A daunting challenge to build on the achievements of outgoing Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of First Bank of Nigeria plc, Jacob Moyo Ajekigbe, awaits his successor-designate, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
By Funsho Balogun
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Executive Director, Risk and Management Control of First Bank of Nigeria plc, has a diminutive build with somewhat frail shoulders. On those shoulders, Sanusi will, from I January 2009, be bearing the burden of an elephant. Simply stated, Sanusi will, in what has generally been described as a smooth succession process, take over from Mr. Jacob Moyo Ajekigbe as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of First Bank. Sanusi will be understudying Ajekigbe for the next four months to complete a seamless change of baton.
Sanusi, who hails from Kano State and is incidentally the first northerner to assume the position of CEO of First Bank, is not expected to encounter any difficulty surpassing Ajekigbe’s heights, as he has for a long time been an integral part of the bank’s top policy-making, planning and implementation hierarchy. His postings over the years in his current position as Executive Director, Risk and Management Control have been identified as strongly contributory to the bank’s present healthy complexion.
The incoming CEO will be building on a First Bank structure stabilised by Ajekigbe, from the crisis situation he inherited on his appointment in 2002. Sanusi will be challenged to sustain the pace of growing the bank’s financial performance indices from year to year, as was witnessed during the era of his predecessor. He will also be charged with the mandate of further expanding the branch network, modernising the existing branches and recapitalising First Bank’s subsidiaries, while also making investments in new business lines. Sanusi’s adept handling of his present responsibilities suggests he is at home with challenging environments.
In the last two years, he has embarked on a process of revamping First Bank’s entire credit risk management system in line with best global practices to address current credit risk management challenges in an increasingly competitive market and effectively position the bank for the envisaged aggressive capture of the corporate retail and consumer markets. This feat was achieved by minimising erosion of earnings or capital through ensuring avoidable losses from frauds, system failure and other operational inefficiencies and disruptions. Consequently, the bank has been able to build up a loss event database guaranteed to enrich risk identification, assessment and measurement. This translates to building a platform to sustain the steam of growth and management of the retail portfolio of First Bank.
The bank has maintained a consistent growth pattern since year 2002. Against this backdrop, the total balance sheet of the Group, plus contingent liabilities, increased by 65.8 per cent from N1.26 trillion in the 2006/2007 financial year to N2.08 trillion in 2007/2008. The substantial growth in balance sheet size is due in part to the robust performance of the subsidiaries, plus the earning assets of the bank. Shareholders funds of the group also grew by 325.3 per cent to close at N355.63 billion compared with N83.63 billion in the previous year (2006/2007).
On the back of strong growth across its operations, the First Bank Group’s gross earnings increased by 70.4 per cent to N155.29 billion in 2007/2008 financial year, compared to the N91.16 billion recorded in the preceding year. Group profit before tax rose by 84.5 per cent from N25.85 billion in 2007 to N47.69 billion in the review period. Consequently, profit after tax also shot up from N20.64 billion in 2007 to N36.54 billion in 2008. The bank’s total balance sheet plus contingent liabilities grew by 52.3 per cent from N895.62 billion in the 2006/2007 financial year to close at N1.36 trillion in 2008. Gross earnings showed a similar trend, increasing by 64.7 per cent from N79.30 billion in 2007 to close at N130.60 billion in 2008. Profit before tax grew by 72.1 per cent from N22.10 billion last year, to N38.02 billion in 2008. First Bank plc is also credited with being the first Nigerian quoted company to hit the N1 trillion mark in market capitalisation.
Sanusi was General Manager at United Bank for Africa plc, where he anchored the transformation of the Credit Risk Management Division into an Enterprise-Risk Management Sector and spearheaded UBA’s Basel 2 focus by establishing the framework, policies, processes and systems necessary for compliance with the guidelines of the New Capital Accord. A graduate of Economics from Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, in 1981, he also obtained a Masters from the same university. He started a career in academics, teaching undergraduate Economics at ABU (between 1983 and 1985) before veering into the banking world. His banking career took off in ICON Limited (Merchant Bankers), where he put in seven years, gaining wide experience in Issuing House activities, Financial Advisory Services, Privatisation, Debt-Conversion and Credit & Marketing.
Thereafter, he advanced to United Bank for Africa plc as a Principal Manager, climbing to the position of Deputy General Manager (January 2002) and General Manager (March 2005), before joining the First Bank team. In what seems to be a deliberate tribal balancing, Ayoola Oba Otudeko, has been tipped to replace Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab as Chairman of the bank’s Board of Directors, by December, this year. The nomination of Otudeko balances the ethnic mix at the top echelon. It is also a significant departure from the old order, as the past and present MDs/CEOs have emerged mostly from the south while the north has always presented the Chairman. Sanusi’s deftness as a seasoned banker will surely be put to test on assuming the most challenging position of his career so far. Judging from his background, his new role should not be beyond his depth.
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1 September 2008 11:48[...] He will also be charged with the mandate of further expanding the branch network, modernising the existing branches and recapitalising First Bank’s subsidiaries, while also making investments in new business lines. … Original Administartor [...]