www.sciedu.ca/jms Journal of Management and Strategy Vol. 3, No. 4; 2012 Published by Sciedu Press 93 ISSN 1923-3965 E-ISSN 1923-3973 Herbal Cure for Nigerian Banking Sector Epilepsy T. A. Ngerebo-A, Ph.D Department of Banking & Finance, Faculty of Management Sciences Rivers University of Science & Technology, P. M. B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Nigeria E-mail: oniminp2002@yahoo.com Received: July 27, 2012 Accepted: August 23, 2012 Online Published: October 31, 2012 doi:10.5430/jms.v3n4p93 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/jms.v3n4p93 Abstract This paper re-examined the incessant incidence and threat of bank failures in Nigeria in recent times, and the urgency to unearth possible solutions to this malaise. The paper is an attempt at curing the problem from the roots by likening the problem to Epilepsy, and grouping the cure into natural (herbal) and non-herbal. The paper adopted the survey research method, using 8 commercial bank in Port Harcourt, the heart-throb of commercial and oil/gas activities in Nigeria. The paper found that most of the failures resulted mostly from the emphasis on paper qualification and ‘innocence of age’. The paper therefore recommends that there should return to indepth academic training based on professional ethics instead of the short course based professional qualification. This is what the paper calls herbal (human-based) cure. Keywords: Herbal cure, Nigerian banking sector epilepsy, Professionalism in employment 1. Introduction There is hardly any sickness in the world without a possible cure over time, except for the time of discovering the cure. This is why some sicknesses and diseases that hitherto have been considered as incurable have over time received cure. Examples abound such as leprosy, diabetics, STDs and asthma. In some cases where curative panacea is delaying, control and/or management panacea have been developed, in order to sustain lives. Epilepsy is an unhealthy condition by which a seemingly normal adult person suddenly experiences nervous shock causing seizures, convulsions and loss of consciousness. When this occurs, the epileptic (that is the patient or sufferer) suddenly looses composure, and dignity, and can fall to the ground no matter how filthy the place looks. It could result in death if some forms of first aid and cautious assistance are not promptly extended to the victim. This best describes the Nigerian banking system since the formal take-off in 1892. In fact, like any epileptic patient that can be disgraced when all is thought to be well, the banking sector has given shocking disgrace in the form of distress, banking failures and banking crises. For instance, in 2005, when all was thought to be well with the banking system, suddenly there was the news that most banks were distress and grossly undercapitalized, followed by panic in the whole economy. The result was a momentary loss of confidence forcing Nigerians to conduct economic activities mostly outside the banking system. This non-bank, highly monetized, and over-liquid system turned to the introduction of certain measures like mergers and acquisition, electronic gadgets, and limitation of the amount of cash withdrawal over-the-counter to between N60,000 and N200,000 per day. Again, in 2009 there was another bang against expectations that all was well with the sector, given the clean bill of health given to the banks after the attainment of mega and international status. That time, it was that some banks only window-dressed their books of accounts, and had most of their income earning asset portfolio made up of non-performing loans and insider loans. The immediate solution was the removal and arraignment of the executive management of not less than five banks. The Nigerian banking sector can also be described as an epileptic patient on whom several short-term control medicines have been administered, but without any long-lasting cure. For instance, in the last 10 years, there have been several short-term treatments of this epilepsy by barely every Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor. Contestable as they have been, they have had temporal respite for the epileptic conditions but after a while the virus gets accustomed to the treatment and becomes more harmful than ever before. Several physicians have diagnosed the problem with the Nigeria banking sector and found that, apart from the most sacred unmentionable corruption, the problem could be caused by over-liquidity, government involvement in private sector activity, inconsistencies and conflicts in macroeconomic policies, undercapitalization, poor risk asset management strategies, and global