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When
shall we get reprieve from these vandals?-
Yemi Adegbite
Now, what is left in Nigeria?
Our leaders have failed us, politicians have and are
still failing, successive
governments have failed and still growing worse
year in year out, now the banking system is falling
and failing again! The on-going tsunami in our
banking industry will be devastating and that will
be the last straw that is going to break the camel’s
back.
There
is no doubt that, when the banking system fails, the
whole economy goes down with it. All the people
that are connected with this must be given the
maximum
penalty under the law. The whole nation is sinking and groaning under the yoke
of corruption in every department of our nation and self inflicted wounds perpetrated
by those trusted with huge responsibility. The banking executives are no doubt
living above their means, they behave as if the banks vaults are extension
of their personal purse. It is common for
banks’ CEOs
to have 4 or 5 official drivers, one for each member of their families, living
flamboyant and expensive live style. All these goodies are at the expense of
the poor people and masses who keep their meager income in the banks, or those
who made the mistake of buying shares in those banks. The whole system is sinking
and my people are dying under the yoke of massive corruption. If the government would not do justice, if all the
government agencies would not do their work, I
urge all my people to help themselves and ensure
that justice
is not only done, but also served. We cannot continue this way; Nigerian citizens
are laughing stock all over the world, our leaders travel all around the world
with their ears and eyes closed, they have means to travel anywhere they want,
get the best of everything they need, they can care-less about the infrastructure
that make any nation great! Look around our country, no SYSTEM works! The government blames Nigerian youths for travelling
abroad, here is another example why many people
jump at the opportunity when they have the slightest
chance of putting all these uncertainties behind them. You work very hard for
your money, against all hurdles, you put some away in the bank for rainy days,
when you need your money, you are not sure you will have it all because of
some
unscrupulous bank executives giving out your money to their friends!
I just came back from Nigeria after so many years abroad. I was shocked
at the level of apathy among Nigerians. Many people on grounds are
not bothered
anymore
about the death traps we call roads, nobody cares about almost always power
outages, nobody even talk about dry taps, people dying needless deaths are
even no longer
news, Nigerians are just busy eking out living for themselves. I felt lonely
when I complained about the situation of things around me.
One area that really stands out to me is the banking sector! I thought
the banking sector after the recapitalization is doing very well.
I got to many
cities and
looked at so many banks left, right and centre, with beautiful architectural
designs. I remember asking some of my friends how these so many banks
are attracting depositors. Nigerians are just beginning to trust banks again after the bank failure
of the 90s, now another volcano is about to erupt! How can people
trust and believe
that their money is safe in the banks? During my visit, I spoke with an elderly person who was a victim of the
last bank failure, I forgot what led to the discussion in that area,
he told me
that, he never believed that banks could fail, he told me how he never recovered
his
money that was trapped in Amicable bank, poor man, he is still where I left
him, as a carpenter, he’s too frail and old to climb roof tops, he is now doing
menial repairs to keep body and soul together. I did not ask him if he trusts
the banks now, if he does and keeps his money in the bank, I wander what thought
will be running through his mind now. It
is a twist of irony that the well to do people in the
country
are the same people running the county’ s
banking institution down, taking huge non-performing
loans from the banks, monies that are raked from the
poor, market women, farmers, peasants and students, ending
up in their fictitious company bank accounts .
It actually beats my imagination how individuals can
actually be qualified to take out such huge figures
we read about in the news papers. Are there no rules in
our banks, or is it just the Nigerian factors? How
can a bank executive worth his salt grant such bogus loans
without recourse to banking ethics? Seriously, other
civilized people around the world will be laughing
their heads off by now. We have our own unique system of democracy,
now; we have developed our own indigenous banking rules.
It sounds more like a fiction rather than reality.
That
a bank has =N= 200 billion in non –performing loans,
it sounds like a tale told by an idiot! What is wrong
with these people?
I will not rush to judge whether Sanusi (Governor of
central Bank) has his own hidden agenda or not, but
what I know is, if what led to the sack of the so
called big
five bank executives as we read it in the news papers
is true, then we need no seers to confirm that they
must go, not to their homes, but straight to jail.
Not that
alone, more heads should role.
By their actions, they have put the whole polity
in danger. The ultimate losers would be the share
holders
and the
depositors that are making their money the hardest
way. If what we are told is anything to go by, then,
we are
in for a big trouble in the banking sector. What
we see now is just a tip of the iceberg. The government owes the public a duty of protection.
Nigerians ought to know the true picture about the
state of our banking industry. By now, people should have daily
briefing about what the government is doing or not
doing. When there is no information from the right source, then,
people would believe every rumor that comes their way.
From experience, Nigerian government has a very bad
track record on giving adequate information to the people as
at when due. That is why the government often clamps
down on media houses to put records straight, when
the right information would not be fed to the people at the
right time, rumor mongers will take over. People should
have the right to know, much more so when the issue
at stake is one that can impact their lives negatively.
From the look of things, another bank failure is imminent;
assurance from the governor of the Central bank would
not be enough to persuade people from panic withdrawal
which will further weaken the system. Shame on our
leaders, we keep making the same mistakes over and over again.
The trouble brewing in the banking sector in Nigeria
is now talked of the town in far away Toronto Canada.
It is no longer news that some of the so called “Nigerian
bankers” now have their families in save haven
in Canada living in big mansions, with no particular
means of livelihood, yet, they use flashy cars and live
in big houses all because they are, or their husbands
are “bankers” from Nigeria, as if bankers
have dominion over the banks’ vaults.
I do not buy the insinuation that, Sanusi has a northern
agenda. During Obasanjo, when the one and only
Ribadu was fighting like a wounded lion to rid Nigeria of
corruption, people gave him names, accused him
of persecuting Obasanjo’s
enemies, now Sanusi has a northern agenda. If all the
non performing loans granted are false, let the bank
executives come out with their own facts. For now, I
do believe that, these CEOs because of their own selfish
interests granted credit that should not have been granted
in the first place for some reasons known to them, and
for the sake of their own 10%, they granted loans indiscriminately.
It is a breach of the people‘s confidence, those
involved should pay with everything that are so dear
to them.
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