We knew nothing of the pressures young bankers are today put through chasing deposits, mostly proceeds of corruption, in billions, which their crafty directors end up fraudulently converting to their own
The title of this article does not belong to me. Rather, it belongs to a highly introspective senior citizen, a retired public servant who has seen more than eight decades on terra firma. He is, incidentally, a trained economist who, therefore, knows the critical role banks play in the economic development of nations. And as I recently wrote on these pages, unlike the young, who looks forward when he falls, the old does the reverse, that is, looks backwards, eager to know exactly where the fault lies. Chief Deji Fasuan, MON, JP and, by His grace, 84 next September, has been doing just that about what tragedy has befallen the banking industry in Nigeria, at least, in one particular respect.
More about that later.
My first ever job on graduating from Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti, December ’63, was as a banker at the prestigious Bank of West Africa, now First Bank, starting out at its headquarters in Marina, from where I would later be transferred to its Ebute Meta branch, Apapa Road, opposite the Fire Brigade office. Those were the days of 500-page ledgers, and bi-monthly balancing – 15th and last day of every month – when you were sure to sleep in the office if you could not balance those assigned to you. For instance, some of us, Tayo Orukotan, our most proficient ‘balancer’, inclusive, said our Happy New Year hurrays, right there in the office, on Saturday, 31st December, 1966. There were, of course, much more interesting things about banking in the 60s than having to spend your New Year eve in the office. For instance, I was guaranteed, as gift, the topmost five of whichever denomination the ever fashionably turned out Papa J M Johnson, then Minister of Labour in the Tafawa Balewa federal government, was paid any time he came to the bank. Just like I knew I was loaded whenever the wealthy business magnate, Papa Aduroja, breezed in all the way from Ilesha. And, of course, those unforgettable bankers’ picnics that saw many of us, friends , among them Leke Owolabi and dear departed Arthur Medeiros, and bankers from Barclays Bank, African Continental Bank, Bank of West Africa, etc with Victor Abiodun of the Central Bank coordinating, heading to Pension Smith, Agege, at every festive period. We used to charter the popular LMTS bus. We knew nothing of the pressures young bankers are today put through chasing deposits, mostly proceeds of corruption, in billions, which their crafty directors end up fraudulently converting to their own. We are told the ladies among them are now, in fact, encouraged to do whatever, as long as deposits roll in. How many of these young Nigerians are now on medication for hypertension we would never know. Right from our desks, in our various banks, we ordered the best of Van Heusen shirts, all the way from England, which enabled the likes of Bayo Famotibe, Funmi Banjo, Femi Turton, Mike Okonkwo – yes the Bishop – and, of course, yours truly, turn out smelling like a thousand roses week in, week out. Indeed, after leaving our almost every month-end parties at Railway Recreation Club around 6 am on Sunday, the Bishop, rather than sleep, was sure to drive Papa and Mama to the early morning Mass. Such was the ease under which we lived as young bankers, envied by our contemporaries in the community. Today, smart Alecs have so changed it that the first thing even a chronic unemployed tells you is that he/she does not want a marketing job. While fraud was not completely unheard of – I won’t ever forget Orukotan, a cashier, bursting a local unemployed boy who was being used by a colleague of ours to withdraw from dormant savings accounts- they were a far cry from what now obtains as billions now get stolen annually. Indeed, NDIC has just reported an increase of 182.8 per cent in bank frauds for 2014. Deposits, in our days, were voluntarily brought in by individuals like the Oke Arin traders, cooperative societies, churches etc unlike now when banks daily deploy armadas of young persons in search of deposits.
And this, precisely, is what here engages the attention of a concerned Chief Fasuan who is calling on the Central Bank to urgently address the issue.
Happy reading.’
I am not exactly sure of the origin of commercial banking in Nigeria. All I grew to know in the late 40s and early 50s is that there were BBWA (Bank of British West Africa), Agbonmagbe Bank, African Continental Bank, New Nigeria Bank, National Bank of Nigeria Limited and Barclays Bank. These banks served the needs of market men and women around whom they were located. Very little was known of their staff outside the banking circle. They were either headed by expatriates or highly skilled Nigerian professionals. And all you hear were ‘manager’, ‘accountant’ and ‘clerk’; certainly none of today’s plethora of hierarchies and titles. The economy was compact and banking customers were few. Customers took their cash physically to their banks for deposit either at the current or savings level. The customer was given a document in which the transactions (deposit and withdrawal) and liquidity position were clearly stated. However, banking in Nigeria has changed dramatically within the last two decades. For example, it’s no longer necessary to carry bank documents (Savings Book for example) to and fro, each time you want to pay or withdraw although you still write cheques to collect money from your current account. The practice now is that bright, educated and spritely young men and women are hired by commercial banks, designated ‘marketing officers,’ and thrown out to the world to look for customers. Desperately, these young ones invade homes, offices, entertainment centres, etc to look for depositors and other customers. You will think they are newly recruited salesmen and women for goods and articles manufactured by local industries. They hardly have a seat at their branch office.
One can see the level of desperation and anxiety to keep their jobs in the faces of these young Nigerians. When you tell them you have no money to invest in their bank, they will try to persuade you to transfer your money from your present bank to theirs, even if for only one month. This is to show their bosses back in the office that they are working. Some, indeed, travel out with their bosses at weekends to retain their volatile jobs!
Without a doubt, the banking industry in Nigeria has been infiltrated with negative practices that were originally unknown to commercial banking – an otherwise elegant and elitist profession. The question now is what is the role of the Central Bank as a regulator of the banking industry in Nigeria? Also, are the labour unions within the banking industry unaware of the treatment meted to these young people, which border on slavery and exploitation?
Some may ask how banks would get customers if these young men and women are not sent the harm’s way. Simple. Advertisement in the media, all media, is the answer. Vigorous advertisement on radio, television, the social media and billboards can ensure the competiveness of banks and how attractive their products are will then be the deciding factor. It is absolute obscenity to send our girls to the streets in adolescent age to canvass for business for the big man up there.
The Central Bank of Nigeria should not be seen to be concerned only with the safety of the depositors’ funds or returns on investment. The regulatory body should also look into the ethics of the profession especially between the mighty managers and the vulnerable ‘marketing’ officers. Some level of security of job and the sanctity of the human dignity are necessary in banking operations as we see it in other climes. While each member of the industry should continue to have freedom to organise its operations within the extant regulations– the CBN must ensure a level of decency and comportment by the banks.
Also, Labour, as a defender of the dignity of labour, has a responsibility not to allow a sector of the workforce be treated as slaves and be assigned derogatory, even dangerous and hazardous roles in the work place.
