Banking not route to billionaire status - Sterling Bank MD says

Abubakar Suleiman, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank says being a professional banker is not the route to becoming a billionaire.

Suleiman cautioned the newly inducted members of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria at the 2024 Stream 1 graduate induction and prizegiving day of the CIBN held in Lagos on Saturday, March 23.

The event was themed ‘Ethics and Professionalism: A Prerequisite for Building Sustainable Career and Institution.’

He said, “If your purpose is wealth and I will say this with all sense of responsibility, if you find a banker, a professional banker, not an owner, not an owner-manager, not an entrepreneur in banking but a professional and he says he’s wealthy, look at the person and ask how?

“By virtue of being a professional in employee status, that is not the road map to ‘billionaireship’ unless you are a thief and you are not. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be bothered becoming certified, taking your professional career so seriously, if all you are interested in is to make money.

“If you are looking for a purpose, banking will offer you a purpose. And there is a lot that banking can offer you if you are looking for a higher level of service. But if you are looking for wealth and to ride private jets, your ambition has already denied you the ability to be ethical.”

The event hosted former presidents of the institute, Lagos Commissioner of Finance, Abayomi Oluyomi and other stakeholders.

CIBN inducted 485 graduates, comprising 18 from the CBMBA route, four from the MSc/ACIB route, 33 from the collaboration with Lagos Business School on the Chartered Bankers route, 281 from the regular examination route, and 149 candidates as Microfinance Certified Bankers, The Punch reports.