The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NDIC

  • Ex-bankers protest non-payment of entitlements

    Workers who lost their jobs to the 2005 banking consolidation have protested against the non-payment of their entitlements, seven years after. They are allegedly being owed N8billion as entitlements.

    Also, the workers have appealed to the Senate President David Mark to invite the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) and the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation of Nigeria(NDIC) to resolve the issue.

    The workers, who staged the protests under the aegis of the Ex-Staff of Non-Consolidated Banks of Nigeria (AESNBN), were drawn from All States Bank Plc; Hallmark Bank Plc; Liberty Merchant Bank Plc; Lead Merchant Bank Plc; City Express Bank Plc; Assurance Bank Plc andTrade Bank Plc, among others.

    Speaking during the rally, the association Chairman, Mr Magnus Maduka, said the development has put the affected workers in a dire situation. He said the affected staff were 14,000, adding that some have died when struggling to get their benefits.

    He said the former CBN Governor, Prof Charles Soludo, reneged on his promise to pay the workers of the banks that failed to consolidate their terminal benefits in line with the policies of their employers.

    Maduka, who was the former Deputy General Manager, Head of Operations, Hallmark Bank Plc, said members have made several moves to get their gratuities and severance packages without success.

    He said: “Initially, we had thought the CBN will live up to its billing by honouring its promise within 90days, but later referred us to NDIC. This made us to conclude that something is amiss. On the other hand, NDIC, in order to keep us off its back, classified our entitlements as “Other Creditors,” meaning that they may never pay us in our lifetime. It is quite unfortunate that NDIC which had earlier agreed in our meeting with them and in a letter dated June 20, 2008 to pay us would make a U-turn within a short time of one year.” (565).

    Similarly, a former staff member of All States Bank Plc, Mr Charles Elelegwu, said NDIC and CBN have paid workers of the Lead Merchant Bank and City Express Bank, and must accord the same privileges to them.

    “The NDIC, through its existing legal framework of winding up banks, has set aside a maximum of N200, 000 for depositors of the failed banks irrespective of the balance in their accounts. We are, therefore, asking that the same principle be applied to the settlement of the staff entitlements,” he added.

    Sources close to the management of CBN said the apex bank would look into the matter to ascertain the level of genuiness of the complaints of the aggrieved staff. The sources said the winding up of banks, valuation of their assets, payments of the affected depositors/staff, among other issues, are sensitive, and need to be handled with cautions.

    “We would look into the issue and see what really happened, the sources added.

  • NDIC builds varsity lab in Taraba

    NDIC builds varsity lab in Taraba

    The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has built and donated a science laboratory complex to the Kwararafa University, a community-based varsity in Wukari, Taraba State.

    The edifice is worth N20 million, the chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT), Dr. Samuel Danjuma Gani stated in Wukari during its launch.

    Gani was represented by the BOT Secretary, Mr. Timothy Agbu.

    He said the Kwararafa University was approved as a private university by the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria in June, 2005. The institution became operational in March 2006, with 61 students and two colleges: Natural Sciences and Management/Social Sciences.

    The Vice-Chancellor of Kwararafa University, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu said: “the donation was a testimony that NDIC shares a vision for educational development, particularly in promoting science and technology”.

    Ochefu said the university needs another N27 million to furnish and equip the laboratory building. He urged other stakeholders and the government to emulate NDIC by supportingh the university.

    NDIC Managing Director, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, decried the fact that most institutions of learning in Nigeria lack infrastructural facilities, resulting in poor standards of education.

    “It is against this background that it became necessary for corporate organisations and well meaning individuals and groups – within and outside the country to come to the aid of our educational institutions”, he said while commissioning the edifice.

    Ibrahim, who was represented by the Director, Legal and Board Secretary of the NDIC, Mr. Alheri Bulus Nyako, commended the leadership of the university for “judiciously utilizing the fund (N20 million) provided to the university by the corporation”.

    He added that “the Kwararafa University is among the foremost Nigerian educational institutions in the training, development and education of our youth”.

    The Dean, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, Prof. Innocent Adikwu said the project will spur the school’s academic performance. “It is a complete project, in which our students and teachers will benefit”, he said.

    The Basic Sciences Laboratory Complex has three laboratories; one each for Physics, Chemistry and Biology; five offices and a storage and reagents room for the chemistry and biology laboratories.

    Kwararafa University, formerly known as the Jubilee University, is among the 36 lucky beneficiaries of the NDIC’s revamped project-based support programme.

    The NDIC is a safety-net player in the financial system of the country. It guarantees banks’ deposits, supervises insured institutions and resolves the problems of failing and or failed financial institutions.

    In pursuance of its corporate social responsibility and in an effort to promote educational excellence in tertiary institutions in the country, the NDIC in 1994 instituted an Endowment Fund and Prize Award for select institutions. Under the scheme, N500 thousand was granted to each of the beneficiaries. The amount was later increased to N1.5M, in which 31 institutions benefitted.

    The corporation in 2003, having observed the deteriorating condition of infrastructural facilities in the institutions of higher learning, it reappraised the scheme by giving financial assistance to institutions of higher learning for the development of academic related projects initiated by the institutions.

    It started with N10 million per beneficiary and later raised the amount to N20 million, to ensure that a notable project was executed.

    At the moment, about 36 universities and polytechnics spread across the six geo-political zones of the country have benefitted from the NDIC’s revamped project-based support programme.

  • NDIC donates labs to varsity

    NDIC donates labs to varsity

    THE Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has donated a science laboratory complex to the Kwararafa University, a community-based varsity in Wukari, Taraba Sate.

    The Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of NDIC, Dr. Samuel Gani, disclosed the edifice is worth N20 million.

    Speaking during the commissioning ceremony at the weekend in Wukari, Gani, who was was represented by the BOT Secretary, Mr. Timothy Agbu, said the university was approved as a private university by the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria in June, 2005.

    The institution became operational in March 2006 with 61 students and the colleges of Natural Sciences and Management/Social Sciences.

    The Vice-Chancellor of Kwararafa University, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, said: “the donation is a testimony that NDIC shares a vision for educational development, particularly in promoting science and technology”.

    Ochefu said the university needs another N27 million to furnish and equip the laboratory building.

    He urged other stakeholders and the government to emulate the NDIC.