By Dele Sobowale

Perhaps there is some truth in the statement that “when an old man dies, you lose a library”. At 82+ and 39 years writing on this page, I have been a media witness to four major banking upheavals – each occurring shortly after recapitalization was imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. Almost invariably, each episode has brought about the decline of at least two of the leading banks prior to the CBN measure.  

After reading the VANGUARD story by Peter Egwuatu, I had a difficult time deciding on the title of this article. It was a toss-up between FUNNY MONEY 2 and BANKING: HERE WE GO AGAIN. 2008 REPEATED. Any of them would have been apt. But, my internship with an advertising agency in 1969, off Madison Avenue, New York, had drilled into my head an abiding truth: “Better to tell it straight”, when you have bad news for people. If you have investments in banking, this is as straight a warning as you are likely to get.