Sterling Bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Abubakar Suleiman has said, professional bankers who are wealthy may be stealing.
He stated this while speaking at a ceremony for induction of 485 new members of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) held in Lagos.
The audience included notable figures such as former presidents of the institute and Commissioner of Finance, Lagos State, Abayomi Oluyomi.
Suleiman emphasized the essence of banking as a service-oriented profession.
He starkly cautioned that a career in professional banking is not a pathway to becoming a billionaire through unethical practices.
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.”