Forbes Africa Names Mallam Lamido Sanusi 'Man of the Year'

Forbes Africa has named Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Lamido Sanusi as its Person of the year.

The CBN governor was rated above two Nobel prize Winners (President of Liberia, Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, and Kenyan Wangari Maathai), a Mo Ibrahim Prize Winner (ex-President of Cape Verde, Pedro Pires), and Forbes richest man in Africa, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

Sanusi covers the December/January issue of the Forbes Africa magazine with the headline caption reading “a banker unafraid”. Sanusi definitely threw caution to the wind when he prosecuted a sanitization of the banking sector that saw several bank chiefs, and political leaders named, shamed, out of a job and in the courtroom docket.

His modus operandus has earned him the nickname, the Teflon gov, as he seems to be bullet proof even as the public is warming up to his integrity and honesty, characteristics thought to be scarce amongst many public leaders in Nigeria.

Sanusi strategies have subsequently caused him to fall out with the political elite, however even his enemies are beginning to warm up to his largely transparent style of leadership and his integrity opens doors amongst average Nigerians.

The Mallam Lamido Sanusi brand is being touted to have a shot at the presidency either in 2015 or 2019.