Leadership (Abuja)
Amaechi Dike
3 October 2008
opinion
In times past, banking was regarded and treated as a serious profession. It was, by all ramifications, a decent profession which automatically conferred respect and dignity on those who worked in that sector. It did not matter whether a banker was a male or a female, young or old.
It's real or imagined essence could be measured by certain preferential treatment which society accorded to bankers. For instance, it was a common fact that most landlords were unwilling to let or lease their houses to single ladies, except those working in the bank. The argument had been that, with a "decent" job in the bank, single girls/ladies were usually contented with their decent earnings that they were not likely to turn their abode into a mini "brothel" with a high traffic of "male customers" as it were. Then, it was difficult for young ladies to secure rented accommodation in the cities, except they work in a bank!
Those were the days when this country had very few banks, dominated by the famous "old generation banks". That was the era of the "First bank", "Union Bank", United Bank for Africa (UBA) and a few others that do not readily come to mind. With their few branches located mainly in the capital cities and a few urban centres, these banks serviced the nation's financial sector with professional dignity, even if their services were usually poor and somewhat frustrating. The early '80s were indeed a period of banking with drudgery and pains - a situation which presented bank transactions as sheer waste of time. At least, that was the concept of banking which was popularised by a famous civilian Governor of old Kano state, the late Alhaji Bakin (Alias Banking) Zuwo of the Second Republic era. Indeed, Zuwo's native ingenuity manifested in his preference for banking his loot under his pillows, to engaging in any bank transaction which he had described as a "bloody waste of precious time". Recall his genius in arguing that government money found in Government House, could not obviously connote stealing of public fund! That was vintage Bakin Zuwo of blessed memories - the man imbued with a captivating whimsical sense of humour and witticism.
At that time, mineral resources in Kano state under his leadership were "Coke", "Fanta" (Panta!) and "Mirinda" etcetera, while the state's political gladiator, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, was the then Governor's running mate for "running after his (Bakin Zuwo's) life." Those were days when politics was suffused with humour and a hilarious animation.
Even with the limited bankable funds available in the country then, the old generation banks maintained the traditional conservatism which the banking sector the world over is known for. They never indulged in a crazy chase for funds and they could discern ill-gotten wealth from hard and decently earned money brought to them for banking. Consequently, the banks did not post huge before and after tax profits, but they were apparently contented with their earnings and were able to keep a satisfied and professionally fulfilled staff. The old generation banks, as far as one's memory can go, required their staffers - be they male or female - to maintain an acceptable minimum standard of ethical conduct founded on high moral grounds. They did not, therefore, bother them with the satanic notion of "targets" of huge amounts of money which they must attract from real and potential customers to the banks' vaults, before they could enjoy a secured employment as is the practice today.
In other words, job security for both male and female bankers did not depend on the volume of fund generated by each staff, even as the country could not be said to have enjoyed an economic boom at that time. But the emergence of the so-called new generation banks in the late '90s changed the face of banking practices in the country's economic turf. Although the new generation banks - too numerous to be enumerated here - had brought vigour and vitality to the banking industry, their activities have been largely characterised by noticeable negative practices which tend to define the nature of banking services in today's Nigeria.
Indeed, the contributions of the banking sector to the country's economy have been enormous and mixed in their ramifications - a pot-pouri of the good, the ugly and the scandalous. On the credit side, the new generation banks have created a booming financial economy, even if the boom is predicated on artificiality, or superficiality of some sort. Today's banking sector has become more lucrative and self - rewarding to both its proprietors and employees in terms of facilities and remuneration. With a more conducive working environment occasioned by good financial policies set by the nation's apex bank - the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the advent of ITC technology as a global phenomenon, Nigerian banks now render quality services to their numerous customers across the length and breadth of the country. There is no doubt that with the novel net-work banking practiced by virtually all the banks in the country today, the banks have successfully relieved their teeming customers of the tedium which characterized banking services in the past. Ipso facto, the stress and strains felt by the banks' customers are no longer visible features of Nigerian banks.
Still on the credit side, the activities of the banks as an important sector of the nation's economy, with the effective regulation of the CBN, have greatly assisted in achieving financial growth and stability in general terms. In real terms, however, it is difficult to see how this has translated into the economic well being of the average Nigerian. But the banks under the new banking regime dominated by the new generation banks, now declare huge profits which run into billions of naira.
On the debit or negative side, the new generation banks have been responsible for what is notoriously known as bank round-tripping, which amounts to illegal monetary transactions, especially in their foreign exchange dealings. Besides, Nigerian banks are notorious for their skewed fiscal policies, which only favours them to the exploitation of their various customers. For instance, whereas banks in other lands, especially in the developed economies, operate generous mortgage / credit facilities, Nigerian banks operate what could qualify as shylock lending/credit facilities that make banking un-attractive. Whereas their lending rates are often very high, in spite of occasional interventions by Government through the Central Bank, borrowing rates by the banks are minimal. This puts the customer in perpetual disadvantage in every transaction with the banks. It also explains why only a small fraction of the population can afford to own houses by means of Mortgage facilities offered by a few of the banks.
But the most scandalous and immoral contribution of the new generation banks in the country is this crazy introduction of "target fund". This is a policy by which the banks place their female staff (essentially) under severe obligation to generate a certain amount of bankable fund running into multiples of millions, from prospective customers. This highly immoral policy has led to a situation where banks give preference to young and single ladies in their recruitment drive. They are encouraged, as it were, to pester men with whatever "weapon" at their disposal, in order to meet the assigned target. And because the banking sector is highly competitive, the old generation banks have joined the bandwagon just to survive. The result is that their female staff (including married ones), have become casualties in this craze for meeting the set financial targets. They have been laid off with ease where such female staffers are reluctant or refuse to use "what they have" to attract the assigned target fund to the banks. The recent purge in an "old-new" generation bank (name withheld) is a typical example. The rational used in retiring most of its hard working female staff has remained a puzzle to all and sundry.
As a consequence, the dressing code for female bankers which was held sacrosanct before now, has shifted from cute dressing to lewd dressing. There is noticeable in the banks today, a near parade of nudity or a permissive "show your burst" style of dressing among some of the female bankers. Although the CBN had raised an objection to this embarrassing situation recently, it has not finally found the political will to enforce a change. It should rise up and stop the level of promotion of prostitution by the banks in the name of banking before our young ladies are imperiled.
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