D-Day has finally arrived and the edition you are holding is that of the new TELL, two magazines in one. We call your attention to some of the major stories in this edition by first highlighting the lead story in BROAD STREET Journal, otherwise known as BSJ. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, was a year old in office June 3. For the banking sector, nay the Nigerian economy, it has been one unforgettable year. Sanusi came into office with a smoking gun. Within a few weeks in office, several high-profile managing directors of banks have become history. They include the likes of Cecilia Ibru and Erastus Akingbola of Oceanic and Intercontinental banks, respectively. They were alleged to have mismanaged depositors’ funds. However, the most drastic step by Sanusi was publishing the list of banks’ debtors. All of them were labelled as non-performing, including loans taken a few months earlier. Thus the banks, including those not termed as distressed, started recalling their loans. And the economy has never been the same again. Tony Manuaka, senior assistant editor, took a look at the performance of the economy since Sanusi arrived the apex bank. It is the lead story in BSJ.
One big challenge many people have identified as a tough nut President Goodluck Jonathan must crack is corruption. In the belief of Nigerians, in spite of two agencies specifically set up to battle the scourge, the anti-corruption war has become effete. In fact one of the agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has of late been in the eye of the storm. The agency is believed to have succumbed to political pressures, hence the inability to try former public office holders who have been accused of corruption. However, Farida Waziri, EFCC chairperson, has bared her frustrations on the job. She points accusing fingers at the courts, which use all kinds of restraints and injunctions to shield those accused of corruption from facing the music. While the affected judges may be protecting the rights of the accused, many people allege that some of the injunctions are the products of well-greased palms. Only last Tuesday, Kayode Eso, retired chief justice of the Supreme Court, asked the chief justice of the federation to look into allegations of bribe-takers in the ranks of election petition tribunals. And as part of his legwork for the story, Anayochukwu Agbo, associate editor, interviewed Emmanuel Ayoola, retired justice and chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission. Justice Ayoola noted that the decay in the judiciary has been festering for a while. The story on how the courts abet corruption is the cover in this edition.
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After overcoming some hitch in his travel plans, Arukaino Umukoro, senior reporter, finally left for South Africa Friday, June 11. And as the magazine prepared to go to bed last week, Tony Onwuemene, principal photographer, was finalising arrangements to join Umukoro in Johannesburg for the coverage of the World Cup. They have both promised to send exclusive stories and pictures you are not likely to find elsewhere. For, though the Super Eagles are as good as knocked out of the competition despite having one more match to play, Tuesday, June 22, Nigerians, being keen lovers of football, are not likely to lose interest in the first World Cup on the African continent which ends on July 11. Do stay with the best.
Ayodele Akinkuotu
aakinkuotu@tellng.com
0807 629 0490