A few individuals who used to be well respected have turned the benign institution, the NASD into a monkeying institution
Holding Board seats for over a decade and superintending over a leprose performance that has denied the economy benefits and rued the ambitions of a workforce that seems stymied by the situation
I have come into possession of a letter written by a vexed shareholder – Adelabu Muriamo who, in no uncertain terms have asked that the Chairman immediately step down and resign
His letter, which I think should have been addressed to the hard-working SEC DG, the affable Mr Agama, stated very clearly that the continued stay in office by the chairman and other such directors is in arrant disobedience to the SEC Circular released this July, which stipulates a tenor limit of 10 years to all directors.
He also went further to state that the continued insistence to remain on the Board is also aggressively at variance with the Business Facilitation Act of 2023, which states that at least one third of the board must be independent directors.
Today only one person is an independent director on their board
I have had an intrinsic relationship with the NASD which was founded in the BGL Boardroom with the late Albert Okumagba as a driving force
The idea was for it to provide an alternative market for firms who could not meet up with the stringent listing requirements of the more robust NGX
But since its inception, It has been riddled with vacous visionless leadership leading it to be firmly placed at the bottom of the pyramid in all performance measurments
A quick cursory look at it’s current shareholding structure and you will see why shareholder Adelabu is very angry
The chairman who is having allusions to corporate despotism holds just 5% of the company with his 25m units which he probably bought at per value.
Total numbers of Share outstanding is 500m units with about 234 shareholders.
The top 10 shareholders own 62% of the company with firms like VFD Group, NSE Consult, Heirs Holdings, chapelhill and some other stockbroking firms holding 38%.
So what we have here is now a classic case of corporate bullying where a significantly minority shareholder abuses the respect he was given by his colleagues when they made him Chairman by refusing to leave even after 12 years on the saddle despite the SEC circular and other such regulatory prompts.
It is the arbitrarines of this form that goes straight at market confidence and it is this folly that the SEC have come out boldly to fight with the recent circular
It now remains of the SEC if they would have the gumption or the political will to push out these ancient gladiators
For how can a person whose tenor has expired two years ago now precide over an AGM that has been called to throw up his successor
So the process of dummifying the institution after monkeying it is now in full gear, I ask?
Before settling down to write this epistle, I carried out wide consultations and what I came out with is nothing but shameful and base idiotic
From ego driven engagements to stubborn resolution to not just go down to allusions to ethnic superiority with dotted lines to strategic government and enforcement points in a needless struggle that continues to stymie growth in the system
Another sad thing, is that, this Chairman and his cohorts are some of the most well respected in the space
I grew up as a stock broker with the highest regard for some of them and cant seem to tie this dispacable act of ‘capturing’ a whole instituion – a self regulatory institution for that matter in such a barbaric manner with my perception of them as a starry eyed stockbroker.
It is the same arbitrarines that led to the toppling of the Emperor at FMDQ, a senior cousin
I hear that it took almost all of our Federal might to kick that one out and when that finally happened, getting a successor has been a herculean task cos of the lack of due process in succession
Why brilliant men fall into gutter like this when they taste small power and lucre of office will continue to defy all consuming logic
One wise man once said, give man power and you will now knw his true person
Why would you be a minority shareholder but sit as chairman for 12 years, pay dividends only once – 20k with bonus of 1 for 5 in 2024 and still be wearing suit and be tying yourself to the seat with cello tape?
The tsunami that threw out this same tendency at the neighbouring NGX must be teleguided towards this sickly NASD.
The results at the NGX with its young and vibrant leadership is there for all to see
The All share Index is on an increasingly record run, Companies crossing the N100 mark and the bourse recording one of the best performances globally, beating rabid inflation and generally just pushing more energy into the economy making the Presidency use it to gloat to its critics
Same cannot be said of the NASD which cannot see huge opportunities like Nick Okoye’s Digital Asset revolution which is the next frontier for the catarach in the eyes of its aged Board
The SEC must come at this matter with a strong resolve to send a very strong signal to the market that it is now very ready to wrestle down the monster that is arbitrarines.
As for me, I think the Board of the NASD shd stop monkeying around and do the right thing which is to just resign immediately and allow a breath of fresh air into the place abeg, its no longer funny.
They may now come and beat me
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu