The Nation Newspaper

Tag: collateral

  • ‘We lend without collateral’

    A consumer banking expert and Chief Executive Officer, Motion Yield Limited, Abiodun Oyelaja, has said the firm is committed to consumer finance and has consistently lent to its customers without collateral.

    Speaking at a media forum in Lagos, he said the firm, which operated in three states, was targeting 13 more.

    He said the firm was seeking new investors to enable it serve a larger customer base, mainly the working class. The firm, Oyelaja said, plans to be a regional bank by 2020.

    He said every loan given to its over 1,000 customers was insured, and that the company did not stand the risk of losing investors’ money.

    According to Oyelaja, the loan starts from N50,000, adding that its loans are well appraised by risk officers, to ensure that only customers with the ability and willingness to pay back got such credit.

    Oyelaja identified lack of knowledge as the greatest impediment to consumer banking. He said the business of consumer banking was like the satchet water business that people rush into without understanding the rudiments. He said  many that rushed into the business got their fingers burnt because they did not understand the business. He added that the expertise and experience of his team had kept the business running.

    “A lot of people will just say ‘oh they are charging this interest rate; I can also enter the business and make profit. They have the money but they refuse to understand the rudiments of the business. That is why you are seeing a lot of them closing up. An expert is different from somebody who tries to be one.’’

    Oyelaja explained that the firm, as a consumer finance company, is focused on giving credits to groups, especially employees  which most banks are reluctant to lend to, saying they do not meet up with the requirements.

    He added: “Motion Yield is focusing on the employees. We know that the banks do not really give them loans because they will say they don’t have the requirements. But here we are saying this set of people should be entitled to loans too. We can give them loans and even give them loans without collaterals.”

    Oyelaja noted that retail banking has made contributions to bringing financial inclusion to the doorsteps of the unbanked.

    He said Motion Yield is a consumer finance organisation with specialist expertise in providing credits to individuals and groups. “We started operations in May 2015 and within a short period, we have grown to establish offices in three states.We are Nigeria’s leading consumer finance provider managed by a team of young professionals that has experience in consumer finance, risk management and retail banking covering over a decade. Our team members are all experienced and qualified, with ability and authority to make quick, logical and intelligent decisions relating to credit,” he said.

    He further said: “In addition to our head office in Shomolu, Lagos, we have our branch offices at  Ekotedo, Ibadan, the Oyo State and , Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. We understand the market and are always abreast of competitors.”

    Some of the products include quick cash loan, which maximises the amount granted to the customer. The the loan requested is disbursed while the fees are paid periodically along with the principal and interest repayments.

    The I-Flex is a flexible individual loan. “It is a product for customers who may want to pay the fees upfront. The customer receives the net amount into his account, while the principal and interest repayments are paid periodically.”

    There is also the G-Motion for  employees in a group, associations or cluster, including companies and cooperative societies. Apart from the lower interest rate, it gives the customers the opportunity to receive their funds in full while the fees are spread over the loan.

    The G-Blaze is appropriate for employees in a cluster, who want to pay fees upfront and collect the remaining fund in their accounts.

    The Motion Edu is principally to finance one’s child/ward education. Apart from its lower interest rate, it gives the customer rest of mind. ‘’We pay directly to the school on behalf of the parent/guardian,’’ he said.

     

  • CIBN plans forum on Collateral Registry Act

    CIBN plans forum on Collateral Registry Act

    The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria Centre for Financial Studies (CIBNCFS), a subsidiary of The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), has concluded plans to organize a breakfast session on Collateral Registry Act: Pros and Cons for the Nigerian Banking Industry and Other Stakeholders.

    The programme planned for Thursday, September 28, at the Bankers House, PC 19, Adeola Hopewell Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Due to the imperative of addressing the financing gap in Nigeria’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Sector, the National Assembly and the House of Representatives passed into law the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Act, 2017 (otherwise known as the Collateral Registry Act) in May, 2017. The Act, already signed by the executive, is designed to afford MSMEs the opportunity of acquiring loans using movable assets as collateral from financial institutions.

    While this is indeed a welcome development, apprehensions among stakeholders are rife regarding the implications of this Act on the current high level of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) in the industry amongst all other risks financial institutions are exposed to in the country.

  • Collateral damage

    A civic populace, and a disciplined military, can avert innocent victims of brazen outlawry

    The stern face of the modern state is law and order. But beneath that foreboding face is fairness and justice, twin concepts that gift the state the power to punish outlawry. The police, the military and other members of the disciplined forces are the teeth to enforce the lawful coercion of the state.

    So, if anyone kills a policeman or a soldier or even any member of the other disciplined forces, such a person rudely challenges the coercive majesty of the state. It is often met with stiff and tragic consequences.

    Odi, Bayelsa (1999) and Zaki Biam, Benue (2007), were two unfortunate but prime examples, where many innocent locals paid a stern price for the transgression of a few criminals, who killed policemen and soldiers.

    The ghost of Odi and Zaki Biam seems to be haunting Ogbogbobane, near Bomadi, in BurutuLocal Government Area of Delta State, where some “militants” are alleged to have killed a soldier, thus earning the wrath of the local garrison, the 222 Battalion, Bomadi.

    The Bomadi mercantile community is up in protest against the military. In the course of the enraged army hunting for the “militants”, the community is complaining of huge losses, from their legitimate trades and businesses. Bomadi ogogoro (local gin) sellers have sworn to sue the military, over the alleged destruction of their ware, worth well over N10 million.

    Also enraged against the military is the local branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), which claimed the soldiers punctured tyres and smashed the windscreen of over 40 vehicles, owned by its members. The Bomadi Motorcycles Operators Association too, growled about how bikes and tricycles belonging to its members were damaged.

    It was the same sad story with the Association of Auto-Mechanic Engineers, operating on the marine front. They complained that the soldiers wreaked havoc on their assets, such as outboard engines and generating sets: Yamaha 75, 45, 25, 14 and others.

    Rights group, Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), in the neighbouring Bayelsa State, has also carpeted the military for impugning on the economic rights of the locals, though by another alleged military invasion of some communities in the EkeremorLocal Government Area of the state.

    So has the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Central Zone. It is unhappy over the Ekeremor military invasion. But it also condemned, in very strong terms, the killing of a soldier, by alleged militants, in the area.

    Had the traders’ losses been limited to instant asset destruction alone, it would have been grievous enough. But it appears the army raid of their business locale could have long-term negative effects. For instance, many of them claim that some customers, from adjoining areas like Kogi, Anambra and Benue states, seem not in a hurry to return to the market, after the initial scare by the soldiers. For an economy trying to find its feet again, that is dreadful indeed.

    Yet, this collateral damage is very much avoidable. And of all the reactions to the attack, the IYC hit the nail right on the head. An army raid on any community is unfortunate, and should never be contemplated, not to talk of excused.

    But killing policemen, soldiers and other symbols of the state’s lawful coercion is brazen outlawry too that should never be tolerated. If a section of the citizenry kills coercive agents of the state, and routinely gets away with it, what they signal is the Hobessian jungle. It is a sorry pass, in which everyone is guaranteed to lose.

    That much was indicated by the reaction of the local army garrison commander, who sued for caution, adding that the army having issues with the Bomadi people, or the Bomadi people having issues with the army, was unfortunate; and the matter should be resolved to the mutual benefit of all.

    So, how do you avert such clashes? Communities should stop shielding a few criminals who could lead them the harm’s way. If indeed anyone killed a security officer, the communities involved should cooperate with the government to fish out the alleged killers. That way, there would be less collateral damage, if any at all.

    The emotional ploy to hide criminals, out of sympathy, leads to the irrational anger to exert revenge on just anybody in sight. No civil or civilised society is framed that way. The code should be strict: let the guilty be punished. But even more so: let the innocent not suffer any form of sanction, no matter how slight.

    But things even need not get to that point, if we were to operate the good, old dictum: prevention is better than cure.

    To prevent such mutual bestiality, we must build a civic society that is law abiding; and is under free self-compulsion to expose crime, no matter the situation. If we had citizens with such a mindset, most would respect the law and even the thought of killing an officer of the law would be a terrible anathema. If however a lunatic fringe dared, they would be exposed at the speed of light.

    But to go with that type of civil behaviour must be a citizen-army and police, that must respect the civil populace, as much as the civil populace respect the uniform they don and the authority it confers by law. Such mutual respect, nay affection, would greatly reduce tension, needless deaths and avoidable loss of assets, since crises would also be greatly reduced. That is the ultimate way to go, if we are to avert these periodic flares.

    But back to Bomadi, the innocent victims should press every legal and legitimate right to fair compensation. At the same time, the criminals that killed the soldiers should be apprehended and punished.

    That is the only way to extol civility; but condemn barbarity

  • On military sacrifice and collateral damage

    Dateline Abuja, June 25, 2014: There was no hint that the phone call I received from Suleiman Bisallah, my very close friend and professional colleague of many years standing, was the last time we would speak, until three hours later when another colleague broke the devastating news that the same Bisallah was one of the victims of the bomb-blast that took place at Emab Plaza in the heart of Abuja.

    Bisallah was the Managing Editor of the New Telegraph newspaper and had gone to Emab Plaza to pick his phone that he had earlier taken there for repairs. He told me on phone that he was rushing to the plaza and that he was going to meet me at home, as he often did, later in the evening. Barely 30 minutes after we spoke, Bisallah met his untimely death, in the most devastating of ways. His sad demise has been counted as a big achievement by Boko Haram.

    This was the death that transformed me from an editor that was just reporting insurgency, from the comfort of my office, with little understanding of its impact, to one who knows what the Boko Haram war and its devastating effect really means. It automatically changed the way I report the insurgency.

    Two years earlier, on a sponsored trip to Turkey, alongside nine title editors of the then leading newspapers in the country, the President of that country’s Journalists and Writers Foundation (the equivalent of the Nigerian Guild of Editors), had told us that even though the leading newspapers in that country belonged to the opposition, the editors have made themselves a firm promise to help the government by stopping  any prominent publication of the dastardly activities of the PKK terrorist group. That decision had gone a long way in alienating the terrorists, and they are only regrouping now that the Turkish government has unjustly seized the same newspapers that were helping it to win the war against terror.

    It was after the Emab Plaza bombing I realised that by helping our armed forces and prominently projecting their victories and denying the enemy the same luxury, we are in reality not helping just the government of the day, but basically ourselves. Terrorists in all parts of the globe thrive in publicity, and seeing their acts of destruction prominently in the press goes a long way to encourage them to do more. Sadly, the same Boko Haram insurgents that we were inadvertently helping did not spare us. They bombed the offices of THISDAY in Abuja and some other newspapers in Kaduna and killed scores of our colleagues. Boko Haram leaders threatened to wipe all journalists out of existence until they realise that will ultimately deny them the cheap publicity they were getting. More than ever before, I saw the need to help our soldiers whose call of duty demands that they leave behind members of their beloved families and stake their lives to ensure you and I live in peace.

    While we complain bitterly each time NEPA switches off electricity supply to our homes or offices, perhaps only because we were watching a television drama or some news, those soldiers are facing – and even expecting – death every minute or second, as they face the enemy in such dreaded places as the Sambisa Forest that we the perennial critics could not even imagine treading on, not with all the money in the world.

    Four types of individuals or groups are not likely to appreciate the deep sacrifice the Nigerian military is making in quelling the Boko Haram insurgency: they include those who have never lost anyone that is dear to them, to the insurgency, as well as those who have never witnessed first-hand, the scale of damage occasioned by insurgency. Others include those who only saw war on television and therefore don’t know what it means in real life, and those who benefit, in whatever way, from war. This probably informs why some of us mistakenly regard the military as our enemies that we must do everything to bring down, forgetting that without them, we will be forced by agents of darkness to abandon these homes and offices from which we comfortably operate. If in doubt, ask the IDPs.

    All over the world, the most senior war commanders largely only design how to win the war and command their troops to execute the plan. They hardly venture to the warfront. But apart from the unprecedented commitment of the Buhari administration in seeing to the end of the Boko Haram insurgency, one of the key reasons the war has been won is the quality of the people appointed by the government to lead the armed forces.

    For example, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff whose troops do most of the dangerous work, has since made a habit of spending lots of time with soldiers in the trenches. The very day he was appointed to his current post in July 2015, Buratai moved out of Abuja to the war front in the North-east, a move that helped change the course of the war and marked the beginning of the end of Boko Haram terrorists group’s insurgency. The troops reasoned that if their Chief of Army Staff, who can choose to remain and operate from his air conditioned office, can leave it all, abandoning his family as they all did, and stake his life to be with them,  they have every reason to do more and win the war.

    In other words, the acts of unprecedented bravery and selflessness by Buratai helped reduce a complex theory into practical steps. Whereas the perennial critics were rushing to their towns and choice capitals of the world to spend their Sallah and Christmas breaks with their beloved families, he chose to spend it in the trenches with the troops, eating the same food and drinking the same water as them. Now every senior army officer has taken a cue from their Chief of Army Staff and are all on their toes in the bid to give their best to Nigeria.

    Those troops that have staked everything to rid Nigeria of a nagging insurgency which had claimed lives of tens of thousands of civilians will be the last persons to deliberately target the same people they have toiled so much to defend and protect. Perhaps the best way to understand the operational error that led to the Nigerian Air Force pilot mistaking an IDP camp for a Boko Haram congregation is a Hausa proverb which roughly translates to something like mistakes are often made in the frenzy of winning a difficult war.

    The Boko Haram terrorists are like the drowning man who will cling to anything to keep afloat. They go for soft-targets in desperation to appear to be in business, just as Al-Qaeda, Taliban and other international terrorist groups that have been defeated by the strongest military in the world still go for similar targets to appear to be relevant. Perhaps it is their way of attracting continuous funding from their sponsors.

    It says a lot about the expertise and professionalism of the Nigerian armed forces that until now, very little or no collateral damage was witnessed, fighting a group of people that have no clear identity; who are also members of the society that look no different from you and I. If the military was bereft of conscience, they could deny responsibility for the error that unfortunately cost tens of innocent people their dear lives. It is reassuring that we now have an armed forces which  believe that much as it strives for the best, it cannot be perfect, just as no human institution has ever been.

    And it comes as a huge additional relief that President Buhari has expressed deep regret with the terrible incident and consoled the families that lost the very people the government spares nothing to protect.

     

    • Gaya is the Vice President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors.

  • Collateral assault

    Journalists are increasingly located in line of fire in conventional as well as simulated warfare where they are, for a fact, merely professional inquisitors and documentarists. By the nature of their vocation, they must relate with all actors across the lines of hostility so as to get a comprehensive view of contending issues at play and relay perspectives from all sides to their audiences. This operational rule ordinarily gives them a crosscutting reach that could be disconcerting to actors entrenched in the hostility of warfare at any particular instance. But then, it could be a vital resource for conflict resolution and truce mediation if properly tapped into by the contending parties.

    The threat to pen pushers – and effectively the freedom of information and expression – is not peculiar to any political civilisation or geographical boundary, though it is of more primitive shades in some climes than others. Under the regime of military strongman-turned civilian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, for instance, journalists have had death sentences willy-nilly slammed on them. Only last June, Egypt’s superior court confirmed the death sentence imposed by a lower court on six persons, three of who were journalists accused of leaking state secrets to Qatar. Ibrahim Helal, former director of news at Al Jazeera’s Arabic channel; Alaa Sablan, an Al Jazeera employee until last year; and Asmaa Alkhatib, a journalist with the Rassd News Network, were all arraigned in Cairo and sentenced to death in absentia.

    Then, there are places like Turkey where journalists are being hauled into detention on scant suspicion of having links with perceived enemies of the state. Following the July 15 failed coup in that country, no fewer than 43 journalists were detained as a part of investigations against followers of exiled Islamist cleric Fethullah Gulen, who was accused by the Tayyip Erdogan government of having masterminded the coup. Besides the detentions, Turkish authorities imposed travel bans on media personnel, while some 200 journalists have been barred from entering the Turkish parliament to do their job.

    A less primitive, but no less affronting hazard is the hostile disposition of Republican torchbearer for the 2016 presidential election in the United States, Donald Trump, towards mainstream American media. Faced with a deserved meltdown of his run for the White House, and badly trailing Democratic contender Hillary Clinton in recent opinion polls, Trump has made a pastime of savaging the media. Only last week, he tweeted: “If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn’t put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20%.” And that tweet was by no means out of Trump’s character. Journalists have never rated too highly in his estimation, such that at a campaign event in Pennsylvania penultimate week, he described them as the lowest form of life. “These people are the lowest form of life, I’m telling you,” he said, pointing at journalists covering his rally. “They are the lowest form of humanity.”

    Trump’s contention is that the media were biased and have been soft on the flaws of his Democratic opponent while being dogged in highlighting his own missteps, and so could effectively “rig the election for Hillary.” But truth be told, the media is not to blame for his campaign’s unraveling: it is Trump, not the media, who has been committing avoidable seppuku with unguarded utterances and unwise picks of political fights that have alienated vast segments of American voters. Actually, his fight with reporters is another chronically unwise pick. Asked at a press conference in June if that was how he would relate with the press as president should he get to the Oval Office, he said: “Yeah, it is going to be like this. You think I’m gonna change? I’m not gonna change.” Well, so much prospects he has for media support seeing him to that office! But we digress.

    Nigerian journalists and associated practitioners have always had their fair share of vocational hazards; but there was lately a tendency towards undue high-handedness by the government. Penultimate weekend, military authorities declared three persons wanted on the heels of Boko Haram’s release of its latest video on the abducted Chibok girls. The persons declared wanted were Aisha Wakil, a lawyer, as well as Ahmed Bokori and Ahmad Salkida who are journalists. There is no confusion, of course, that the enemy is Boko Haram; only that the trio were incidental targets because they failed, according to the military, to provide useful information to authorities despite having ease of access to the terror group. It is apparent though that the declaration was overhanded, because from indications, the persons declared wanted were available for prior invitation by military authorities, but no such invitation was ever extended. And they all said the military knew where to reach them.

    Why military authorities chose to scandalise the trio by declaring them wanted rather than take the more decent course of inviting them for questioning remains a guesswork. But matters got even more curious with the responses to that declaration. Salkida, who is based in Dubai, issued a statement saying he would be heading to Abuja shortly to hand himself in, and even suggested that the process could be hastened if the military obliges him a return ticket. There are no indications that the military warmed up to his challenge. Bokori promptly turned himself in to the military in Maiduguri and by public accounts, which the military did not counter, it was as though he was never even on the security radar, much less being expected to report. After groping around for some while, he was advised by low-level officials to go off and return the following day for another try at surrender. Aisha Wakil equally turned herself in at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja and was almost treated like an intruder. According to her accounts, which the military also hasn’t refuted, some front desk officers initially told her they knew nothing of her being wanted and were already turning her away when a supervisor stumbled upon them; and she was then held in furlough for some time as the authorities apparently worked out what to do with her.

    Now, if the motivation and rationale for security agencies in declaring persons wanted have not changed from what the public has always construed them to be, it is quite strange that Wakil and Bokori got such chilly reception from military authorities when they turned themselves in. But more questionable, I would say, is the ground on which they are indicted with having run foul of the law. If the offense is none other than that they have not been forthcoming with the identity and other details about their sources in the Boko Haram camp, they are well within a sacred creed of global best practice in journalism, namely strict confidentiality of sources. It is uncompromising protection of confidentiality that keeps those sources available and makes them accessible to that enemy fold, just as they are able to relate on the other side with Nigerian authorizes. Actually, the trio’s continuing access to Boko Harm should be an asset asset for the military in tackling the terrorist challenge: the link could be explored for genuine negotiation to free the Chibok girls, or it would at least afford some inkling into what is going on in the terrorist camp as would inform warfare strategy.

    But then, the trio as well have an onerous responsibility not just for conflict sensitive reporting or relaying of messages from the Boko Haram camp, but also for active mediation of a lasting truce with the terrorists. History will not be kind to them if they fail to use their peculiar advantage for the nation’s benefit.

  • I only used him as collateral, says actor accused of selling his son

    Operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command, have arrested a 47-year-old man for allegedly selling his two-year-old son for N300,000. Kanayo Awurum, a native of Ikeduru, Imo State, allegedly committed the crime without the knowledge of his 28-year-old wife, Kelechi. He, however claimed that he did it in order to give Kenechi some of life’s luxury.

    According to the police, Kanayo impregnated Kenechi as his girlfriend, resulting in the birth of the baby that was allegedly sold. Kanayo later absconded on account of financial difficulties, with Kelechi having no knowledge of his whereabouts. Two years later, he returned and apologised to Kelechi who accepted him again and the reunion resulted in another pregnancy.

    When things became extremely difficult for Kanayo to the extent that he could no longer pay the rent or feed his pregnant wife and son, he relocated with them from Imo to Lagos in April this year and put up with a friend in Ikotun area of the city. Another friend, Emmanuel Ibe, however advised him to use whatever he had, including his three-year-old son, as collateral for a loan of N300,000 from a female money lender based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Ibe said upon repayment of the loan and a token as interest within a stipulated time, Kanayo would have his son back.

    Kanayo told Kelechi that he wanted to take their son to stay with one of his relations in Imo pending the time he would be able to secure an accommodation in Lagos. Kelechi became worried when she did not hear from Kanayo for a long time and there was no information about her son. She told Kanayo’s friend in Lagos, Gerald Leonard Uche, about her worries and he advised her to report the matter to the police.

    Kelechi reported the matter to the police in Ikotun, Lagos, and after a discreet investigation, Kanayo was tracked down and arrested.

    Unknown to Kelechi and Uche, Kanayo’s friend, named Ibe, was said to have contacted one Mrs. Ogechi in Port Harcourt, who paid N300,000 for the baby named Samuel on April 2. Ibe handed the money to Kanayo and got a commission of N50,000.

    In his confession, Kanayo said: “I am a painter and a movie actor. I acted in Feast of Vengeance, Destiny child, Rough Chase, among others. I acted the boss in Feast of Vengeance. I knew my wife when we were both in Amakaoha Comprehensive Secondary School. Her name is Ugo Kelechi.

    “I tried to marry her. I went for introduction but they refused me. I arranged for the bride price and they rejected it. I loved my wife and my wife loved me, hence we continued to live together till God blessed our marriage with a son.

    “I only used my son as collateral to borrow money and to have him back when I pay the money. I did it to give my wife comfort and get good education for my child.

    “Unfortunately, last year, I had an accident. I did not run away. When I came back, I had no money. I looked around for help and it was only Emma Ibe that I saw. He advised me to use what I have to get what I want. Ibe collected N50,000 from the money.”

    His wife, Kelechi, said: “I am a caterer. He got me pregnant three years after our secondary school. I confronted him and told him that I must keep the baby.

    “I don’t intend to continue staying with him. I wanted to manage him, but having seen that he is heartless to the point of selling our son, I will not stay with him again.”

    Uche, Kanayo’s friend, who was said to have exposed the deal by advising Kelechi to report the matter to the police, said: “I am a national instructor on marshal act and I train police officers at the Police College, Ikeja. I was in my house around April and Kanayo told me that he wanted to relocate to Lagos.

    “When he came with the wife, I was happy and I helped them. When I could not see him again, I started taking care of his family. At a point, I observed that something was wrong and advised the wife to report him at Ikotun Police Station.

    “I was not satisfied with the answer the wife was giving me each time I asked her when he would come back. To make matters worse, he was not telling the wife the truth about her son, because the last time I saw him, he promised to come back with the son. He was giving unfounded excuses why he could not bring the son back.

    “When he was arrested and transferred to SARS, he told the police the truth. He told the police how he sold his son but added that he wanted to use him as collateral to borrow money and to collect the son back when he had paid back the money.”

    The police Public Relation Officer, Ken Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, efforts were being made to get Ibe, adding that the suspect would be charged to court at the end of the investigation.