. Olawoye was among the 18 nominees presented by the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the CIBN Bankers’ Dinner, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Sterling Bank Plc to the three deputy governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), namely Mr. Adebisi Shonubi, Operations Directorate; Mrs. Aisha Ahmad, Financial System Stability and Dr. Kingsley Obiora, Economic Policy Directorate.
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Mrs. Ahmad commended the awardees for showing good examples by displaying values that the CIBN upholds which include ethics and professionalism.
President and Chairman of Council of CIBN, Mr. Bayo Olugbemi, explained that the award recognises bankers who are under 30 years of age and have distinguished themselves as professionals that are pivotal to successes recorded by their respective institutions. “The aim of the award is to further encourage excellence in the Nigerian banking industry and beyond”, he said.
Mr. Olugbemi commended members of the organising committee under the leadership of Mr. Abubakar for ensuring a memorable and impactful event.
In a keynote address, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele noted that the challenges facing the Nigerian economy are of a global dimension and not peculiar to the country.
According to him, “We confess that the problem we face today is of a global dimension. The global economy is challenged, just like the Nigerian economy. My appeal to our media analysts is that in the course of conducting their analysis of the Nigerian economy, they should realise that their public comments, particularly if they are alarmist, could create panic in our environment.”
He said, “We cherish their counsel, but urge that they be more constructive in their pungent criticism as this could hamper our efforts to return our country and economy back to recovery. When you over dramatise a problem, you create panic that slows the process of recovery.”
He remarked that the times have been challenging, as the COVID-19 pandemic completely ravaged the global economy, adding that it is reassuring that a solution would soon emerge, with the reports of developments of appropriate vaccines by several firms to tackle the dreaded disease.
Mr. Emefiele said, “Like other economies, the Nigerian economy was not immune to the COVID-19 shock in 2020. Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by -3.4 percent in the third quarter, a welcome improvement from the -6.1 percent recorded in the second quarter. The negative rate of growth was due to a series of external factors in addition to the lockdown measures, imposed to curtail the spread of the virus.”
He advised the banks to optimally harness the huge value-chain opportunities in several sectors of the economy through their intermediation functions.
“Let me also add that while COVID-19 has brought on several challenges to our economy and indeed the banking sector, it offers a unique opportunity for us to build a more resilient economy that is better able to contain external shocks, whilst supporting growth and wealth creation in key sectors of our economy,” Emefiele said.
He urged stakeholders in the banking and financial system to support the growth of sectors such as agriculture, ICT and infrastructure, which will strengthen our ability to deal with the challenges that have been brought on by COVID-19 while enabling the growth of our economy in general.
The CBN governor remarked that with sustained and consistent implementation of the intervention measures, the Nigerian economy is expected to rebound from recession by the first quarter of 2021.
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