It is about 120 days and 120 nights since the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (Amcon) paid the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) to acquire the shares of three bridge banks-Mainstreet, Enterprise and Keystone. It was a very confusing pronouncement whose content kept analysts guessing for a good number of days. What made everything more confusing was the speed at which two principal issues were handled within a spate of five hours.

The over 3,000 staff of Mainstret Bank Limited (formerly Afribank Nigeria Plc), have been gripped by extreme anxiety in the last one week as the deadline given to them by the new management to shape in or ship out is fast approaching. There is increased tension in all the branches of the bank as the workers appears caught in the cross fire of resignation and termination of their appointments.

One of the globally acclaimed systems solution company, Misys has indicated that it has all the potentials to assist greatly to the growth of the Nigerian financial sector through the provision of robust information technology platform.

Depositors of Savannah Bank Plc and Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria Plc whose funds were trapped in these  banks for over seven years now may get some respite soon, as an integrated action by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) may favour a possible roll-out for banking operations by the bank very soon.

The banking sector reform, which has faced series of criticisms from Nigerians, may have got a boost as Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, minister of finance and co-ordinator of Nigeria’s economic development, for the first time since assumption of duties, gave Lamido Sanusi Lamido, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), her hands of fellowship in the sanitasition exercise which she says forms major part of the entire economic reforms process of the federal government.

(L-R) Mr. Tony Elumelu, chairman Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc and Professor Ndi Okereke, former chairman, at the fifth annual general meeting of the company in Abuja

The bumpy road to recapitalisation for Union Bank of Nigeria Plc seems to be getting smoother as its over 5,000 workforce, represented by its dynamic workers union, may have overwhelmingly voted in favour of the on-going recapitalisation exercise which will enter a very crucial stage in the next few weeks.

These are truly trying times for investors in the Nigerian equity market. The market is illiquid and has been on an interminable downtrend. By last Monday, The Nigerian Stock Exchange had lost 13.05 per cent on a year-to-date basis, and it looks like it is nowhere near the bottom yet. Not a few investors have been ruined.

Dr (Mrs) IJE JIDEMMA, chief executive officer of Leading Edge Consulting, is one human resources consultant that has a deep knowledge of Nigeria’s economy and the human capital needs that would improve  quality development in the country. In her many years of work experience and consultancy activities, she  had confronted and resolved the demands of labour in many sectors of the economy. In this interview with NIK OGBULIE, she  reveals the challenges of unemployment and proffers the way forward for the economy. Excerpts: