Government Government Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Nigeria

Mr. Lamido is currently the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, in which he was nominated by the former late president Umar Yar'adua and appointed by the Senate in 2009.  Born to a royal family on July 31, 1961, Sanusi's grandfather, Mohammadu Sanusi was the 11th Emir of Kano and Islamic Scholar while his father was a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 1960's. 

Mr. Lamido obtained his Western African School Certificate at King's College in Lagos in 1977 to later on graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.  In addition to that, he also holds a degree in Islamic Law from the International University of Africa in Sudan.  He also taught economics at ABU Zaria from 1983-1985 before he began his banking career.

In 1985, he progressed into the banking industry as a merchant banker with Icon Limited (Merchant Bankers), a subsidiary of Morgan Guaranty Trust Bank of New York, and Baring Brothers of London. Soon after, he joined the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) in 1997 as a Principal Manager in the Credit and Risk Management Division where he rose to the position of a General Manager. In September 2005, he joined the Board of First Bank of Nigeria PLC as an Executive Director in charge of Risk and Management Control.  In the banking industry, Sanusi is recognized for his contribution towards developing a Risk Management culture in the Nigerian banking sector. Sanusi was the first Northerner to be appointed CEO in First Bank's history of more than a century; First Bank is Nigeria's oldest bank and one of the biggest financial institutions in Africa.

After his appointment as the Governor of CBN during the financial crisis, in August 2009, Sanusi led Central Bank and bailed out Afribank, Intercontinental Bank, Union Bank, Oceanic Bank and Finbank with 400 billion naira of public money, and dismissed their chief executives. At that time, 16 senior bank officials faced charges that included fraud, lending to fake companies, giving loans to companies they had a personal interest in and conspiring with stockbrokers to boost share prices.

In an interview with the Financial Times in December 2009, Sanusi defended what some dubbed as "Sanusi Tsunami," the extensive reforms that he had initiated since he came into office.  He noted that there was no choice but to attack the many  powerful and interrelated vested interests who were exploiting the financial system.  At a February 2010 conference on banking in Nigeria, Sanusi described his blueprint for reforming the Nigerian financial system. He said that it was built around four pillars of enhancing the quality of banks, establishing financial stability, enabling healthy financial sector evolution and ensuring that the financial sector contributes to the real economy.

In 2010, the Banker, a monthly industry magazine owned by the Financial Times Ltd recognized Mr. Lamido as the Central Bank Governor of the Year, citing his radical anti-corruption campaign aimed at saving 24 banks on the brink of collapse and pressing for the managers involved in the most blatant cases of corruption to be charged.