Category: Special Report

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) counts gains of land border closure to businesses and economy. The closure of land borders is part of Federal Government’s plans to revive local industries and tackle smuggling of rice and other commodities, writes COLLINS NWEZE.

Nigeria’s economy is estimated at $450 billion based on World Bank statistics.  The economy could have been larger but for the porosity of its land borders.

For years, goods, especially rice, from neighboring countries come in and out of Nigeria without trace. The practice has led to not only revenue loss and the closure of local industries, but aggravated Nigeria’s security challenges. The biggest contraband route was between Cotonou, Benin’s biggest city, and Lagos.

But all that changed in August 21, when the Federal Government closed all Nigerian land borders to check smuggling and breath life into local industries, especially rice milling and farming, the worst hit segments of the economy.

Nigeria’s immediate neighbours Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon – as well as Ghana and Togo have been hit by the border closure. The exercise brought the bustling borders to a standstill, with goods rotting and queues of lorries waiting at checkpoints in the hope they would be reopened soon. The delay in opening the border has brought some relief to Nigerian businesses.

For instance, the Nigerian rice industry, which for years was almost non-existent as over 80 per cent of rice consumed locally was imported, is gradually regaining its lost glory.

The recovery seed was planted in 2015 when the Federal Government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched rice farming in Kebbi State. That singular exercise triggered upsurge in the number of people across the country going into rice farming.

The country also witnessed more people setting up integrated mills across the country with funding and other support from the CBN but the threat of smuggling crippled these businesses. Whatever efforts were made were dwarfed by smugglers and economic saboteurs who brought contraband products into the country.

The smugglers took advantage of the country’s porous land borders to bring in substandard rice and other products until the land borders were closed.

Aside the closure of the land borders, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele disclosed that the apex bank had blocked accounts of identified smugglers, as well as commenced investigations to ascertain their culpability in what he described as economic sabotage.

Emefiele, who made the disclosure at a consultative roundtable tagged: “Going For Growth” in Lagos, said smugglers and dumpers have been the major saboteurs of the economy.

The move may have kicked off the apex bank’s efforts to make good its threat of going after smugglers, particularly of 43 items that can be produced locally, which it slammed “Not Valid for Foreign Exchange.

He said: “In due course, we would come out with the names of companies that have been identified, as we want to be sure and come out with credible facts that are not deniable.

“We have already blocked accounts of some in the textile, rice and palm oil industries. We are now investigating those accounts, and as information becomes clearer and we see that they committed the offence, we would go to the next round, which is forbidding all banks from banking with them.”We have decided to deal with them, but in our own way. We would use the instrumentality of being the regulator and head of banking system to get the details of these smugglers, investigate their accounts and if culpable, we would not only block the accounts, but close them, including those of their promoters.”

Border closure not new

Nigeria banned the importation of rice from Benin in 2004 and from all its neighbors in 2016, but that has not stopped the trade. Nigeria is only allowing in foreign rice through its ports – where since 2013 it has imposed a tax of 70 per cent. The move is intended not only to raise revenue but also to encourage the local production of rice.

But smugglers have been taking advantage of the fact that it is cheaper to import rice to Nigeria’s neighbors. In 2014, Benin lowered its tariffs on rice imports from 35 per cent  to seven per cent while Cameroon erased it completely from 10 per cent.

The economic relationship between Benin and Nigeria , both members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is unequal, with Nigeria exerting much more influence on Benin.

Given Nigeria’s over 200 million population, economy, and natural resource wealth, Benin has adopted a strategy centered on serving as a trading hub, importing goods and re-exporting them legally but most often illegally (through smugglers) to Nigeria, thereby profiting from distortions in Nigeria’s economy until the ongoing border closure commenced.

CBN moves against smugglers

Emefiele said the bank accounts of all identified smugglers would be frozen soon.  He expressed satisfaction that the decision to close all land borders had not only created more jobs but also boosted rice and poultry productions in the country.

“You will all recall that we have been embarking on a programme where we are saying if you are involved in the business of smuggling or dumping of rice in the country, we close your account in the banking industry. Although that is coming very effectively,” the CBN governor said.

Continuing, he said:  “You will all recall that in November 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, the Central Bank and some state governors went to Kebbi State to launch the Wet Season Rice Farming. Since then, we have seen an astronomical growth in the number of farmers who have been going into rice farming and our paddy production has gone up also quite exponentially.

“Between 2015 and also now, we have also seen an astronomical rise in the number of companies, corporate and individuals that are setting up mills, integrated mills and even small mills in the various areas. And the central bank and the federal ministry of agriculture and rural development have been the centre of not just only encouraging the production of rice in Nigeria but also funding these farmers by given them loans to buy seedlings, fertilizers or some of the herbicides that they need for their rice production”.

Border closure gains by CBN

Emefiele disclosed that before the border closure, Rice Processors Association disclosed that all the rice millers and processors were carrying in their warehouses over 25,000 metric tons of milled rice, which were unsold due to smuggling and dumping of rice through Republic of Benin and other border posts.

Continuing, he said: “We also have members of the Poultry Association of Nigeria who also complained that they have thousands of crates of eggs that they could not sell together with even some of the processed chickens that they could not sell also arising from problem of smuggling and dumping of poultry products into Nigeria.”

“A week after the borders were closed, the same rice millers association called to tell us that all the rice that they had in their warehouses have all been sold. Indeed, a lot of people have been depositing money in their accounts and they have even been telling them ‘please hold on don’t even pay money yet until we finished processing your rice.’

“The Poultry Associations have also come to say that they have sold all their eggs, they have sold all their processed chickens and that demand is rising. So, when you asked, what is the benefit, the benefit of the border closure on the economy of Nigeria, I just used two products – poultry and rice.

Emefiele added that the benefit is that it has helped to create jobs for our people, it has helped to bring our integrated rice milling that we have in the country back into business again and they are making money. Our rural communities are bubbling because there are activities because rice farmers are able to sell their paddy.

“The poultry business is also doing well, and also maize farmers who produce maize from which feeds are produced are also doing business. These are the benefits. “We are not saying that the borders should be closed in perpetuity, but that before the borders be reopened, there must be concrete engagements with countries that are involved in using their ports and countries as landing ports for bringing in goods that are smuggling into Nigeria.’

Also speaking, an entrepreneur, Emeka Eneanya, has commended the Federal Government and the Nigeria Customs Service  (NCS) for the decision to partially close the land borders as a way of checking insecurity and massive smuggling activities especially of rice taking place along the border routes.

He said that border closure will promote economic growth.

Speaking to traders during a visit to Onitsha Main Market, Anambra State, Eneanya , said the initiative by the NCS  has demonstrated  government’s desire to protect agricultural  sector and tother investments which  have been adversely affected by smuggling.

Ghana plans rice import ban too

Like Nigeria, the Republic of Ghana has put plans in place to ban the importation of rice and poultry in three years’ time.

This information was made public by the Minister of Agriculture for the West African nation, Owusu Afriyie-Akoto.

According to him,  Ghana wants to divert its attention into boosting local production and shun heavy reliance on rice and poultry importation, hence the three years’ timeline.

It was pointed out that 82 per cent of the bulk of Ghana’s imports is for rice alone.

This accounts for over $1 billion, a calculation that translates into almost two per cent of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to Ghana Deputy Trades Minister, Robert Ahomka Lindsay.

Ghana Agric Minister wants to combat this importation struggle through a flagship programme known as Planting for Food and Jobs in order to boost local capacity to meet high demand as well as simulate trade between merchants and local farmers.

Afriyie-Akoto said the Planting for Foods and Jobs initiative could be operational in three years and enough to combat rice and poultry importation during that same period. He was confident his ideas would work because the law backs his decisions and he noted that the initiative did not violate World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules neither was it overambitious.

Ghana’s Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said the country’s traders had incurred huge losses because their goods had been detained for weeks at the Nigeria-Benin border. She advised the Nigerian government to “find ways of isolating the issues and the countries that it has problems with, so that Ghana’s exports can enter Nigeria’s market without being lumped up with all these issues that have emerged”.

But Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed said the decision to close Nigeria’s land borders was not meant to be vindictive. She said that since Nigeria was committed  to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), there was need to ensure that rules are obeyed otherwise local industries will be greatly affected. “Businesses have been suffering due to the activities of smugglers but with the more opening up following our commitment to the AfCFTA, this will get worse unless we make sure now that everybody comes back to obey the rules as agreed,” she said.

The minister said: “ The border closure was not permanent adding that there are lots of discussions going on at the technical level and at some point, it will be at the level of Presidents and then real commitments will be made and hopefully, everybody will comply to own side of the agreement”.

For those eager to see the commencement of oil production in the Kolmai II River well, they have to wait for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its technical partners to conclude commercial viability tests, EMEKA UGWUANYI and JOHN OFIKHENUA report

The economic gain of the discovery of oil, gas and condensate in Kolmani River 1&II wells in Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 809 on the Upper Benue Trough, Gongola Basin, in the Northeast cannot be determined until the wells are appraised, industry operators have said.

Frontier Exploration Services, an arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which has mandate to explore for hydrocarbon in the inland basins, recently announced the discovery in Kolmani River 11 well. Since the announcement of the discovery of oil and gas in Kolmani River 11 well by NNPC’s Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Samson Makoji, there have been many unanswered questions on what are expected. The Nation gathered that time and further results from the asset will answer such questions.

The Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) was the first to drill the Kolmani River 1 Well in 1999 where a discovery of 33 billion cubic feet (BCF) was found. However, SNEPCo’s spokesperson when contacted, said Shell had since handed over the facility to the NNPC and wasn’t of part of the Kolmani River 11 Well.

He said: “SNEPCo relinquished oil prospecting licence (OPL) 809 many years ago after drilling Kolmani River-1 Well, and reviewing the Well result as well as the prospectivity of the basin at that time. Therefore, SNEPCo was not involved in the drilling of Kolmani River-11 Well which was the subject of the NNPC announcement on oil discovery in Gongola Basin. Kindly direct your enquiries on the oil discovery to NNPC.”

Makoji said: “Computation of hydrocarbon volume is on-going and will be announced in due course. A Drill Stem Test (DST) is currently on-going to confirm the commercial viability and flow of the Kolmani River reservoirs and the Corporation has deployed world class cutting-edge technologies including Surface Geochemistry, Ground Gravity/Magnetic, Stress Field Detection, Full Tensor Gradiometry aerial surveys to de-risk exploration in the frontier basins. The NNPC plans to drill additional wells for full evaluation of the hydrocarbon volume in the Gongola Basin,” he said adding that the Corporation is planning a comprehensive site visit where all questions concerning the discovery will be addressed. He noted that the discovery is will help in advancing the economy.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Degeconek Oil and Gas Limited and former President of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) Mr. Abiodun Adesanya, said answers to many of the questions would be clearer as the activities unfold at the basins.

On whether there is crude in commercial quantity in the oil field, Adesanya said: “According to the NNPC, multiple reservoir sands bearing light oil, condensate and gas were penetrated by the Kolmani River-2 well. Therefore, the answer is yes, there is crude deposit in the Kolmani River area.” Appraisal wells would have to be drilled to determine the volume of what has been discovered, he added.

On the 33BCF of gas discovered by SNEPCo, he said: “The reserve figure came from the evaluation of the main gas-bearing reservoir sand encountered by Shell after drilling Kolmani River-1 in 1999 to a total depth of 9,138 feet. However, the Kolmani River-2 well drilled by FES-NNPC penetrated and appraised the same gas sand seen by Shell and then went deeper to a total depth of 13,500 feet and, according to the announcement, found additional reservoir sands bearing condensate and light oil. Of course, the possibility of more discoveries is very high now that the ‘petroleum system/ has been established in the Gongola Basin.”

On the state this discovery was made, he said: “The surface location of the well is in Bauchi State but close to the border with Gombe State. As a matter of fact it is not too far from the Gombe Airport. The oil accumulation could easily extend across both states. You know oil and gas, like all other naturally occurring mineral deposits, do not respect administrative, tribal or political boundaries since they predate human existence.” He also noted that it is when the quantity and commerciality of the hydrocarbon are determined that the question of addition to oil producing states should arise.

On when to expect first oil from the field, Adesanya said this happens after proving the commerciality of the discovery, adding that commencement of production depends on the work programme and what the offtake or resource utilisation strategy is. He also said it is too early to determine what the daily output of oil and gas from the asset will be.

Read Also: California Governor appoints Nigerian as oil and gas supervisor

Asked if there are prospects of finding more oil and gas from other northern parts of Nigeria, the Degeconek boss said: “There is a process to finding oil and gas in any sedimentary basin once the science and data support it. There is no ‘slam dunk’ response to that question other than the process have to be followed to unravel the potentials of all basins across the country.

On the implications of oil discovery in the north and on the Nigerian economy, he said: “If proven to be commercial, subsequent processes professionally followed and decisions insulated from politics, the find would be beneficial to the host communities, local government(s), the state(s) where the discovery was made, the region and the country at large. Oil and/or gas find in any inland basins would significantly contribute to the reduction of the energy deficiencies confronting Nigeria, create businesses, reduce unemployment thereby improving the economy of the country in general.”

The search, the technology at work

The NNPC has deployed world class cutting-edge technologies, including Surface Geochemistry, Ground Gravity/Magnetic, Stress Field Detection, Full Tensor Gradiometry aerial surveys to de-risk exploration in the frontier basins. The NNPC plans to drill additional wells for full evaluation of the hydrocarbon volume in the Gongola Basin.

The Federal Government first dreamt up the exploration of petroleum from the Chad Basin in Northeast in 1976 when President Muhammdu Buhari was the then Federal Commissioner of Petroleum Resources. This culminated in an aggressive campaign that also resulted in the drilling of 23 wells, two of which were guess sure since then the NNPC yet acquired about 2,000 meters square meter of seismic the traditionally in 1976.  In 1984, as the Head of State, he commenced another aggressive inland basin exploration campaign. Not much was done about the prospecting until he assumed office as the President in 2015.

The former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu had in 2015 raised the hope for discovering oil in the basin when he said:  “There are signs from the latest 3D seismic studies that oil may be very well close to being found now in Lake Chad after very many years of trying. I think that this is very key; it is key, both for the geographical balancing of oil production and it is also very key for the purse of refinery placement in the North in terms of access to crude. I am optimistic that by the end of the year, we should be able to announce something major on this.”

On July 28, 2017, the President directed the then GMD, Dr. Maikanti  Baru to commence exploration in River Kolmani of Bauchi State for oil. He premised the directive on the fact that Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) activities in the area had indicated the possibility of discovering hydrocarbon in the area. The NNPC boss was said to have made the disclosure while playing host to the then Bauchi State governor, Mohammed Abubakar, at the NNPC towers, Abuja.

Baru added that NNPC, which was re-strategising to go into the region would inquire how Shell collaborated with the Northern Nigeria Development Company (NNDC) that holds block 809 where some of the fuel had been sighted.

According to him, the NNPC stepped down the activities in the Chad Basin up to the Gongola basin owing to security challenges in the area in 2017. But the NNPC boss expressed the determination of the corporation to go on and on in search for the crude until it succeeded.

He said:  “We have six prospects that we have identified in the Kolmani River Basin and after this is successful we are going to the next and next location.”

During the spud-in ceremony of Kolmani River II, President Muhammadu stated the commitment of his administration to the exploration for Oil and Gas in the frontier basins in the country. The basins include: the Benue Trough, Chad Basin, Sokoto and Bida Basins.

He also stated that attention would be given to the Dahomey and Anambra Basins, which have already witnessed oil and gas discoveries. But what is clearly not in doubt is that for now, the commercial viability of the oil has not been confirmed.

By Collins Nweze

Contract workers in banking industry has become a trend that will be difficult to curtail. COLLINS NWEZE writes that banks are leveraging the over-supply of labour in the economy to rely on contract staff for key segments of their operations, even as  stakeholders have called for its review in banks.

Five years ago when Chidimma Matthews graduated with Second Class Upper Division in Mathematics from the University of Lagos, she had high hopes to pursue a career in banking.

That dream has been on the pipeline or have been met half-way. Although she succeeded in getting employed in one of the nation’s commercial banks as a teller, her employment has been on contract basis.

“I have been working since 2014 without pension, annual leave benefits or even getting my employment converted to permanent position. I have since found that the promises made to me at the point of entering the bank about regularising my employment in two years were lies. Banks want the best hands at the lowest cost and careless about their welfare,” she lamented.

Another member of staff of the defunct mid-tier bank, Abiodun Stephens, was luckier. As a contract worker with the bank for eight years, he had his employment regularised few weeks to the bank’s merger with a tier-1 bank.

“I was lucky. My branch manager confirmed my appointment few weeks to the merger. That made it easier for me to fit into the system when both banks finally merged,” he said.

Findings showed that all the banks have adopted the contract staffing model to save cost and avoid key benefits that go with employing members of staff to permanent positions. Across all the banks- Union Bank, First Bank, United Bank for Africa,  Access Bank, Keystone Bank, Polaris Bank, Fidelity Bank, Ecobank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank to mention but a few, contract staffing has become a preferred employment strategy with the involved members of staff being employed mainly as cashiers, front desk officers and tellers.

The problem of contract staff in banks has continued to feed on the over-supply of labour giving lenders bigger chance to decide who they want to employ and at what cost.

Rising industry statistics

Contract staff across Nigerian banks stood at 46,263 in the first half of this year, June 2019, the banking sector report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown.

The NBS data showed that contract staff in banks rose by six per cent from 43,955 in June 2018 to 46,263 in June 2019. This means in the last one year, contract staff rose by 2,308 across all banks.

Members of staff in Nigerian banks are categorised into the executive members of staff, senior members of staff, junior and contract members of staff. In the last three years, members of staff of banks rose from 77,096 in 2017 to 104,364 in 2019.

Junior members of staff were the highest with 36,202  (47 per  cent), senior members of staff (20,483 staff or 27 per cent), contract  staff (20,237 or 26 per cent) and the executive members of staff with 174 or less than one per cent.   Meanwhile, three years later, contract members of staff  rose significantly.

As of June 2019, contract members of staff recorded the highest number with 46,263 or 44.3 per cent of the total members of staff across Nigerian banks.   Others include junior  members of staff (39,980 or 38.3 per cent), senior members of staff (17,943 or 17.19 per cent) and executive members of staff (178 or 0.17 per cent).

Further analysis of the NBS data showed that members of bank staff dropped from 105,017 in March to 104,364 in June 2019. This may be traceable to retirements, resignation and possible restructuring exercises. A closer look at the statistics showed that the biggest drop was recorded in the senior members of staff category, followed by junior and the executive members of staff category.

Despite the drop across all categories, contract staff still recorded a slight rise. In June 2019, only contract members of staff categories recorded an increase while others dipped.

This implies that banks are increasingly depending on contract members of staff to perform daily operations. Just as earlier stated, contract members of staff rose by 128.6 per cent between 2017 and 2019, an indication that banks are changing their recruitment policy to favour more of contract employees who are predominantly young graduates.

Further findings showed that in the last quarter of 2018, there was a negative growth of 0.55 per cent in bank junior members of staff. This implied that within the last quarter, contract  members of staff in banks have witnessed a sharp drop in tendencies of becoming permanent members of staff, which was not good for the economy and overall industry stability. Besides, there was an increase in both unemployment and underemployment rates in the country.

Views from stakeholders

Former President, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Peter Esele, said the Ministry of Labour and Productivity was saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that the banks act right when it comes to matters concerning their members of staff.

He said banks are run as business concerns, and always interested in delivering good returns to shareholders and thought less about the welfare or happiness of their employees.

Esele said: “When we were at Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), we unionised contract members of staff and ensured they got good pay. Their payment was good. We raised their salaries by 40 per cent and fought for their rights. That is what I want bank unions of today to do by protecting their contract members of staff and ensuring they have good sense of belonging to the sector.“

According to him, the Ministry of Labour and Productivity issues licences to outsourcing firms that engage the contract members of staff before sending them to banks.

Esele said: “Ninety five per cent of employers are only after profit and will do anything that would improve returns for shareholders. Unless the bank unions hold them by the balls, they will never listen to them. The unemployment situation in the country makes it difficult for contract workers to leave, leading to exploitation.”

President, Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI)  Comrade Oyinkansola Olasanoye urged the government to use decent work as an action to bring about  growth and build a new global economy that puts people first without struggling for a living minimum wage and a pay rise for all workers.

She said this was necessary because more workers are slipping into extreme poverty. “In consideration of the statistics we have, at the moment, casual, contract and outsourced members of staff in the banking sector stands at about 65 per cent. The implication is that, of the total workforce in the country’s banking sector, only 35 per cent are engaged as core  members of staff. There are currently about 32 banks in Nigeria.

“The statistics is not only frightening, but also has a grave implication for the sector, especially given that this category of workers are denied basic rights and treated shabbily. We are really pushing for the exploitative trend to be addressed in the interest of banking,”  she said.

Olasanoye said with global economic crisis hitting workers hard in the country, a work can only be decent when it has fair income that enhances workers standard of living, adding that it is safe and secure, with social protection for the family without greedy corporation setting the rule of the economy.

“This is why we had, for the umpteenth time, implored all workers to come together as one in solidarity to condemn precarious work, condemn slave labour, condemn insecurity and condemn unfair wages and all forms of indirect salary reduction by whatever name and all unfair labour practices. Let us all say no to corporate greed, let’s all demand living minimum wages, and a pay rise for all workers.

“We have never tolerated casualisation of workers and contract staff which are prevalent in the finance sector. We are by each passing day frowning at  the situation where employers shortchange and exploit workers,” she said.

Continuing, she said: “Looking at it from the viewpoint of the prevalence of casualisation and contract staffing, I can assure you that we aim at calling on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) to intervene in the growing incidence of casualisation and contract staffing in the country’s financial sector, especially in the banking sector.”

Former President, CIBN Mazi Okechukwu Unegbu, said contract staffing in banks has been a long-standing challenge to the industry.

“It did not start today. It started when I was the CIBN President. Like in other parts of the world, contract members of staff are supposed to be highly skilled and well paid workforce but that is not the case in Nigeria where there is no terms of engagement. Many of the contract workers were engaged because they had no other job opportunities. At the end, they have no commitment to the company and have been the source of rising cases of fraud and forgery in the industry,” he said.

Unegbu said the banks were hurting their operations through the contract staff policy. He explained that when an employee works for the employer under a contract, such employee is called a contract staff and works for a specific task with the employer and on a specific rate agreed by the two.

He said employees who are working on a contractual basis are not given vacation pay, pension and other benefits that are provided by the bank to their permanent employees.

“For me, contract job is not the right option for banks. There are no more career bankers and that is not good for the industry. If you have career people coming into the industry, they will be prepared to face the market and bring results that will benefit the bank. The contract members of staff usually have no compassion or passion for customers and this affects the overall performance of the bank,” he said.

He said although the banks were cutting cost by employing contract members of staff, the overall impact on the economy was bad.

Former Executive Director at Keystone Bank, Richard Obire, said banks go into contract staffing because they want to improve efficiency and Return on Investment (RoI).

He said banks can reduce their cost of operation by employing contract members of staff. Such member of staff do not have medical insurance, pension and gratuity which eat deep into banks’ profitability.

He said banks’ priority was always on profitability, and do not always consider the overall profitability of the system. “Have you wondered why banks’ profits are always rising even when the economy is facing downturn? This is because they do not always look at the overall profitability of the system,” he argued.

The President/Chairman of Council, CIBN, Uche  Olowu said contract staffing or outsourcing is a model and that there is nothing bad in it. He said the banking sector is a business and that there were no charities.

Olowu said the banks were looking at cutting their cost of operation and bringing efficiency into their business. “Where are the jobs? Outsourcing is not new. It is global business plan, which many companies outside the banking industry are also adopting,” he said.

The CIBN boss said employees, who are hired on a contractual basis for a fixed time and to perform a fixed job, can get themselves a permanent job by impressing their boss by doing a good job and showing how beneficial they can be for the bank.

Dangers ahead 

Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) Managing Director, Umaru Ibrahim said a total of 899 members of staff were involved in frauds and forgery cases in 2018 compared with 320 in 2017. The number of temporary members of staff involved in fraud was 394, accounting for 43.83 per cent of the total number of members of staff involved in frauds.

In the corporation’s 2018 annual report, it said: “This was followed by Officers and executive assistants’ cadre with 206 or 22.91 per cent. Supervisors and managers accounted for 119 or 13.24 per cent of the total fraud cases”.

Also, the number of temporary members of staff involved in fraud and forgery cases had consistently been on the increase. The DMBs and regulators need to address the problem of contract/temporary staff in terms of welfare and permanent employment in view of the risk their current status poses to banks’ operations. Furthermore, banks should strengthen their internal controls and validate their recruitment process.

Also, the CBN Financial Stability Report for the first half of 2019, signed by CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, showed that reported cases of fraud and forgeries by banks increased to 25,029 at end-December 2018 from 20, 774 at end-June 2018. However, the total amount involved, decreased to N18.94 billion at end- December 2018 from N19.77 billion at end-June 2018.

Speaking on the rising fraud in the industry, Olowu said what happened was that over time, the eroding values in the society have affected every known profession, adding that banking is not an exception because the people who are employed in banking are products of the larger society.

“So, what we want to do is to put up a process, so that when a bad egg comes in, he is always removed to ensure we have disciplined people. We are just thinking of ways of fine-tuning entry to the banking sector. You can only do what you can do; a bad person is a bad person. For someone, who ordinarily, has conceived in his heart to defraud a system, there is really nothing you can do.

“Basically, what we can do is to strengthen our governance system so that bad apple is easily identified and weeded out. Banking is an honourable profession. We are honourable people, but in every profession, you have the bad ones. But you know, the bad eggs have bad odour that spreads fast. If I say we do not have the bad ones within us, I will be deceiving myself,” he said.

Obire explained that it costs banks less to employ contract casual staff while the process of retrenching them is also easy. Therefore, contract staffing has become a preferred recruitment option for banks.

Also, the evolution of technology has been noted to have contributed to the rising trend of contract staffing. Specifically, industry experts have argued that the increasing aid of computer programmes and applications, have made bank jobs turn very routine and requiring less skills that can be provided by contract members of staff at lower costs.

Olowu said in recent years, banks have gone from investing in bank branches or other brick and mortar establishments to greater investments in financial technology (FinTech) and the relevant specialised human capital.

The CIBN boss said investment in specialised human capital is particularly significant, given the domination of technological solutions which are taking over human jobs.

He added that any member of bank staff who wishes to survive and thrive within the industry over the next 10 to 20 years must adapt and become relevant to the future of banking.

“Indeed, professionals and would-be banking professionals must reposition themselves for relevance in the changing environment. Such statistics as stated above confirm that in the future workplace, we may not be competing for jobs with other humans but with robots,” he said.

Continuing, he said in the age of digitisation, it is important to stay relevant regardless of the cadre of employment you fall under. “Banking professionals must consistently keep in touch with current trends in their field of expertise and the impact such trends would have on your job role. Aspiring bankers are also expected to gain a full understanding of the emerging technical skills sought after in the industry. Keeping constant tabs on trends and required skills would increase your value professionally and in turn your relevance,” he added.

The organised labour and the Federal Government recently agreed on the modalities for the implementation of the new minimum wage at the federal level. The agreement came after a series of meetings, which saw parties issue threats at some point, FRANK IKPEFAN reports

President Muhammadu Buhari signed the 2019 New National Minimum Wage Bill into law on April 18. It has, however, taken about five months for the Federal Government and organised labour to agree on the adjustment in workers’ salaries as a result of the new minimum wage of N30, 000.

The agreement did not come easy. Negotiations between parties collapsed several times. And, at a stage, it appeared parties would never find common ground as they maintained different positions and suggested varied figures.

The organised labour wanted an increase of 29 per cent for workers on level seven to 14, and 24 per cent for workers on level 15 to 17, propositions the government refused. It instead offered 11 per cent increase for workers on level seven to 14, and 6.5 per cent for workers on level 15 to 17.

The ultimatums by labour

Sensing that the government was not ready to meet its demands on wage increase, the organised labour threatened a strike. It gave the government a two–week ultimatum to meet all of its demands or face industrial action.

Their position was captured in a communique by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba; Trade Union Congress (TUC) President Quadri Olaleye; Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) Acting Chairman Simon Anchaver and JNPSNC Secretary Alade Lawal.

The labour, among others, accused the government of foot-dragging on the full implementation of the new wage structure to all workers, despite the unions’ lenient position. Both parties engaged in endless and often fruitless meetings, raising anxiety and frustrations among public sector workers, who had waited patiently over five months for the full implementation of the new wage by the government.

Govt counters labour’s threat

In what seemed a counter move, Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige threatened that the Federal Government would have to lay off workers to be able to meet a wage bill of N580 billion needed to meet labour’s demand on the new wage.

Ngige said the Federal Government was avoiding a situation where it would have to lay off workers.

Rather than frighten members of the organised labour into submission, Ngige’s threat heightened tension ahead of the planned resumption of negotiations between the government and labour.

Labour leaders described the minister’s comments as cheap blackmail, meant to distract the organised labour ahead of the resumed discussions. They further described the minister’s comment as political gimmicks intended to distract the organised labour ahead of its ultimatum.

Subsequently, labour leaders began mobilisation should negotiation breaks down again and both parties failed to reach an agreement at the end of the negotiations. As part of the mobilisation, ahead of the resumption of negotiation, NLC wrote its state chapters, demanding full mobilisation of workers nationwide for a full-scale industrial action, while the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCN) equally issued a similar directive to its members. The TUC was not left out.

For the first time, union leaders were on the same page for one outcome: full-scale strike action.

Minister’s resort to demagoguery

After the first phase of negotiations collapsed due to parties’ inability to reconcile their conflicting positions on what should constitute the agreed percentage of increase, the Federal Government’s negotiating team again called another meeting with the JNPSNC and leaders of organised labour to douse the tension that was building up ahead of a possible strike.

But, before the resumption of negotiation with both the JNPSNC, which represented labour unions and the government team, Ngige, had series of reconciliatory meetings with labour leaders.

The minister explained that the reconciliatory meetings were called to douse tension ahead of the resumed negotiation. In some of the meetings, Ngige insisted that the government would not be able to meet labour’s demand. He argued that meeting labour’s wage demand would shut down the economy.

The minister said if the Federal Government used all of its money to pay salaries the economy will grind to a halt. He cited the current state of affairs in Venezuela. He said that about 1.4 million workers in federal public service would take 33 per cent of the government budget in 2020.

Ngige explained that government would have no money to build roads, airport, rails, health centres, schools if it spends the 2020 budget to pay workers’ salaries and wages.

According to him, the government would not be allowed to shoot down the economy because it wants to pay salaries and wages of workers.

The final push

For three days, between October 15 and 18 this year, the Federal Government negotiating team and the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council which represented labour in the resumed negotiation, were locked in a marathon meeting.

They were joined, this time, by leaders of organised labour led by NLC President and heads of other unions in the country, with Ngige acting as the chief conciliator at the meeting.

After about five hours, the meeting of October 15th ended without both parties reaching an agreement. Both sides shifted grounds and the meeting adjourned until the next day.

Read Also: NLC talks tough on implementation of new minimum wage

On October 16th this year, both parties resumed negotiations. The meeting broke into sessions on different occasions when the government and labour teams had to leave the general session to meet separately before continuing with the joint session.

Around (2 am) on October 17 this year, Ngige told journalists that both parties had finally agreed on so many areas which they had earlier failed to agree on before calling for the adjournment of the meeting to 7 pm of that same day.

He said assignments had been given to some people on both sides, with the committee expecting feedback from them.

Both parties used the meeting of October 17 to fine-tune the grey areas in the agreement it had reached the previous day. At Thursday’s meeting, labour leaders were seen holding documents they had demanded from the government side.

The new deal

At the end of the three-day marathon talks, labour and the federal government finally announced to journalists that they had reached an agreement on the consequential adjustment to the salaries of senior civil servants towards the full implementation of the new minimum wage.

The Acting Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Yemi- Esan and Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Ngige signed on behalf of the federal government while NLC President, Wabba and the Acting Chairman of JNPSNC, Anchaver, signed for organised labour.

The agreement, after two days of talks, ended the strike threat by organised labour.

In addition to Federal Government workers on Levels 1-6, who already enjoy the N30, 000 minimum wage, Grade Level 07 workers, will now have 23% addition to their pay.

The other categories of federal workers will get the following increment: 20 per cent for GL 08; 19 per cent for GL 09; 16 per cent for GL 10 to 14 and 14 per cent for workers on GL 15 to 17.

Also, workers in public tertiary institutions, the health sector, research institutions and security were not left out.

These categories of workers would enjoy a percentage increase of 23.2 per cent for GL 07; 16 per cent for GL 08-14 and 10.5 per cent for GL 15-17.

Members of the armed forces and other security outfits will also benefit from the consequential adjustment.

“For officers on this wage structure, Grade level seven or its equivalent had an increase of 23.2 per cent, grade level 8-14 and its equivalent had 16 per cent increase and grade level 15-17 or its equivalent had 10.5 per cent increase,” the minister said.

Speaking on the implementation of the new wage structure, Ngige said that every employer of labour in Nigeria was bound to begin payment immediately.

He tasked labour unions to take a legal step against defaulters.

“Enforcement of this law is by the Ministry of Labour and Employment through our inspectors in the field. The National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission will also help in the enforcement. The labour unions can report (failure) to us or approach the National Industrial Court directly. We expect every employer of labour to start payment immediately,” the minister said.

Also speaking in an interview, Wabba said: “The process of collective bargaining is about ‘give and take’ as I have said. I think this is a greater improvement from where we started and with what we have been able to achieve.

“The bottom line is that we have come to the end of the issue of consequential adjustment and both parties participated in the process and made inputs. Workers can now expect something they can rely on to address some of the challenges that the economy has posed.”

The labour leader said the agreement also meant that state councils of labour unions would have a template to negotiate with state governments.

“The guidelines will be transmitted to the state councils and they will work in harmony as we have done at the centre. The joint council, TUC and NLC will work to ensure that implementation takes effect,” Wabba, added.

Asked how soon the implementation would take effect, Yemi-Esan said the government would begin the process immediately.

She said: “It has been a very fruitful deliberation in the past three days because both sides sat to work out this agreement. Everybody contributed to arrive at this agreement. It is good the labour and government could sit together to agree constructively.

“Work will start on the implementation immediately. We will work out the arrears. The important thing is that we have an agreement, once the arrangement has been made, payment will begin as soon as we get the proper sums together. What we have done is just the percentages, we still have to work out the proper sums and the implementation will begin.”

Yemi-Esan said the Federal Government can’t determine what happens at the state level with regards to the implementation of the new minimum wage.

She said the government would pass the template adopted at the federal level to state governments to serve as a guide in their implementation of percentage increase for workers.

With the concluded agreement at the federal level, the battle has now shifted to the states.

The Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA), headed by Captain Junaid Abdullahi, has its hands full not only with intervention projects but its leadership is also in the eye of the storm, writes BOLAJI OGUNDELE 

IN December 4, Justice Z. B. Abubakar of the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna will resume hearing on a suit on the forfeiture of the property of the Executive Secretary of Border Communities Development Agency, Captain Junaid Abdullahi.

A fortnight ago, Justice Abubakar ordered temporary forfeiture of the property. This order followed a motion ex-parte between Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria and First Aviation Limited and Abdullahi. The properties are 7, Jabi Road, Kaduna and 6, Niger Street, Kano. They were used as security for the loan advanced to the defendants by Intercity Bank Plc and Unity Bank Plc. The court also the defendants accounts with Keystone Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank.

”That the freezing/taking over of funds in any account belonging to the 1st and 2nd Defendants pending the determination of the suit is hereby granted.

“An order of this Honourable Court granting interim possession and custody of the properties situated at No.7, Jabi Road, Kaduna, covered by Certificate of Statutory Right of Occupancy No. KD/10914 and the property and the property covered by Certificate of Occupancy No. LKN/RES/81/159 in the name of Alhaji Ahmed Hassan, located at No. 6 Niger Street Opposite Tropicana Hotel, Kano State, used as Security for the loan advance to the Defendants by erstwhile Intercity Bank Plc and Unity Bank Plc to the applicants pending the determination of the suit pursuant to Section 49 of the AMCON Act, 2019 (as amended),” the order said.

This judicial process is one of the planks on which the Public Service Integrity Watch (PSIW) argues that Abdullahi should cease heading the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA). In a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, PISW’s Executive Chairman, Dr. Hassan Idris Bello, a retired director in the civil service, said Abdullahi flouted statutory rules in public service. The interim forfeiture, the petition noted, is a breach of the Federal Civil Service Rules on Bankruptcy, Financial Embarrassment.

PSIW, in the petition, which Abdullahi, who became BCDA Executive Secretary in October 2018, told The Nation is a witch-hunt, demanded a proper investigation into the allegations against him.

What are Abdullahi’s alleged crimes?

The PSIW alleged that the BCDA boss had been involved in what it described as “misconduct in public office, breach of the Federal Civil Service Rules on Bankruptcy, Financial Embarrassment, and also, making questionable expenditures above his statutory approval limit, without the approval of the board”. According to the group, some of these expenditures are “the unilateral decision by Abdulahi to relocate the offices of the BCDA, from Limpopo Street, Maitama, where they had operated from since inception in 2003, to a four-floor rented office complex at Jabi, belonging to a state governor, which the agency paid a whooping sum of N150m two-year rent”.

It added: “For an agency that has an undeveloped parcel of land along Airport Road, Abuja, the movement to Jabi, on rent, is a clear case of misplacement of priorities. Over the same period, Sir, the ES bought 10 Hilux vans, a Land Cruiser Jeep, estimated at N60 million and one brand new 32-seater bus – all, un-appropriated. Although he inherited a fleet from his predecessor in office, Abdullahi has added the Land Cruiser and one Hilux to his convoy. These, according to the Public Service Rules, are regarded as serious misconduct that would attract disciplinary action.”

The group urged Buhari to relieve Abdullahi of his appointment for allegedly finding himself in what it termed “financial embarrassment”, which according, it said, is only treatable by being made to leave the office. In this regard, the group referred a court matter involving a company he used to lead as chairman, First Aviation.

According to the petition, “Section 030414 – (1) of the Public Service Rules states: ‘For the purpose of these rule, the expression ‘serious financial embarrassment’ means the state of an officer’s indebtedness, which, having regard to the amount of debts incurred by him/her has actually caused serious financial hardship to him/her, and, without prejudice to the general meaning of the said expression, an officer shall be deemed to be in serious financial embarrassment;

“(a) If the aggregate of his/her unsecured debts and liabilities at any time exceed the sum of three times his/her monthly emoluments; (b) Where he/her is a judgment debtor, for as long as the judgment debt remains unsettled or; (c) Where he/her is adjudged bankrupt or as the case may be for as long as any judgment against him/her in Favour of the official assignee remains unsatisfied. (2) Serious financial embarrassment from whatever cause shall be regarded as necessarily impairing the efficiency of an officer and rendering him/her liable to disciplinary action.

“Haven breached this section of the rules, Your Excellency, Abdulahi’s inefficiency to continue to run the affairs of BCDA, is no longer in doubt, and thus, should be asked to step down.”

‘The allegations are wild’

Abdullahi described the allegations as wild, without any shred of truth and that they were being sponsored by a member of his board who had tried to get him to award contracts to him.

He said he had ceased to be part of the company before AMCON decided took it to court. He also explained that he had no part to play in the legal matter as the inclusion of his name was an error, which would soon be corrected through the courts.

Abdullahi said since he became the Executive Secretary of the agency he had not worked outside the rules.

“As I have shown you, due process was fully followed; the permission of the Minister, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, was obtained. The Management Board of the agency deliberated on the issue and set up a committee to search for suitable accommodation. We also wish to note that this is the first time that the agency is going to be domiciled under one roof; the previous accommodation could not accommodate all the departments of the agency.

“We have two departments that were squatting at the Federal Secretariat and we had three departments at the old office complex, office accommodation was so restricted that you had files littering the corridors. So when our rent expired at the other accommodation we decided to search for a new one. We got the relevant permissions to do so; we set up a committee, we found what is suitable for us. We informed the relevant supervisory agencies of BCDA, which are the Office of the Vice President and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and now we are located in our new office building and all departments are accommodated here,” he said.

On procuring vehicles that are not needed, Abdullahi said: “When I resumed as the Executive Secretary of BCDA in the 18th of October 2018, there was only one functional vehicle in the agency and that was the time we were processing the award of Zonal Intervention Projects, scattered across the six geopolitical zones of the country, worth about N20 billion and I didn’t have a single vehicle to supervise these projects. That was what informed the decision of the agency to source for vehicles, which are the primary tools of our work, to achieve the mandate given to us and Alhamdulilah, we did that and did an effective oversight 2018 Zonal Intervention Projects. As you can see, going forward, these vehicles are crucial to the work that we do as an agency that works primarily in border communities that are inaccessible and remote, the only way to reach them is to go by road.”

Allegation of unapproved acquisition of property

“It depends on the board you are talking about. I have my board here, which is the management board and it’s charged with making decisions on the day-to-day running of the agency. These issues you are talking to relate to the day-to-day running of the agency. Our governing board, which is chaired by the vice president, does not involve itself with contract awards and day-to-day issues, but only policy issues.

“As you can see from what I have shown you, all these issues were deliberated at the agencies management board and relevant decisions reached and resolved. There was no decision I took unilaterally in all the matters you raised, you can be assured of that,” he explained.

Lastly

As it stands, only Buhari can determine who is right between Abdullahi and his accusers. The ball is in his court and not a few are watching to see how he plays it.