Exclusives

The fortune of Nigeria Security, Printing and Minting, MINT is currently on a downward trend under its current Managing Director Mr. Abbas Masanawa. 

MINT, as the company is popularly known is now run by gang of thirsty hawks, mainly Emiefele’s boys and loyalists right from his days at Zenith Bank. 

These men are more concerned with bleeding the company than building it.  For instance, the Katsina State born Managing Director, Mr. Masanawa-led MINT board has concluded plans to increase the remuneration of the board members and key staff by 60%, while a paltry 15% salary increment is being considered for staffs who toil under excruciating working condition every other day, including Sundays to keep the company running.

Aside from that, the current MINT Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director has suspended series of incentive programmes initiated by his predecessor that saw an upward surge in productivity and profitability.  Instead, he is diverting the benefits to himself and his gang-men, while productivity and profitability keep dwindling.  Again, the company board structure is so one-sided.  Again, Mr. Masanawa has resumed the era of unnecessary casualization of staff. 

Mr Masanawa has been the CBN Governor’s ally and right-hand-man who worked with him in Zenith bank. MINT is currently experiencing abysmal performance as a result of the nepotistic tendencies, ineptitude, and recklessness of the current Masanawa-led management.  But instead of showing him the way out, the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emiefele is bracing Mr Masanawa’s ineptitude by expanding the executive capacity of the company’s top management.  Currently, Seven senior officers of the Central Bank of Nigeria have been deployed to MINT.  Despite this, the performance of the company still at its lowest level.

According to investigation carried out by this news platform, Emiefele is worried at the dwindling fortune of that company.  But he is constrained from effecting efficiency in MINT.  One, because of the bond that exists between him and the current Managing Director of MINT dating back to their days in Zenith Bank.  Emiefele would rather continue to plunge in more resources than to show Masanawa the way out. 

In fact, it is highly believed that Emiefele is considering moving Masanawa of his post as the MD, to another juicy agency under CBN.  There is every likelihood that Emiefele may send Mansanawa to head the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC.  A source described it as a smart way of easing him out from MINT to enable a total overhauling of the company and thus return it to  the path of profitability. Masarawa may be calling the shot in the Nigeria Deposit Insurers Corporation NDIC any time soon, according to an insider information.  NDIC is another parastatal under the supervision of CBN.  Others include MINT, NIRSAL

Prior to being appointed the Managing Director of Nigeria Security, Printing Minting Ltd, Masarawa was Emiefiele’s errand boy while the latter held sway as the Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank.  But there relationship transcends what is known to be a normal boss-staff relationship, it has esoteric origin. 

He is one of the trusted allies of the current CBN Governor not because he was too smart to hold that position, but because over the years, his loyalty to the then GMD of Zenith Bank and now the current Central Bank Governor has been enigmatically deep.  In fact, it was rumored that Emiefele had already promised to clear the way for Masanawa to become a Deputy Governor of Central Bank when a vacancy was created as a result of the exit of one of the Deputy Governors who went to contest for gubernatorial election in his home state.

Prior to the emergence of the erstwhile Managing Director of the company, MINT never posted any tangible profit. Corruption, nepotism, casualization of staff and recklessness was the order of the day. MINT at that point was surrounded by hawks who nearly ran down the company. 

Nigeria currencies at that point were printed overseas, particularly Malaysia.  Most staff were on contract employment for as long as 10 to 15 years.  Amidst these, the Hawks held sway and continued to bleed the fortune of that company. Unfortunately, the vices that truncated the profitability of MINT has returned again with Emefiele hitmen dominating every corner without tangible results and improvement.