Edugist presents the governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) since 1958.
1. Roy Pentelow Fentow – 1958-1963:
Fentow was appointed the first and the only expatriate Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria. He served from July 24, 1958 to July 24, 1963.
2. Aliya Mai-Bornu – July 25 1963 till June 22 1967:
Appointed by the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. A qualified English Teacher in Yola who later bagged a degree in Economics from Bristol University. The first Indigenous CBN Governor. As a mark of honour, he’s one of the prominent figures on the 1000 Naira Note.
3. Clement Nyong Isong – August 15 1967 till September 22 1975:
He was CBN Governor for 8 years. An Economics scholar who got the Ford Foundation and Rockefeller scholarship to study Economics at Iowa Wesleyan College, Iowa, USA. MSc and PhD in Economics from Howard Graduates School of Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts, USA. Before returning to Nigeria to become CBN Governor, Clement worked as an Assistant Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank, New York. He was the first person to rule as a governor of the CBN and governor of a state.
4. Adamu Ciroma – Sept 24 1975 till June 28 1977:
BA Hons, London-Modern History, University of Ibadan. He would later be brought back by OBJ to serve as Minister of Finance, June 1999 – May 2003.
5. Olatunde Olabode Vincent – June 28, 1977 till June 28, 1982:
The Economist first served as Vice President of the African Development Bank (AFDB) between 1966 – 1973. He studied at the University of Manchester. From 1957 to 1960 and was a part-time lecturer in Economics at the University of Ibadan.
6. Abdulkabir Ahmed – June 27 1982 till Sept 30 1993:
Served Shagari, Buhari, IBB and Shonekan as Gov- of the Central Bank making him the longest serving CBN Gov. A Chartered Accountant who was the first chairman of the Board of Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, his Alma mater being University of Ife and South West London College.
7. Dr. Paul Agbai Ogwuma – Oct 1 1993 till May 29 1999:
A seasoned banker, Chartered Accountant and Administrator with his Alma mater being Bradford University in the UK. Before being CBN Gov, he was MD/CEO Union Bank Plc.
8. Chief Dr. Joseph Oladele Sanusi – May 29 1999 till May 29 2004:
A Chartered Accountant and Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Bankers with Alma mater being South West London College and Kingston College of Technology, England.
9. Charles Chukwuma Soludo – May 29 2004 till May 29 2009:
1st class Hons degree in Economics, M.Sc. Economics and PhD, -winning prizes for the best student at all three levels and then Prof of Economics. Visiting scholar at the IMF, the University of Cambridge, the Brookings Institution, the University of Warwick and the University of Oxford and a visiting professor at Swarthmore College USA.
10. Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi – June 3 2009 till June 2 2014:
Obtained his degree in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University. In 2005, he joined the board of First Bank Nigeria as an Executive Director in charge of Risk and Management Control and later appointed Group Managing Director in Jan 2009, making him the first Northerner to be appointed CEO in First Bank history of more than a century.
11. Godwin Emefiele – June 3 2014 till June 9 2023 when he was
unceremoniously suspended as the worst CBN President ever: Obtained a degree in Banking and Finance and MBA in Finance, also an alumnus of Executive Education at Stanford University, Harvard University and Wharton School of Business where he must have studied how to be a demon. He has over 18 years of banking experience, from being the Executive Director in charge of Corporate banking, Treasury, Financial control and strategic control of Zenith Bank to becoming MD of the same bank. He’s most infamous for his harsh policy of Naira redesigning.
