Nedbank SA applies for license in Nigeria

Opening a bank in Nigeria has become easier, thanks to the Minister of National Planning, Senator Sanusi Daggash. This ascertion was made during President Yar’Adua current state visit to South Africa.

According to Nigerian Tribune, in response to a request by Nedbank South Africa’s CEO Siphiwe Cele for assistance to facilitate their current move to bring their services into Nigeria; it reports

Sanusi Daggash, the Nigerian Minister for National Planning, who was in the entourage of President Yar’Adua, reassured Cele, saying all the bank needed to do was fill in the right forms and the licence would be granted.

I do not know what you think, but it leaves a bad taste in the mouth if it takes filling only the right forms for approval to be granted to a bank to operate in Nigeria. I hope the the CBN Governor thinks otherwise.

One is quick to ask, what the Minister of National Planning has got to do with banking license in Nigeria? I think it is important that these Minister know where there areas of expertise are especially in maters like this.

Application for a banking license to the best of my ability trancends beyond filling of forms. I sincerely hope, the Minister meant another thing or is being quoted out of context as the case will always be.

We look forward to a successful application process while waiting to welcome Nedbank to our great country.

Rate this:

1.5

DIAMOND BANK ACER FRAUD!

Written By: Che Oyinatumba.

When was the last time you used an ATM card to withdraw money from any of these bloated mega banks in Nigeria? If you are the lucky few, whose ATM card has not been detained by these machines, I envy you. Most of us have found ourselves at the receiving end of the rush by Nigerian banks to become IT compliant and “the leading bank in Africa”, without first putting the supporting structures in place. Network failure as an excuse for inefficiency, is as worn out as a cracked CD.

From arrested ATM cards to deductions for money not belched out, we “ordinary customers” are left at the mercy of a cheerless bank staff, who carelessly ask us to refer the ATM hitch at Wuse market their head office in Lagos to report.

If you think this arrest of ATM cards is the only ill bedeviling these forced marriages by Soludo, take time and observe the attitude of the bank staff to customers. The way most of these caged staff respond to the depositor, you wonder whose money pays whose salary. This devil may care attitude, is a sharp contrast to the connoted sexual appeal of their marketing staff when they come soliciting for accounts. The ladies they dump at this department from their build are obviously employed because of the size of their mammary gland, sex appeal and not the content of their skull. I had the misfortune to run into one at Diamond Bank, Central Area Abuja. After parroting what was obviously a rehearsed response, this lady folded up, ignored my complaint.

What is my grievance?

I went to Park ‘N’ Shop to buy a computer, but the Indian at the desk, speaking as though he has pebbles in his mouth, introduced me to Acer/Park ‘n’ Shop/Diamond Bank laptop promo. I expressed my fears about banks, but Mr. Ranji (generic name for Indians), assured me there is enough stock to supply the request of Diamond Bank.

I executed a lease agreement with Diamond Bank, signed by one Mr. Jonas Chukuijioke and Miss Vivian Egboluche. Its over two months I entered this agreement and in tune with the agreement, Diamond Bank has deducted two months installments from my account without giving me the said Acer laptop. The staff at their retail banking department in Lion Building Branch Abuja, having met their target care less about the inconvenience their ineptitude have caused their customers and most injuriously me. Why run a promo you can not deliver as at when due? At my third missionary journey to collect the laptop, after one Mr. Lekan made sure the previous two were abortive, one lady told me to take my complaint to Lagos, as that’s where their retail manager is. I need not be a lawyer to know that the agreement was undertaken and signed in Lion Building, Plot 792 Mohammad Buhari Way Abuja. Or must I be a Bill Gate to know what e-banking entails. But being fraudulently minded, most bank hide under their CAC registered address to frustrate customers. Am I sad? Yes. Surprised? No. After all Diamond Bank’s signature tune sounds “ole ole ole, when you re-listen to it after my harrowing experience.

In all honesty, it’s not only Diamond Bank that is involved in this fraud. Almost all the 25 Mega banks and corporate Nigeria are as guilty as hell. It took over a year for Oceanic Bank to issue share certificate to subscribers, despite their bank winning a bogus Nigerian Bank of the year award. A visit to any of their banking halls will show the callous attitude of their staff to customers. What is wrong in the banking industry? Do their human resource/personnel departments ever do psychological profiling of these staff to find out if they are fit to work under pressure and cheerfully attend to “reasonable” customers? Or does all one need to get employed and retain same; is ownership of an Uncle with a healthy account? This constant drive to meet target has turned the banking industry into an auto machine that cares less for her costumers. I know the staff are also under bondage.

Akin to this, is the Dangote group.

After mopping up people’s money for their CEO to make it to Forbe Magazine’s richest man in the world list, the Dangote group is arbitrarily allotting shares to subscribers and returning their money without an apology or explanation. A friend of mine, bought/subscribed and fully paid for Dangote flour share offer to the tune of 3000 shares. After Donkey months, Dangote allotted to her 750 ordinary shares. First Bank Nigeria PLC after their “Elephant has entered the market” promo had the presence of mind to tell Nigerians that they are over subscribed and hence leverage and a roof was placed. What is Dangote’s ceiling? Assess Bank PLC is also as guilty as drenched fowl, they are yet to issue share certificates.

Another means of corporate fraud is the sell of scratch cards for various programs. The sell of University of Abuja Post Graduate scratch had Unity Bank making extra N600:00 (six hundred Naira) per card. The bank hiding that it is service/handling charge, rip off unsuspecting Nigerians.

When other less fortunate Banks had their licenses revoked as a result of weak base, occasioned by heavy borrowing by some states and their governors, not excluding some head of governmental agencies, we thought that the soludonization of the bank will result in better dividend for the depositor. But these mega banks are shylocks to boot. The miserable rate they charge on soft loan made many long serving civil servants to lose their houses after paying the first 10%. Years after these merger, services of these banks have not improved, their social responsibility is poor, they would rather sponsor a celebrity dance competition, instead of talent hunt. Why over popularise a popular actor, when there are millions of depositors, awaiting a break of N500,000:00 (Five Hundred Naira) to stream into limelight. Some go to the extra mile of sponsoring English Premier League, while Nigerian Football League crave for sponsorship and undiscovered talents pine away. I hope non in corporate Nigeria, is blaming the Nigerian Super Chicken over their performance in Ghana.

Do these corporations ever carry out social impact assessment of their programes/promo? The failure to do a feasibility study beyond the financial gain and loss, has led to many companies carrying out self-imposed social corporate responsibility without finding out what the host community needs.

It’s over 5 years since the GSM revolution took Nigerian with a bang. Nigerians have been treated to all manner of promos that do not improve their daily lives. Many musicians have gone though the over 36 universities in Nigeria on the bill of a company in Nigeria, without anyone asking is there telecommunications department in these universities? Have the GSM companies ploughed back into the manpower base of their host community? Year in, year out our antelope legged brothers from East Africa, win the marathon and exhausted Nigerian recharge card buyer goes home without understanding how GSM works. What is stopping these GSM providers from sponsoring a professional chair in any Nigerian university on information communications technology, rather than wasting money congratulating the NCC chairman over the honorary doctorate degree given to him by University of Nigeria Nsuka.

Rate this:

2.5

Tasking Mallam Falalu Bello - CEO Unity Bank, Nigeria

Mallam Falalu Bello needs no introduction, he is a gentleman and a banker. He has been around the banking industry for a while, from the Intercity Bank to the consolidated Unity Bank; thus when he speaks, he needs everyone’s attention.

However, his recent comments on the Economy of Nigeria vis a vis peace and co-exitence of the different people and regions in Nigeria leaves so much to be desired.

I have taken the pains to reproduce a greater chunk of his conference presentation in Abuja; i wish to take Mallam Bello to task, thus;

‘South-West, South-East control Nigeria’s economy’

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Unity Bank Nigeria Plc, Mallam Falalu Bello, on Tuesday said the South West and South East regions of the country controlled the lion share of the nation’s economy at the detriment of the North and other regions.Controlling a larger share of the country’s economy does not happen over night, it comes with dedication, hardwork and consistency in wealth creation and management.

Bello stated this in a paper titled, “Nigeria , One Country, Four Economies’ at the leadership conference organised by Leadership Newspapers, in Abuja .

He said, “The so-called religious disturbances in the Northern states and the Port Harcourt conundrum of kids terrorising the population will not stop until the imbalances are consciously addressed and redressed.

Mallam Bello erred in this arguement above, he cannot substantiate the claims about the link between the progress of a people and the desire of some to unleash regious terror on others. He cannot smuggle in the problems of the Niger Delta into his arguement to give credence to his faulty arguement.

“It is indeed in the interest of the South-Westerners and South-Easterners for some affirmative actions to be taken to redress the situation, else there will be no real peace in this country moving forward.”He said that peace would elude the country until the regional economic imbalance was addressed.

He said, “The so-called religious disturbances in the Northern states and the Port Harcourt conundrum of kids terrorising the population will not stop until the imbalances are consciously addressed and redressed.

“It is indeed in the interest of the South-Westerners and South-Easterners for some affirmative actions to be taken to redress the situation, else there will be no real peace in this country moving forward.”

It cannot be for the interest of the mentioned zones for peace to subsist in Nigeria; the problem of economic imbalance should not be trivialised. He should be trying to argue based on other contributing factors such as good governance, empowerment of the people through education and self reliance which these two zones that are single out have vigorously pursued over time. The failure of the North in this regards is traceable to the inability of the government’s of the zones to provide leadership and direction to the citizens in the respective zones. The economic synergisers like the banks in the North have not been helpful. Mallam Bello is a player in the banking sector and we expect him to champion the economic liberation of the North like the purported Southern stars have done.

Bello blamed the reform agenda of former President Olusegun Obasanjo for creating “very dangerous economic structure,” which had worsened the situation of the North.He said, “By design or accident, Northerners and South-Southerners as peoples and regions have been made third and fourth-class citizens.“We may well choose to ignore these happenings and pretend that they have not happened but doing so will be at the peril of the Nigerian polity.”
He noted that the economic dominance of the two regions had seen them controlling a combined 94 per cent of the nation’s banking assets, 88 per cent of insurance assets, and more than 90 per cent of industrial assets.

It is indeed cheap to take a pot-shot at President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government as the albatross of the North and smuggled in South South. I wonder if Obasanjo’s 8 years was enough to reverse if any the economic progress of the Northerners who incidentally been at the helm of affairs in Nigeria since independence.

The issue of bank consolidation has been re-occuring and sometime ago it was said that some people in the North are trying to coarse the President or whoever to legislate on regional banks; whereby banks can only be licensed to operate in particular regions. This is scandalous and is borne out of this kind of blighted argument from an otherwise erudite manager that should know better about globalisation and liberalisation.

Via: Punch

Mallam Bello needs to be taken to task on the economy of the North vis-a-vis that of Nigeria and be informed that it is trivial to argue that the Obasanjo administration ‘dangerious economic structure’ helped to dis-empower the North.

It is also not fair to rubbish the efforts of the South Easterners who emerged from the civil war with only twenty pounds for a new begining to have gradually walked their way to economic dominance as purported; to be maligned for their hardwork and resilence.

Mallam Bello owes it to the people of the North as a CEO of bank to initiate programmes and economic projects to help educate and empower the Northerners to be able to compete in the fierce capitalist environment in which they have found themselves. We can afford to legislate on Education, Federal Character and other things but the government cannot exercise such fiat over the economy to a certain extent.

The rest of the country cannot afford to wait while the North catches up with the rest of Nigeria; this is not another ‘quota system’ and we are not about to stagnate. As much as the rest of Nigeria is playing fair, the North should rethink its leadership and their leaders should strieve serve the purpose of the people rather than themselves.

The South South has a peculiar case and should not be found on the same page with the North with regards to economic backwardness due to its callous leadership. An attempt to bring the south south into the equation is divisive and scandalous. At an appropriate time and forum, the issue of the Niger Delta with its peculiarities should be discussed.

Mallam Falalu Bello has a duty to help the North rethink its leadership and be truly ’servant leaders’ rather than the ‘feudal lords’ that they have constituted themselves to the detriment of the generality of Northerners ever since independence; this has helped to under develop the Northern Nigeria despite being in power for almost three quaters of Nigeria’s independence.

This is a call to duty Dear Mallam Bello.

Rate this:

1.5