MUCH ADO ABOUT WORLD BANK REPORT ON NIGERIA BANKING SECTOR

The recent World bank report on Nigeria especially that of the robust financial sector has been received with a lot of criticism by the Nigerian government that does not want to face the fact. The report explained that the high return form investment in the banking sector was not a true reflection of a balanced well functioning system. The criticism by the government through the deputy CBN Governor Mrs. Sarah Alade that the basis of analysis employed by the World Bank and it conclusion was based on outdated fact that are no longer in use to determine how an economy is performing is baseless. We all known that progress has been and we now have a robust economy but how many Nigerians are feeling these progress.
If we are to look at this report objectively, we have to conclude that it is absolutely right in its conclusion. Nigerian banks are declaring huge profit after tax year in year out with little to show for it contribution to the economy where they are operating. The corporate social responsibility of these banks is nothing to write home about compare to the jumbo profit they always declare every year. Their main priority is how to outdo each other in profit and capitalization.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has done a good job in the repositioning of the financial sector to becoming the toast of investors all over the world with the attendant increase in the nation GDP. Let take a look at some of the banks and how they have performed since the repositioning started. First Bank of Nigeria Plc recorded a profit after tax of N17.4bn for the year ended March 31, 2006 while the figure increased by over N3bn to N20bn in March 31, 2007. Zenith bank on the other hand has already posted a profit after tax of N15bn for the nine month ended March 31, 2007 which translate to an increase of 70 per cent above the N8.866bn recorded in March 31, 2006. UBA’s half year result is already N10.109bn from the N4.599bn recorded in March 31, 2006. Guaranty Trust Bank first quarter profit after tax result was put at N3.465bn which is 66 per cent increase form the N2.086bn as at may 30, 2007. This are just few of the mega banks, other banks declaring jumbo profit include Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank Plc, Access bank, and First City Monument Bank.
These mouth watering figures by the banks were rubbished by the World Bank report for not translating to a developed and well balanced society and also offering little credit to the society and I stand to fully support that motion. While these banks continue to grow in leaps and bounds, the main sector of the economy continue to degenerate largely due to lack of access to funds for developmental programmes.
Furthermore, we need to ask these questions, how many Nigerians mega banks has or had embarked developmental programmes in any part of the country? What has been their contribution to various foundations across the country? A dive into their annual report will reveal that most of them have no ongoing and completed community project anywhere in the country despite the huge profit they are declaring every year.
The impact of these jumbo profit are not been felt by the masses. 60 per cent of Nigerian are living below one dollar per day while the smallest Nigerian bank is making over N1bn as profit after tax every year. The truth need to be faced, the huge return in the banking sector is not a true reflection of a well functioning system.
Another claim also rubbished by the World Bank report was the claimed that Nigeria had one of the highest returns on investment in recent times and maintained that there were low returns on investment in Nigeria and explained that it is as a result of low ability of the private sector to appropriate and access returns.
What reason can one give for this rather lackadaisical attitude of Nigerian Banks towards their social corporate responsibility? We need to look at the fact that most of the profits they are making are primarily from foreign exchange transactions and investment in government securities and not from lending to common man on the street or deposit form ordinary Nigerians which hold little interest for them. Another excuse that might be given is the high volatile economic environment of Nigerian which makes the country a risky environment to operate business and lead to an increase in the transaction cost of doing business in Nigeria. But these factors has not stop them form declaring billions of dollars as profit every year, therefore the excuse hold no water.
No doubt the Nigerian Banking sector has experienced a boom in the past three years and the phenomenal economic progress recorded so far has been impressive but the sector and the government need to transform the growth into reality. Nigerians need to feel the impact of this growth, we don’t want to hear it on the radio or see it on the television we want to feel it.
The government with the banking sector should not always try to make things rosy when in actual fact they are not. They need to come together and fashioned a way to transform all these growth into reality for the ordinary Nigerian to feel it.
Dividend of democracy must be felt and not heard and see, it must be clearly evident in the citizens lives. The banks should wake up to their corporate social responsibility; they have not been impressive. Anything short of all these is unacceptable.

WHEN THE POOR SPEAK AGAINGST POVERTY

When on Tuesday, 16th October and Wednesday 17th October, 2007, 44 millions people in over 110 countries around the world with Africans making up 7.1 million of that figure, they showed the over 2billion poor people of the world are not indifferent to their condition and could take action if properly mobilised and involved.

This attempt entered the Guinness book of records is the largest number of people to stand up against poverty in 24 hours compare to last year figure of 23.5million people.
This attempt organised by the United Nations Millennium campaign (UNMC) and the Global call to action against poverty (GCAP) saw millions of concerned people of the world and activist alike standing up against poverty, inequality and supporting the millennium Development Goals. The main aim of this campaign is channelled towards the demands for a quick response to the global poverty crisis rocking the world.

The United Nation Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki-moon who also took part in the action at the UN headquarters in New York said “Today tens of millions of people are making their voices heard by standing up and speaking against poverty and for the millennium development goals. They are sending messages that call on their leaders to keep their promises. They are calling for the actions of citizens to be matched by the action for Governments in developing and developed countries alike, to demonstrate the political will required to end the scourge of poverty once and for all.”

Also of significance is the fact that Asia and Africa which account for 85 per cent of people suffering from extreme poverty i.e. those living under one dollar a day had the largest number of participants for the event. The richer countries accounted for less than 1 million for the total figure.

The poor have been able to show their frustration that we still live in a world where 50,000 people die daily from preventable diseases. Some important conclusions one can draw from these event are that the action stops them from being victims and empowers the poor to be agents of change in their conditions.

Furthermore, the stand up against poverty has showed that we need to put more pressure on our leaders to make our money work us. The people through this action are telling the government and all concerned leaders that they are ready to take actions against poverty.

It is important for everyone wherever we may be to take action and ensure that poverty is eradicated and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are met by 2015. It is not how many millions of people that stood up against poverty in the midst of plenty that count but what need to be done to ensure promises made by the world leaders to the poor, the marginalised and weak is fulfilled.

More and more people from poorer countries are now more active in ensuring the MDGs are achieved and surpassed. The ever expanding anti-poverty movement around the word like the UN millennium Campaign, Global call to action against Poverty (GCAP), International NGO partners in local , national, and community based organisation around the world are coming up from the poorer countries of the world.

The “Stand Up Against Poverty” campaign offers the centre stage to those directly affected to take action wherever they may be and for our leaders to do more in solving this problem because they have no excuse for not doing so.

BETWEEN NIGERIA LEADERS AND ETHICAL VIRTUES

The recent financial and leadership crisis rocking the Nigerian political scene has proved once again that all we have in Nigeria are leaders with no definite core values. Over the years the Nigerian society had been over ridden with no definite values thereby throwing the Nation into one that does not know where it is heading. One dictionary defines values as a principle or belief that influences your decision but the principles and beliefs guiding the average Nigerian leader are self centred.
There are some essential in fact Values that are fundamental. I think there are only three values that are truly fundamental -- that truly determine the kind of society we must have and the kind of lives we should live as individuals and that are permanent matters of permanent relevance. The three values I speak of are honesty, competence, and unselfishness. And of the three, honesty is the most important because, without it, competence is not attainable and concern for others is less likely by far because one is not likely to know, understand or sympathize with the position of others.
Honesty is foundational. Without it disasters occur, and without it there can be no competence. For competent thought and action depend on knowledge of the truth of a situation and knowledge of its actual facts. There was some level, of dishonesty with regard to our Independence, the civil war, political assassinations in the 80’s, the gulf war, revenues from the Oil booms, marginalisations, the Niger-Delta, the 2005 air crashes, the Nigerian politics, elections, financial misappropriations and our civic life in general. Had full-bore truth been the ruling factors in these matters, events like these would never have occurred. It was some form or level of dishonesty that created those situations. What is true of the public life is true as well of private lives. If we look back at our life, I would venture that, as often as not we will find that problems and traumas were caused by, or at minimum were necessarily accompanied by, some form or level of dishonesty.
Competency is a value whose necessity is widely acknowledged, and is ultimately one of the fundamental recipes necessary for the success of a society. The need for competence in order to achieve success is, I note, of peculiar relevance to public and private life today. We are always told that most of our problems are caused not by incompetence, but by failure of governmental organs to communicate with each other. We are equally told (as always) that the remedy is a new structure for intelligence operations. But the truth is that incompetence was the reason for the air mishaps, and all the new structures in the world won’t solve the problem we face if incompetence persists.
With regard to incompetence supposedly not being the reason for those disasters, we are told that nobody could foresee the use of outdated airplanes flying over our heads, nobody foresee the states of our road on which innocents souls were lost everyday, nobody foresee those pipeline explosions, nobody foresee the Lagos bomb explosion of January 2002 and other foreseeable disaster. Despite all these, nobody in the government could foresee those disasters. It is sheer incompetence. Incompetence was the reason for those disasters, and if it persists we will have more disasters of one sort or another. For the fact that incompetence leads to disaster is virtually a law of life. We need to inculcate the morals of competence in our lives.
Furthermore, the value of caring for others, not just for oneself (unselfishness) is spoken of favourably but is most often honoured in the breach in a Nigeria society where, since independence, unbridled greed has become the ruling principle and plutocracy and oligarchy have become dominant features. Many people find that unbridled selfishness is not a satisfactory way to lead a personal life, and at the civic and political levels it has in the past led or contributed to such shaking events as the civil war, ethnic rivalries and the various military coup d'état. No good can come to a society where lack of concern for others is the guide to action. There is need for us to have a conscious awareness of people living with us.
As the Nigerian society becomes larger and more complex, the need for value based leader is seriously needed. We need a leader who knows what he or she value. A leader that recognises the importance of ethical behaviour. A leader who can exhibit both their values and their ethics in their leadership style and actions. An average present day Nigerian leader had never identified their values in the society which make the mistrust the citizens have in them understandable. If leaders can identify and share their values, by living the values daily, it visibly will create trust.

CELEBRATING NIGERIA ANTI DRUG VICTORY

The recent arrest of a 45 year old man, Solomon Osula, for drug trafficking in October at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja and that of a 22-year old nurse, Emeka Ngozi, the same month at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos has reinforced the commendable efforts of Nigeria through the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in the war against Cocaine and other illicit drugs.
Apart from the airports arrests, there had been report of arrests form other part of the country the recent been that of an 80 year-old-man, Malam Umar Abdullahi arrested in Kano for allegedly being in possession of seven bags of cannabis.
The success story was also corroborated earlier in the year by a report from the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) world report for 2007 which describes Nigerian’s war on drugs as one of the most successful in the world.
According to the report, Nigeria through the NDLEA eradicated 255ha of cannabis in 2004 while the figure increased to 14,316ha in 2005. Also noteworthy is the increase in the number of arrest being made in connection with the illegal trade. The drug agency in 2003 made a total arrest of 2,490 persons, it rose to 3,700 in 2004. The figure for 2005 was put at 3,473 while it also increased to 6,323 in 2006. Arrest made in the first and second quarter of 2007 is nearing 6,000.
Looking at all these analyses and statistics on the performance of NDLEA in the eradication of this illicit trade one need to applaud the agency for a job well done. Their effort is worth all the commendations but a lot of works still need to be done and the support for all Nigerians is needed to put a stop to this menace.
Despite this great feat achieved by Nigeria, the practice of this illicit trade is still very rampart among many Nigerians who seems to be undaunted despite all the arrest that has been made. The importation and consumption of Cocaine and other dangerous drugs are still on the high side. Illicit drug trade is one of the most lucrative business in the world accounting for hundred of millions of dollars a year.
Nigeria is till among the major countries in Africa were marijuana is grown and also a major cocaine trafficking route to Europe via Africa as most of the arrest made so far has showed. Other countries known for this trade in Africa include South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, Swaziland, Ghana, Benin, Togo, DR Congo, Tanzania, and Morocco.
In summary since 2003, a total of 9,866.414kh of various types for illicit drug with cannabis making up over 96 per cent while over 1,031 persons has been arrested.
In furtherance of this great stride, the support of all Nigerians is needed form the Government, private individuals and organisation are needed in ensuring a good image for Nigeria. The judiciary also needed to liaise with the agency in order to ensure the speedy hearing and dispatchment of all drug related cases brought before it by NDLEA. Whoever is caught regardless of status should be punished accordingly. So far the judiciary has not performed badly in this regard but they should put in more effort.
The task to stamp out illicit drug trade from our society is a collective one, NDLEA cannot do it alone we must put out heads together and stamp out drug trafficking.