TheNigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has disclosed that it has commenced necessary processes to develop a policy for the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) technology in Nigeria.
The process of developing this policy will involve a public inquiry which will involve relevant stakeholders, including the Ministry of Communications & Digital Economy, Office of the National Security Adviser, the National Assembly, Ministry of Health.
Others included in this process are Nigerian Society of Engineers, Nigerian Medical Association, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, Mobile Network Operators, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, among others.
The commission, which made this known on Thursday through a statement by its Director, Public Affairs, Dr Henry Nkemadu, explained that the technology has proven to be safe to human health and beneficial for socio-economic development.
NCC stated: “The Nigerian Communications Commission is mandated by Section 4(q) of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 (the NCA), to prepare and implement programmes and plans that promote and ensure the development of the communications industry and the provision of communications services in Nigeria.
“Further to this mandate, the Commission considered that the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) Technology will be beneficial for socio-economic development of Nigeria. The technology is an advancement of existing mobile technologies (2G, 4G) with enhanced capabilities providing new and enhanced mobile communications services.”
The technology regulator went on explaining that the deployment of 5G will consequently promote the National Digital Economy, thereby improving the way Nigerians live and work. It stressed that the technology will bring improvements in manufacturing, transportation, health, agriculture, media and entertainment, education, among others.
The commission went on to assure the public of the measures already taken in testing the technology, saying: “5G has been deployed commercially and in use in some countries. As with the previous technologies, the International Commission for Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has classified radiation from 5G as non-ionizing and therefore safe for human beings.”
“We fought the war and accepted no victor, no vanquished. But what we cannot accept is suppression and intimidation of our people. So for the sake of peace, allow our Biafra Republic. That is all.”
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Australia, Chief Cyprian Okoye, has alleged insensitivity of the federal government to the plight of Ndigbo as the reason for the increasing interest in the struggle for Biafra Independence.
Consequently, he said the current agitation for the Republic of Biafra would continue as much as the federal government had insisted on treating Ndigbo as non-members of the country.
Okoye, who spoke to newsmen yesterday in Enugu insisted that the Buhari administration had treated the Igbo with scorn by the level of provocation being carried out by armed herdsmen in parts of the southeast.
Nnamdi Kalu
The IPOB Chief insisted that group was a peaceful organization, whose advocacy was to ensure freedom for Ndigbo and other oppressed persons of Biafra.
He assured that IPOB in Australia would continue to support any move that would lead to the actualisation of Biafra.
According to him Ndigbo had not been treated fairly as the abuse faced by its people exacerbated in the current administration.
He said, “Our people do not go to their farms for harvest easily. They either farm and have their crops destroyed or end up losing their life in their farms by marauding herdsmen carrying heavy arms. Yet, it is the same government that retrieved arms from our people but leaving those of herdsmen who also wield such guns openly.”
The Nigerian government according to him had failed to break the IPOB and other Biafra agitators because “we derive strength in the fact that we are already down and a man that is down does not need to fear no fall. You cannot beat a baby and ask him not to cry. If they have beaten us and deny that we are not members of the same country, it is our duty to cry and I know those who have ears will not let the tears that drop from our eyes to be in vain in the end.”
He stated that the latest provocation was the serious violation of interstate movement restriction by able bodied young men from the north that had continued to invade the South-East in their numbers.
He said, “Worst still is that these young men move through our checkpoints manned by security forces whether in the day or at night even with the restrictions order against interstate movement. They travel in long buses and trucks and have continued to occupy some communities and farm lands in the zone. Even with the alarm being raised that they constitute security risks, the federal government has continued to maintain sealed lips.
“We cannot continue this way. We did not fight for the independence of Nigeria to be treated as outcasts. We are determined to leave this country for those who said they were born to rule. That is all we are asking for. Allow us to go in peace and take your Nigeria and live in it the way you want.
“Check out the appointments made so far and you would see the level of nepotism by this government. They kill our people anyhow they like. A good number of our people are languishing in prison custody without trial. Some have not gone to court for one day. That is the way the government wants us to continue to live.
“We fought the war and accepted no victor, no vanquished. But what we cannot accept is suppression and intimidation of our people. So for the sake of peace, allow our Biafra Republic. That is all.”
One of the suspects arrested and detained over Uwaila Omozuwa’s Rape and death has accused Uwa’s Pastor of being responsible for her death.
Uwaila Omozuwa
According to a Journalist, Ayo Ademokoya, the suspect allegedly confessed that Uwa had gotten pregnant for the RCCG clergy and refused to abort it, as against his order. This made him contract the hoodlums whom he paid 1.5million, as planned together with his wife, to have her killed so as to cover up his sins.
He said: “The arrested suspect Mr Chibuzo confessed to DSS that, it was the RCCG pastor that paid them 1.5 million naira to kill the year one UNIBEN student. According to our source, the pastor impregnated the girl and asked her to abort the baby, but the girl refused.
“So, the made arrangement for them to meet at their usual hangout spot which is the church, that was where the pastor set her up. He paid some hoodlums 1.5million and told them where to meet the girl.”
“So, instead of seeing the pastor in the church, The girl met the hoodlums. After hitting her head with fire extinguisher, the hoodlums decided to have a taste of her before she died, so, they took their turns. The pastor did that to cover his sins but it has backfired.
“Both the pastor and his wife are on the run because they planed dastardly act together!”, Ayo Ademokoya reported.
Spokesperson for the state command, DSP Suleiman Nguroje, told SaharaReporters that the older Nyako was abducted in the early hours of Thursday at his residence in Mayo-Belwa town.
he police in Adamawa State have confirmed the kidnap of a 90-year-old man, Dahiru Nyako, who is the elder brother of former governor of the state, Murtala Nyako.
Spokesperson for the state command, DSP Suleiman Nguroje, told SaharaReporters that the older Nyako was abducted in the early hours of Thursday at his residence in Mayo-Belwa town.
He said, “The Commissioner of Police has dispatched a combined team of intelligence, anti-kidnapping and anti-robbery operatives to rescue him.”
Shamsiyya, a family member, disclosed that fierce-looking gunmen stormed the residence, firing sporadically to scare away people before taking away the old man.
He said, “They came in their droves, late in the night, firing gunshots to cause fear and succeeded in whisking him away.”
Malnutrition is the cause of death of over 45% of children under the age of five, and this challenge is not just restricted to the poorest families.
Six months have passed, the journey is finally over! You have managed to exclusively breastfeed your baby as recommended by all the health experts and you’re a hero! Now you can rest.
Or so you think, until you suddenly realise that you now need to understand your baby’s nutritional needs, now that they may not be exclusively breastfed. What complementary foods should a baby be weaned between the age of 6 months to two years?
You may have no idea. This information should have been given during antenatal classes, at worst you can quickly run to “Google”, and type the question exactly the way it is burning in your mind:
You scroll through the responses and slowly notice a new problem. These answers are not particularly helpful for you and your baby living in Abakaliki, Nigeria.
“No, Uncle Google, we don’t have blueberries in Abakaliki or Minna, and what are these plums you speak of?” Welcome to the new phase of complementary feeding as a new Nigerian mother.The nutrients in recommended complementary foods complement those in breast milk, hence the name.
Complementary feeding means introducing solid or semi solid food to your baby, in addition to breastmilk. It is advised that complementary feeding begins when an infant is six months old because breastmilk alone may no longer be sufficient to meet his or her nutritional needs.
The transition from exclusive breastfeeding to complementary feeding typically covers the period from 6–24 months of age, even though breastfeeding may continue to two years of age and beyond.
This is a critical period of growth, both physically and mentally. Nutrient deficiencies during this time period result in malnutrition, stunting, wasting and the infant is more prone to a variety of illnesses. These contribute to increased global rates of under nutrition among children under five years of age.
Daunting Nutrition Statistics
Nearly 60 percent of Nigerian children (6–24 months) assessed by the 2018 National Nutrition And Health Survey were not fed the recommended number of times for their age; 65 percent did not get foods from at least four food groups the previous day and only 17 percent of children aged 6–23 months received the minimum acceptable diet.
Less than 50 percent of these children were fed with iron-containing foods. As with most health indices, complementary feeding rates vary across Nigeria, with some states in the South West, North West and North East regions needing more work to promote improved child nutrition, according to the 2018 National Nutrition Health Survey.
Meals served during the complementary feeding period should ideally be made from locally sourced, affordable, and nutritious foods. Introducing soft, semi-solid food a little at a time to allow the infant to get accustomed to the flavour and texture of the food. The infant is fed frequently every day and, as he or she grows, the portion sizes increases.For Felicity Osiemuwa, a 30-year old working mother, when her son rejected the foreign store-bought baby foods she gave him because he did not like them, she began trying to find foods closer to the local alternatives for her exclusively breastfed baby. The challenge of finding the right food that offered her convenience for her baby who she termed a fussy eater was made a lot easier when she discovered the AugustSecrets’ range of baby foods.
Inspired by another ‘fussy eater’, AugustSecrets is a unique child nutrition company that makes food items using natural cereals and recipes for children using healthy, organic African foods.
According to Mrs Toyin Onigbanjo, founder and Head Cook at AugustSecrets, the drive to create healthy nutritious meals for children was borne out of the desperation of having limited food options for her son Jaden, who simply refused to eat store-bought foods.
“He just wouldn’t eat the foreign, store-bought stuff and at a point I just got angry and said, is it that there is no single Nigerian or African made baby food? Must my child eat something that was made in Australia or the UK? There were just no baby foods of African or Nigerian origins on the shelf!” she said.
Realising that many families did not understand their options beyond force-feeding their children store-bought imported baby food, and were ignoring the many fresh food options available in Nigeria, Toyin delved into professional nutrition.
She started to mass-produce baby foods made from locally sourced nutritious foods including sweet potatoes, yellow corn, peanuts, crayfish, beans and peanuts. From a home kitchen, the company began to gain customers and according to sales records is now stocked in 72 stores, reaching over 35,000 children across Nigeria and Africa, she said.Locally sourced nutritious foods including sweet potatoes, yellow corn, peanuts, crayfish, beans and peanuts for complementary feeding. Photo Credit: AugustSecrets
Despite the fact that the baby food market in Nigeria is expected to reach over N200 billion by 2023, malnutrition is the cause of death of over 45% of children under the age of five, and this challenge is not just restricted to the poorest families. For Toyin and AugustSecrets, realising that the fight against malnutrition required a broader scope than what their for-profit organisation could do, they developed a community engagement arm, Saving 10k.
Saving 10k is funded by proceeds from the sales of AugustSecrets infant and children’s cereals and aims to save 10,000 children’s lives every year from malnutrition by providing information and training programmes in various communities.
Started in 2017, it has conducted training in some communities of Lagos State including Makoko and Ajegunle and trained up to 500 women using live food demonstrations. Interestingly, to avoid a conflict of interest, the organisation’s policy bars them from using AugustSecrets foods for the community live demonstrations.
Instead, everyday foods common to that community are used, making it more contextual for those attending. This approach could be more widely adopted by private sector businesses as part of their corporate social responsibility interventions.
Beyond the Business
Onigbanjo says for her and her team, it is not only about selling products or making a profit, but it is also about reducing malnutrition in Nigeria by empowering community members to look to local foods around them for alternative sources of nutrition for their children.
“We go for these food demonstrations with foods like beans, vegetables, sweet potatoes, carrots… basically common foods that the community people can get for as low as N50 — N100,” she says.
There are three basic pillars which serve as the framework for the Saving 10k community programme:
Breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding awareness — to ensure women at the community level understand that breast milk is the best and most nutritious food they can give their children in the first six months through the first 1000 days of the child’s life.
Infant and young child feeding — to guide women through the process of introducing solid foods to their children and dispel cultural biases around complementary feeding. For Saving 10k, it is not just about going to communities to provide food, it is about showing communities the nutritional ‘rose gardens’ right in their neighbourhoods.
Empowerment — Saving 10k provides mothers with some capital as a follow up to the Infant and Young Child Feeding training provided. The programme targets women in rural and semi-urban communities who seem most vulnerable.
Saving 10k provides mothers with some capital as a follow up to the Infant and Young Child Feeding training provided.
Photo Credit: AugustSecrets
Looking ahead; improving Infant and Young Child Feeding in Nigeria
The Saving 10K management team realised that not everybody will be able to afford or even reach AugustSecrets foods, yet every mother needs the right information to feed her child with the most nutritious meals available to her. If nutritious foods, especially infant foods, are not readily accessible, using them to tackle malnutrition cannot be sustainable. This is why they believe the focus should be on considering local alternatives.
There are a few challenges, it appears with the Saving 10k programme; it may be difficult to demonstrate the effectiveness of the cash-based empowerment programme in the long run as there is no way to measure if the funds are eventually used to buy more nutritional locally sourced foods. Research studies looking at the effect of cash transfers on child nutritional status have provided mixed findings.
Vocational training to provide a sustainable income might be more beneficial for the families in the long run. Including nutrition of pregnant women and mothers as a component in the community training may also be an innovative game-changer as studies show that the consequences of poor maternal nutritional status are reflected in high child malnutrition and mortality.
In addition, men are not currently actively included in the training and live food demonstrations. Targeting and including men, often the traditional decision-makers in the home could inject a fresh vigour in the battle to curb malnutrition in Lagos State, the programme’s focus state. An independent evaluation of the organization’s activities would help demonstrate the effectiveness and add to the body of knowledge around child nutrition in Nigeria.
Discussions around infant and young child feeding practices in Nigeria and other developing countries seem to focus mostly on breastfeeding practices. There does not seem to be as much awareness or discussion on simple indicators of appropriate feeding practices in children 6–23 months of age.
There has been limited progress in measuring and improving feeding practices, and constrained improvements in infant and young child nutritional outcomes. The World Health Organization’s ‘Indicators for assessing infant and young child feeding practices’ survey is one helpful tool that can be used by health workers and nutrition trainers to measure appropriate feeding practices.
In Nigeria, specific indicators like this should help health workers answer the many questions mothers often have as they enter the new arena of complementary feeding. Hopefully, with continued community engagement, health workers will be able to give a more detailed response to the question of what to feed a six-month-old, other than the usual ‘anything you’re eating’.
As shown in some states such as Kano and Kaduna efforts towards addressing child malnutrition in Nigeria are growing. Perhaps it is now time for scalable components from all such efforts to be unified into Nigeria’s National Strategic Plan of Action For Nutrition rather than remain vertical programs with limited results.
Better partnerships between organisations working to reduce malnutrition in Nigeria, public and private is needed to tackle the daunting malnutrition statistics Nigeria faces.
Digital banking startup Sparkle has been launched in Nigeria by former Diamond Bank chief executive officer (CEO) and tech entrepreneur Uzoma Dozie, aimed at providing seamless solutions to Nigerian individuals, SMEs and retailers.Sparkle, which has been granted a banking license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), offers comprehensive support for individuals, including flexible payments, savings and analytics to provide greater freedom, flexibility and control over finances and lifestyle.
Powered by data and technology, Sparkle is launching a mobile app – available for iOS and Android – giving customers full and free access to one account that offers multiple services and different wallets.
“Sparkle will be transformational for Nigerians across the globe and I am hugely excited to be launching it today. Sparkle is redefining Nigerian commerce by merging financial services with a seamless lifestyle solution,” said Dozie.
“We are removing barriers using technology and data, driving inclusion at scale. In doing so, we are empowering Nigerians to fulfil their potential, democratizing access to valuable solutions for both business and personal needs.”
Sparkle is partnering with Visa, Microsoft and PwC Nigeria to provide industry-leading expertise in APIs, cloud computing, data science, machine learning, tax and financial advisory services for the benefit of Sparkle’s customers. The services offered by Sparkle are all licensed by the CBN.
“We are working with global partners to unleash freedom, flexibility and transparency in Nigeria. We are helping to drive forward the growth of Nigeria’s budding entrepreneurs and individuals,” said Dozie.
Imo state Police Command have arrested Victoria Joseph, 28, and Joy Ugorji, 33, for allegedly stealing a two-year-old boy from Rivers State.
The victim is a nephew of one of the suspects, Joseph.
Parading the suspects in Owerri , the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Isaac Akinmoyede, said they stole the child from Kakuano, Rivers State, and came to Imo to sell him.
The CP said operatives of the Anti-Vice Unit of the command intercepted the suspects and recovered the baby during a stop-and-search.
He stated, “On May 30, 2020, operatives of the Anti-Vice Unit of the command, while on stop-and-search, intercepted the suspects with a boy of about two years.
“On interrogation, they confessed that they stole the child from Kakuano, Rivers State, and brought him to Imo State for sale.
“The boy has been safely kept at the motherless babies’ home, while efforts are being made to locate the parents; investigation is ongoing. Parading the suspects on Tuesday, the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Isaac Akinmoyede, said they stole the child from Kakuano, Rivers State, and came to Imo to sell him.”
Covid19 in Nigeria: 409 new cases, total 13,873, 382 deaths
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has released the update of Covid in Nigeria, saying that 409 new cases were recorded on Wednesday, making a total 13,873 cases with 382 deaths.
See below the 409 new COVID19 cases confirmed by NCDC according to states:
Anambra State has recorded nine COVID-19 deaths, while 53 persons have tested positive for the virus.
The State governor, Willie Obiano, who disclosed this on Wednesday during a broadcast, said that the data was pulled out of the 230 results released so far from the 302 persons tested.
Governor Obiano also disclosed that 72 other results are being expected, saying:
“Ndi Anambra, following our Active Search Campaign across the state, we have collected a total of 302 samples so far. Out of this figure, 230 results have been released to us while 72 results are still pending with the NCDC testing center.
“Out of the 230 results that have been released to us, 53 results returned positive, 13 patients have been discharged, 9 people have passed away while 31 cases are still active.
” In the meantime, 7 patients are in our Protective Care Center, receiving medical attention.
“Ndi Anambra, it is important to note that the medical status of 7 of the 9 patients who died of Covid-19 in this state was confirmed after a postmortem test on them.
”In other words, they did not come to our Protective Care Center for professional management.
”This is why I must warn that delay is often dangerous in the management of Covid-19 cases.
”People who show symptoms of this deadly virus are advised to report their conditions early as it increases their chances of surviving this pandemic.
He also informed the residents that almost 90% of the people that died from Covid-19 in the state were aged from 60 years and above, adding that there was no cause for alarm
“Ndi Anambra ,only the grace of God and our own eternal vigilance will save us from the onslaught of this pandemic.
“I have no doubt that if we continue to maintain a high level of vigilance by complying with the standard Covid-19 protocol from the WHO and NCDC, we shall outlive this pandemic”.
The 30-year-old serial predator, Mohammed, of Kwanar Dangora Village according to Kano Police spokesperson, DSP Abdullahi Haruna, confessed that the victims were young girls, married women and old women.
The Kano State Police Command has arrested a man, who raped 40 women in one town within the span of a year.
The 30-year-old serial predator, Mohammed, of Kwanar Dangora Village according to Kano Police spokesperson, DSP Abdullahi Haruna, confessed that the victims were young girls, married women and old women.
Heading to arrest the Rapist
He said, “It is true. We have him in our custody. We are parading him soon.”
Haruna said the suspect was arrested when he sneaked into a house to rape a girl but the mother raised the alarm, which forced him to escape.
He was, however, caught by neighbours, who tracked him after a woman caught him in her children’s room in Dangora town, Kano.
The police said the suspect had been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department for investigation.
In most countries, including those with high crime rates, men of the underworld avoid killing police personnel because it would bring too much trouble. In Nigeria, criminal gangs not only engage police in frequent combat, they sometimes target them for attack before carrying out their nefarious activities.
The situation is so bad that on 23rd November 2016, the then Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris publicly admitted that “in the past three months, the [police] force has lost 128 personnel in various parts of the country due to (the) activities of undesirable elements in our communities.”
Last week in Kogi State, dare devil armed robbers invaded Isanlu community to raid a bank. On arrival in broad daylight, the armed robbers first went to the police station where they gunned down the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and six other personnel (four males and two females) on duty.
They then killed another policeman within the premises of the bank they robbed. This has become an all too familiar pattern.
With reports of ransom paid to kidnappers to secure the release of abducted policemen, it is evident that the capacity of the force to protect itself is increasingly being called into question.
That eight police personnel and a civilian would be so casually executed by criminals is symptomatic of the state of insecurity in our country. But the concern here is not just the weakness of the police but the growing number of bloody bank robberies in our country.
See attached photos from Kogi armed robbery below:
Robbery scenes
Statistics of fatalities from such robberies is quite chilling and no bank has escaped the scourge. The choice of location, audacity of attack and the ease with which these hoodlums get away are some of the issues security agencies must begin to address. They must also look at the complicity of some rogue policemen and that of compromised bank officers.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) records, there were 27 bank robberies across the country in 2019 with 12 of them at the United Bank for Africa (UBA) branches. Access Bank and Sterling Bank had four robberies each. Union Bank and Polaris Bank had two each. GTBank, Fidelity and Wema had one each.
The highest haul in these robberies was N53.9 million carted away on 24th January 2019 at Polaris Bank in Ila Orangun, Osun State (a policeman and two civilians were killed) followed by N21.8 million taken away from Wema bank in Ise Ekiti (a policeman was also killed) on 3rd October 2019.
In total, from what I gathered, as much as N180 million was lost to the 27 bank robberies last year. This of course is no more than a mere token when compared with the quantum of money being stolen by smart Alecs who sit behind computers to rob these same banks and their customers. But that is not the issue here.
From the attack in February this year in Ile Oluji, Ondo State, which claimed several victims, including two policemen to the latest in Kogi State, it is clear that bank robbers in Nigeria are not content with simply carting away money. They are also eager to leave a blood trail. That is what should most concern authorities, especially at a time like this.
Ordinarily, there is nothing unusual about bank robberies nor are they peculiar to Nigeria. In the United States of America, hundreds of such robberies are recorded annually. But bank robberies are hardly ever bloody in the US and the culprits are also almost always caught and brought to justice.
On 18th January last year, the New York Times published the story of a California bank robber named ‘Travelling Bandit’. He had been declared wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) allegedly for robbing at least seven banks in six states within a month.
According to the FBI, the man normally approaches the counter, presents a note demanding money with threats that he held a gun and after taking cash, he would walk away. Exactly five days later, the suspect, Jason Lee Robinson, was arrested.
Those are the kind of bank robbers they entertain in America. In contrast, bank robbery in Nigeria is an organised crime that is hardly ever resolved and now costing many police personnel and other civilians their lives.
On 5th April 2018, several armed robbers stormed Offa, Kwara State, raiding five commercial banks, after first attacking the police station where they took out nine officers. The death toll from the attack lasting several hours is now as high as 30.
Despite a subsequent breakthrough in the investigation aided by security cameras in one of the banks, nobody has been brought to justice. Meanwhile, the principal suspect, a former operative of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) died in custody under controversial circumstances.
Four months later on 9th August 2018, no fewer than 10 persons were killed following a robbery attack at two banks in Igarra, Edo State. On reaching the community, the robbers first paid their ‘customary’ call at the police station where they killed personnel before launching their robbery operation at the bank where they also killed four security men.
And on 19th November 2018, two policemen, a security guard and a bank worker were killed when armed robbers invaded a new generation bank in Ijero, Ekiti State. They used the same playbook of ‘visiting’ the police station first.
The foregoing represents just three of several documented cases of bank robberies that have claimed hundreds of innocent lives (police officers, bank workers/customers and bystanders) in recent years.
In a country already grappling with insurgency, kidnapping, banditry and other associated crimes, a situation in which armed robbers now use dynamite to break security doors, force their ways into banking halls and kill innocent people, cannot be allowed to continue.
Not only has it impacted negatively on economic growth and development at the grassroots, it has put the whole financial inclusion idea in serious jeopardy.
In 2012 when a certain Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was governor, the CBN launched the first National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) with the aim of reducing the amount of cash transactions in the system and expanding access to financial services for more Nigerians.
His successor, Godwin Emefiele has done much in the past six years to consolidate this goal. But Emefiele’s target of having 95 percent of Nigerians financially included by 2024 seems far-fetched.
While that aspiration can be achieved substantially in major cities, the rural areas where the majority of our population still reside remain the issue. The challenge is that as armed robbers target banks domiciled in these communities, people will be further excluded from financial services.
That Nigeria remains a cash economy is a major bane. It is also the reason why corruption thrives. In its report, ‘Financial Inclusion in Nigeria: Data and Hard Facts’ published on 28th September last year, Nairametrics highlighted how financial exclusion has contributed significantly to poverty in our country.
“The wealthiest 20 percent of households are at least eight times more likely to have an account than the poorest households. It is no wonder that the poorest states in Nigeria are in the northern region of the country where banks have little to no presence…
In spite of these statistics, the majority of the food produced in Nigeria comes from the North,” the report states. In a 2011 poll of unbanked Nigerians, according to Nairametrics, “61% expressed a desire to have an account, but there was no bank close enough to make their simple wishes a reality.
“Farmers consequently are reliant singly on cash availability despite their wide range of financial needs—for both agricultural activities and family life. They end up indebted and access financial services from informal sources because they cannot access credit from institutional and non-institutional sources.”
With the increasing rate of violent armed robberies that claim lives, including of their staff, it is understandable that many of the banks are not keen to expand their branches to rural communities. But we need to make the right calls to create incentives for growth.
And there is nothing more urgent than financial inclusivity for our people, especially those living in rural areas. That won’t happen if armed robbers believe they can continue to invade our communities, kill policemen and walk into the bank tills to cart away money they did not deposit.
The threats posed to our country by the COVID-19 pandemic will manifest beyond the health sector. One of the areas we must pay special attention to is security. The crime rate among young people is already high and desperation will push many more into armed robbery.
That will render banks in remote areas of our country vulnerable to opportunistic attacks. Authorities at the CBN, NDIC and the Bankers Committee must begin to dialogue with security agencies as to how to combat this major challenge to the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians
You can follow me on my Twitter handle, @Olusegunverdict and on www.olusegunadeniyi.com
