Nigerian Newspapers
Combating graft through cashless policy
By Chima Titus Nwokoji
The introduction of a policy that was meant to move Nigeria’s economy from cash based to a less cash dominated economy was driven by the need for development and modernization of payment system in line with Vision 2020.
Thus, beginning from April 1, 2012, banks keyed into this policy initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
They started to encourage their Customers by educating and accommodating them to try other payment channels other than cash.
A ‘processing fee’ on daily cash withdrawals or cash deposits that exceed N500,000 for Individuals and N3,000,000 for Corporate bodies was instituted. Ever since its introduction, the policy has faced a lot of opposition and critical punches, but like a fast moving train, it has continued its movement, and its acceptability in major cities across Nigeria is on the increase.
The second phase of the project tagged Cash-less Nigeria commenced again in five states, Abia, Anambra, Kano, Ogun, Rivers and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Monday, July 1, 2013.
Arguably, it is expected that CBN might have leveraged on the challenges and hiccups noticed from the Lagos pilot exercise, but the latest huddle seems to be coming from political bigwigs, bent on stopping a moving train.
Their concern might have been that it would be difficult if not impossible to move the usual ‘Ghana must go’ within the political circle. Analysts believe that if not for the singular reason of perpetuating corruption, no right thinking Nigeria would want the consequences of heavy cash usage in daily transactions to continue in the 21st century.
Aside from rendering monetary policy ineffective, a cash-based economy encourages many other vices such as kidnapping, corruption and revenue leakages in the public sector. On the concern raised by a section of the law makers who wants the CBN to put a stop to the policy, Professor Olu Ajakaiye of the university of Ibadan and Ex-chairman, African Centre for Shared Development Capacity said the idea of stopping cashless policy in Nigeria today is a defeatist strategy. He believes that the national assembly should be working with the central bank to overcome identified constraints.
“Some of the reasons adduced to support the idea of scrapping cashless policy are not within the powers of the central bank. CBN does not provide electricity but the NASS in conjunction with the executive have control over the budget.
They can initiate policies and approve certain amount for provision of electricity which is one of the infrastructures needed to drive cashless economy. So it is in other areas. The Nigeria Communication Commission is there to help on issues concerning telecom companies.
NASS and other government agencies should work with CBN and not working against it. We cannot say because we are not cashless yet, then we should remain a cash based economy,” Ajakaiye stated.?
The professor sounded loud and clear that rolling back is a defeatist approach. He would prefer an engaging and collaborative approach and not to suggest remaining where we are because of fear of challenges.
“Let us create the challenges and then overcome them. That is our job, if we must move forward. Because there were no industries to work in, should we all have refused to go to school and remained peasant farmers? Nobody argues that way. We went to school and jobs were created to absorb us. That is the way development is advanced,” he emphasized.
Statistics show that cost of cash transactions to the Nigeria’s financial system has been high and increasing annually.
A 5-year projection of the direct cost to Financial System, excluding bank cash infrastructure costs and employee costs attributable to cash logistics is estimated at N114.5 billion as at 2009. It has also been revealed that Nigeria is lagging behind among comparable economies in terms of payment system maturity.
Thus, in 2011 the percentage of cash in circulation to GDP was 41per cent in Nigeria and as low as 4.5 per cent in Indonesia, 1.9 per cent in South Africa and 35 per cent in Venezuala.
Some antagonists of the policy believes that little or nothing has been achieved on the Lagos pilot project as non of the identified challenges like: lack of understanding of cashless policy amongst the banked and unbanked; Techno-phobia; infrastructure lag; distrust in the banking system; independent online-real-time monitoring of electronic channels up-time, among others.
But records from other stakeholders and the Lagos State government show that: Internally generated revenues (IGR) have tremendously improved with diversion of fund and excess charges on the state account minimized.
The Lagos State Government has created a customized database infrastructure based on cutting-edge technology, which simplifies revenue collection and tax administration. The new system according to the tax office eliminates all sources of revenue leakage on all fronts especially through Taxpayers, Revenue officials, and Banks.
It has created an online Database in respect of Taxpayers whose taxpaying habits are monitored real-time. The Data base is able to generate with a high degree of accuracy projected revenue of future periods from all sources.
Although the PoS is the most preferred means of payment after cash for the merchants, only 15 per cent of the transactions are perceived by the merchants as transactions successfully performed.Along the time, this fact has impact in the level of adoption of this payment method leading people not to use PoS due to the unreliability of this payment method. Looking at damages which cash-induced corruption does to an economy, one can quickly conclude that the successes of cashless policy far out way its failures.
The CBN Deputy Governor, Operations, Mr. Tunde Lemo in his sensitization campaign tours across the newly selected states reiterated that much have been covered in terms of addressing some of the initial teething problems associated with alternative payment platforms.
For instance, the number of PoS and ATM machines has been tremendously increased since December 2011, with better technology and enhanced security features embedded.
The cumulative number of PoS deployed/connect to NIBSS central Terminal Management System stood at 120,605 and registered merchants reached an all-time high at 176, 255 as at June 16, 2013. The new PoS has enhanced features to take care of power outage and minimize the problem of interconnectivity such as 24hrs battery life to help save on power outage and 2 SIM slots for better connectivity.
Meanwhile, the Bank has also assured that adequate dispute resolution mechanism are regularly being finetuned to address various complaints arising from the use of these alternative payment platforms.
The CBN on its part has step up actions to ensure that that users of payments services get adequate attention from service providers. While established the office of the Ombudsman for the financial services is still in the mills, the Bank has created a Consumer and Financial Protection Department to strengthen users’ confidence and promote adoption.
Some financial experts have at various occasions called on all stakeholders join the CBN in its pursuit of the policy objective: “to reduce the cost of banking service, including the cost of credit and drive financial inclusion, by providing more efficient transition options and greater reach.
Improve the effectiveness of monetary policy in managing inflation and driving economic growth for the advancement of the economy. Nwokoji is on the staff of The Sun
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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: The Sun Newspaper
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•Deploy more personnel as army chief vows to wipe out terror group
•Security beefed up at N’Assembly
Deji Elumoye and Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of power, is under a massive security cordon following threats of attacks by insurgents and the increasing wave of banditry in the contiguous states of Kaduna, Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger States, THISDAY’s investigation has revealed.
There has been a wave of kidnappings in the outskirts of the federal capital, notably Pegi, Tuganmaje and Kuje among others, which the police have battled in recent times.
The security situation in and around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was heightened by the pronouncement of the Niger State Governor, Mr. Sani Bello, that Boko Haram fighters who he said sacked 50 villages in the state and hoisted the terror group’s flag, were about two hours drive away from the FCT.
Security has also been beefed up at the National Assembly as operatives, yesterday, thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
The deteriorating security situation nationwide prompted the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, to warn that the 2023 general election may not hold, demanding the declaration of a state of emergency as well as the convocation of a national conference.
However, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, yesterday restated the Nigerian Army’s determination to annihilate Boko Haram.
But the Governor of Katsina State, Hon. Bello Masari, cautioned against declaring a state of emergency, saying doing so isn’t the solution to combat the security challenges facing the country.
The security of the nation’s airports was also in focus yesterday as the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said there was no threat to them.
THISDAY’s investigations showed increased presence of troops, police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel and intelligence operatives at the three strategic entrances to the city notably, Keffi, Zuba and Gwagwalada.
More checkpoints were also mounted around Gwagwalada and Keffi.
THISDAY also observed increased intelligence deployment at the entrance and the borders of FCT with contiguous states.
Beyond the borders, there were more deployments and police patrols inside the city and increased intelligence deployments as well.
Security sources told THISDAY: “There are deployments here and there but they are routine. Alertness is key to a secure environment.”
It was also learnt that security agencies were involved in frenzied meetings throughout yesterday.
The meetings, coordinated by the office of the Chief of Defence Staff under the new joint operational strategy of the armed forces, were aimed at coordinating a joint response to possible threats of attack to the FCT.
“I understand the security teams have been meeting for some days now and if you look around you, you will notice that there are increasing patrols and numbers of security personnel. The threats are not been taken lightly,” a source said.
National Assembly workers, lawmakers and visitors also had a harrowing experience accessing the legislative complex due to heightened security in the area.
Security operatives thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja, impeding both human and vehicular traffic.
The Sergeant-at-arm of the National Assembly and other security agencies supervised the operations, leading to huge traffic build-up inside the complex.
Legislative staff, visitors and lawmakers were seen patiently waiting for their cars to be searched so that they could go ahead with the business of the day.
Some staff and visitors at some point got tired of waiting and were seen alighting from their cars to trek from the gate to the complex.
Meanwhile, the ONSA has said there is no threat to the nation’s airports.
A statement by the Head of Strategic Communication, Mr. Zachari Usman, said the reports of threats to the airports were an internal correspondence of security threat assessment misconstrued as security threat to the airports.
PDP Demands State of Emergency
In a related development, the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, yesterday demanded the declaration of a state of emergency, warning that the 2023 general election might not hold if the federal government failed to tackle insecurity.
He called on the federal government to summon a national conference to address the spike in insecurity.
Secondus added that the national caucus of the party will meet today to discuss the state of the nation.
Addressing members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) in Abuja, Secondus said: “We are worried Abuja is not even safe. It is no longer politics. We got alert of plots to bomb and burn down our airports.
“We urge the federal government to declare a national state of emergency in security. There is the need to call a national conference to discuss the insecurity in the country.
“There may not be any election in 2023 in Nigeria due to insecurity. This government must listen to the people. The Buhari government should call a national confab to discuss security and state of the nation. It is no longer politics. This time we are not playing politics. Let’s keep politics aside and move the nation forward.”
He said the country had been grounded, regretting that there had been no matching response from the federal government.
Secondus said in the past, terrorism in the North was confined to the North-east, but with the report of Boko Haram occupying villages in Niger State, terrorism had spread to the North-central
“Herdsmen are also menacing in the West; gunmen causing havoc in the East; and the militants in the South; all killing, looting, raping, maiming and burning down homes. The situation is bad; Nigerians all over are living in fear,” he said.
The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the problem of Nigeria was outside of the PDP headquarters, while pledging the support of the Senate to the declaration of state of emergency in security.
Abaribe said he deliberately decided not to speak on the floor of the Senate but to allow the APC senators to speak so as to avoid being accused of giving a partisan colouration to the issue of insecurity.
He stated that only electoral reforms would give victory to the opposition party in the 2023 general election and ensure a democratic defeat of the APC-led federal government.
Also, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, commended the NEC and the PDP leadership for their collective efforts at resolving the House leadership crisis.
The NEC meeting adopted the position of Secondus, calling on the federal government to convoke a national conference to discuss the state of insecurity in the country, according to a communiqué read by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan.
Army Chief Vows to Wipe Out Boko Haram
The army yesterday reiterated its commitment to wipe out Boko Haram.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, told reporters in Maiduguri, Borno State that Boko Haram had been defeated in many encounters and would continue to be defeated until it’s annihilated from Nigeria.
“We will take on Boko Haram decisively, and we are committed to the focus of the operations, which is the total annihilation of Boko Haram from Nigeria,” he said.
The COAS, who was visiting the headquarters of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri for the fifth time since his appointment four months ago, said the visit was to boost the morale of the troops, reassure them and listen to any issues affecting them.
Earlier, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Farouq Yahaya, lauded the visit, which he said had continued to boost the morale of the troops.
“We are honoured, we are grateful, we are encouraged by those visits. You provided us guidance, logistics and other things we required. We are most grateful for those visits,” Yahaya said.
State of Emergency Won’t Solve Security Challenges, Says Masari
Katsina State Governor, Hon. Aminu Masari, has, however, said declaration of a state of emergency won’t solve the security challenges facing the nation.
Masari, who spoke yesterday with journalists after meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari at the State House, Abuja stated that he was against the recent call by the House of Representatives for the declaration of a state of emergency in the security sector as it would not solve the problem.
According to him, declaring a state of emergency will not achieve the desired effect as the security structure and personnel to be used to execute the emergency are already overstretched in a bid to safeguard lives and property.
Sourced From: THISDAYLIVE
Tribune Online
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 62 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 165,110. The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Friday. “55 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria; Lagos-21, Yobe-19, Ogun-6, Akwa Ibom-3, Kaduna-2, Plateau-2, FCT-1, Rivers-1.” YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE COVID-19: Nigeria Recorded […]
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Tribune Online
Sourced From: Tribune Online
Kamaru Usman has raked in a mammoth £1.1million, about N584.2 million after his impressive knockout victory over Jorge Masvidal on Saturday night, Sportivation.com.ng reports.
The Nigerian Nightmare has been handsomely rewarded for his stunning performance and he was the best-paid fighter on the card which was witnessed by 15, 000 fans in Florida.
According to Daily Mail, Usman earned £538,000 to show up, £459,000 pay-per-view bonus, a £43,000 sponsorship bonus and a well deserved £35,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
Jorge Masvidal also earned £358,000 to show, £186,000 in pay-per-view money and a £28,000 sponsorship bonus.
This is the biggest payday of Usman’s career so far and the Welterweight champion also benefited from the fact that Masvidal is also a top draw for the fans.
Kamaru Usman is a Nigerian-American professional mixed martial artist, former freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler.
Sourced From: Latest Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Politics
The government said that no worker should stay back beyond 6:00 p.m. within premises of buildings undergoing construction.
The post Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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