Who exactly is Rasheed Adejare Olaoluwa MD/CEO of the Bank of Industry working for? The teeming Nigerians running small businesses for which BOI was set up to assist or his masters who appointed him to a position that he is evidently ill-suited to occupy-if the agenda is to industrialise Nigeria?
If the government does not intervene immediately, Nigerians will be left with a shell of a DFI by the time Rasheed and his puppet masters are done with the institution.
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The facts speak for themselves:
He has created a very hostile environment for businesses by placing all kinds of innocuous obstacles in their path by lengthening the appraisal process and placing his cronies at the point between credit officers and management. Contrary to what he has been portraying in the media, fewer businesses are being impacted by BOI today than before his assumption of office.
He has tried to and continues to frustrate disbursements of loans approved before his appointment eg. Belloxi (Had to obtain a letter from Abuja before the funds for the expansion of his factory were released) Animal Care(Insisted on the elderly man coming to see him) These are just two of the projects that had been duly appraised but were stalled by is unfriendly attitude towards businesses.
Sold WAMCO shares to the shock of the stock broking community in Nigeria (a legacy asset of the old NIDB for N40Billion naira through BGL Securities on the flimsy excuse of trying to raise capital despite advise to the contrary. It is important to note that BGL is a discredited stock broking company that is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The authorities will do well to investigate and find out those who personally profited from this questionable sale which took place just as the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was settling down to office as we have it on good authority that monies exchanged hands.
Has embarked on a wasteful, aggressive and sustained media campaign to give the impression that BOI is more profitable one year under his watch, when in actual fact he has only enthroned very harsh and short term commercial banking practices of profiteering at all cost over the support of the real sector especially the SMEs. He has perfected the deceit by loan write backs (recovery) to profit and has also reclassified assets financed under the CBN intervention Fund on-balance sheet, which had hitherto been treated as off-balance sheet in order to give the impression that more loans had been disbursed by the bank whereas the truth is the reverse.
His practices are not only anti-business, but inimical to the growth of the real sector especially SMEs- a key mandate area of BOI. He has been engaged in the reckless and indiscriminate recall of Bank guarantees of companies that are otherwise performing, just to paint a picture of an institution that is doing well, to the detriment of the economy at large. His actions have invariable thrown the SMEs into further hardship and threats of foreclosure thereby undermining their chances of survival in the process.
It is very clear to all that he lacks a proper understanding of the difference between a Development Finance Institution (DFI) and a commercial bank. He is bereft of the maturity, vision and patience required to lead the bank in its critical role of helping to revamp the real sector, especially the SMEs at this critical time of dwindling oil revenue and the need to diversify the economy through supporting the real sector. The office is obviously too big for him as he is overwhelmed and lacking in experience.
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Has employed 40 new staff most at senior levels. Many of them are ex-UBA staff, who were disengaged for poor performance. Of note is a 3rd Class graduate of 2001 that he employed as AGM and promptly made the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Postings clearly favour his intakes as they are all posted to head office and corporate office functions, while old staff are posted to his new outposts. All his cronies in the Bank are positioned in the sensitive and supervisory areas of the Bank’s operations in a bid to manipulate the system for personal gains.
Two AGMs who had been confirmed by the Shareholders’ Committee were subsequently demoted to create vacancies for his cronies. These two are long-standing, hard-working, award-winning staff of the Bank.
The two EDs have been marginalized. It is obvious to all staff that they are not part of the decision-making in the Bank.
Routinely abusive towards staff through texts in which he calls to question their competence and loyalty. Has also been known to publicly insult and intimidate junior staff.
Has embarked on an indiscriminate expansionist policy of opening state offices- seven so far – without the approval of the CBN and without regard for the cost implication and long term sustainability of the Bank as a going concern. In this regard, he is frittering away the Bank’s scarce resources that would otherwise have been used to support MSMEs.
Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, clearly has an agenda that is less than noble but which unfortunately is in tandem with the strategic objectives of his benefactors i.e to fleece the bank dry for their personal and pecuniary gains. As we speak, he has identified some prized legacy assets (properties) of the bank in Ikoyi and Victoria Island for sale. In order to be able to fast tract and manipulate the process, he recently removed the Head, Management Services of the bank and replaced him with his Technical Assistant- an appointee of his that is yet to be confirmed as a staff.
BOI urgently needs to be rescued. The MD/CEO is a bull in a china shop. He has become very restless and desperate ever since the victory of the APC at the polls and the swearing in of this new administration. With the heads of Management Services (Admin) and the CFO replaced with his appointees and the redeployment of the substantive head of Internal Control and Audit, he has set the stage for the next major round of looting. The President will be saving his government and this nation a great embarrassment by removing him before he inflicts further damage on the Bank.
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