This is therefore a clear case at the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND).
In the past, NERFUND was just one of those government agencies that stood as a clear example of the poster boy of how government funds were being mismanaged as past leaderships of the fund engaged in sharp practices that put the fund in an insolvent state. This was of course inevitable as management after management engaged in high wired profligacy at the expense of government's allocations to the fund. Loans were awarded to cronies, friends and even themselves through proxies, such loans which were meant for the ordinary Nigerian, never got to them while these managers and their friends used such funds for their own selfish means. Again, it is important to note that these loans did not follow due process, as on a number of them no collateral was received thus ensuring that a number of these loans would be lost as bad loans.
However in 2013, a new management team comprising of Mohammed Kollere and Elenwor Ihua were appointed as Acting MD and Executive Director, Operations respectively with a mandate to transform NERFUND from its comatose position into a major wheel of progress within the Nigerian economy.
The team swung into action and attempted to do this in a two prong approach, the first being the recovery of all loans given out whilst the second was the restructuring of the fund to ensure the efficient use of funds as well as curb leakages and waste.
Within a spate of three years the new management team had recovered loans to the sum of N1.1 Bn and even N50 Mn from staff loans, a feat many deemed as unattainable when they came on board.
The new team also reviewed the hetetiduinous amounts spent on allowances and other perks for management and was determined to cut them down.
First was the amount spent on domestic staff, with some members of senior management having six body guards and a number of domestic staff within their homes. This was immediately slashed and resources channelled to other profitable means for the fund. Also, foreign travels for trainings abroad were done away with as management focused on trainings within the shores of the country.
Prior to the emergence of the new management, the fund paid an annual rent to the owners of its property where it's business was domiciled in Wuse II, today it's move to its present location which was facilitated by the management helped save the fund a whooping amount of N30 Mn.
Another plus for the management team was the fact that salaries were paid as at when due, unlike the past when salaries were owed far into the month if not the next month.
These reforms were largely resisted by some remnants of the old management team who see NERFUND as one of their private chattels for their personal milking. At some point, they started sponsoring petitions against the duo of Kollere and Ihua, raising all sorts of allegations. These allegations bordered largely on frivolous notions and was used as an attempt to put the reformist zeal of the duo in check, fortunately the petitions never saw the light of the day as they were quickly dismissed lacking in substance and bite.
When this did not work, some remnants of the old guard began to incite junior workers towards protesting against the reforms of the new management. This again was largely rebuffed as the junior staff have never had it so good as workers of NERFUND. What was purported to be a protest was nothing but the ebbing throes of the old guard to distract the management, this too largely failed when it was discovered that those inciting the junior staff had cornered loans meant for staff members for themselves. These loans amounting to N500 Mn was criminally disbursed by the DGM Finance, Alhaji Yakubu Musa at absurd rates which largely defies understanding of what should obtain in mortgage financing. These loans were taken at a point when NERFUND had a negative capital with over 90% of its loans were already bad and awarded for a period of twenty years with a meagre 1% interest!
It is the attempt to recover these loans that the likes of Yakubu Musa engineered the failed protest in order to disrupt the progress being made at NERFUND and paint the duo of Kollere and Ihua in bad light.
It is at this point that stakeholders and well meaning Nigerians must rally behind the duo of Kollere and Ihua if NERFUND is to survive and deliver its mandate to the Nigerian people. Like I have always noted, citizens should not leave the fight against corruption to President Buhari alone, it should be the war of men and women of repute and conscience, these stakeholders must speak out now or watch NERFUND die.
