The Uprising of Past CBN Governor Charles Soludo

Reputed as one of the most productive governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Charles Soludo is one name Nigerians won’t forget in a hurry. This article discusses his uprising from early childhood to his days at the CBN and beyond.

About Charles Soludo

Mr Chuckuma Charles Soludo is a native of Aguta local government area, Anambra State. Like many others who happened to attain the heights of power and grace leadership seats, Charles Soludo had a modest upbringing.

His story is one riddled with mild struggles, but more importantly, a big dream, and consistent determination.

Charles Soludo was born on July 28, 1960. Just a few more months and he would have probably been birthday mates with the country that has offered him some many opportunities and equally entrusted him with huge responsibilities.

He grew up living with his father, Simeon Soludo, and mother, Mgbafor, in their Isuofia village. Unfortunately, the Nigerian civil war between 1967 and 1970 brought lots of troubles, including the death of Soludo’s dearly beloved mother.

The now executive governor of Anambra State was only eight when he lost his mother. This was tragic, no doubt, but it didn’t in any way dampen his spirit. He would go on to become the senior prefect at Uga Boys High School where he had his secondary education and won lots of awards and recognitions beyond that.

Before Becoming the CBN Governor

It wasn’t a fluke that Charles Soludo became Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In fact, it’s very easy to see that he merited it. Here’s a chronology of his uprising:

Undergraduate to PostDoctoral Background

Soludo completed his tertiary education at the University of Nsukka where he graduated with a First class degree in Economics. He went further to receive post-graduate and doctorate degrees from the same University of Nsukka. Each time, he clinched the award for the best-graduating student.

His rollercoaster career was about to kick off. But first, he took on postdoctoral training at The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC; as a Smuts Research Fellow, and at the University of Cambridge, UK, as a Fellow of the Wolfson College. Soludo also accumulated a wealth of experience through specialized courses, research, and teaching.

Many Years Working as a Consultant

Afterwards, he worked as a consultant at multiple international agencies. A short and long-term consultant position at the World Bank in 1993, and similar positions at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, UNCTAD; European Union (EU); Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); United Nations (UN) New York; United States Agency for International Development (USAID); African Development Bank (ADB); Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA); African Union (AU); International Development Research Council (IDRC) Canada; Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA); Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); among others.

Mr Charles Soludo also served the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a senior technical advisor. During this time, he taught the Financial Programming and Policy course developed by the IMF to staff of many West African Central Banks.

He would move on from the IMF to become a member of the Technical Committees. This gave him the collaborative opportunity to draft economic and trade policies to be used by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Joining the Federal Government of Nigeria

Charles Soludo’s first role within the Federal Government of Nigeria was as an economic adviser to the then President, Olusegun Obasanjo. Concurrently, he served as the Chief Executive of the National Planning Committee (NPC).

He began this role in July 2003 and there are indications that his sterling performance paved the way for his appointment at the Central Bank just a few months later. Within a 10-month tenure, his team delivered remarkably. They developed the nation’s economic and social reform program (2003-2007), helped build the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), and finally, assisted with the State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (SEEDS).

Soludo’s Performance at the Central Bank of Nigeria

Soludo’s tenure at the Central Bank of Nigeria was marked by some significant events and achievements. Joining in May 2004, he led the CBN to develop strategic policies that focused on commercial banks, with the aim of improving the finance sector.

One of his biggest ideas was recapitalization. This raised the capital base required of banks from a sizable fortune of 2 billion naira to a far more substantial 25 billion naira. Banks across the country scuttled to meet up with the new requirement or face a fold-up. For some, the better option was an M&A with more capable partners.

Not everyone was happy with the decision. And why would they be? The recapitalization had drastically cut down the number of banks in Nigeria. Only 24 out of 89 banks survived the reform.

Nevertheless, the objective was well met.

The CBN ensured the safety of the banking population, reducing the risk of bank failures and ensuring that customers would not suffer loss in such an event. Generally speaking, individuals and institutions that were not financially stable could no longer run banks. More importantly, banks that met the benchmark understood the high standard demanded of them and were better positioned to deliver quality services.

that Soludo’s administration “grew external reserves from $ 10 billion to all-time high US$62 billion, and managed inflation down from 23% to single digit for 24 consecutive months.”

A good number of critical changes were made by the CBN under Charles Soludo’s leadership. These had a blanket effect, changing the way local banks functioned the way Nigerians interacted with the banking system or both.

An example here is the introduction of the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) System in 2006. Another significant example was the migration from magnetic strip cards to the more secure and reliable EMV option.

You may think that becoming the CBN governor was the pinnacle of Charles Soludo’s political journey. If you do, then you’re seriously mistaken. Mr Soludo ran for the office of the Executive Governor of Anambra State in the 2021 gubernatorial elections and won.

He is now the incumbent governor of his home state, having started his four-year term in 2022. Summarily, his level of achievement and the quality of delivery on his responsibilities speaks of a man who is principled, visionary, and progressive, just as it says on his personal website.