By Tony Adibe
The Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) Alhaji Bello Hassan has again encouraged members of the public, especially the Medium, Small, and Micro Enterprise (MSME) sector, and others in the informal segment of the economy, on the need to always deposit their hard earned money in banks rather than keeping it where they would lose every kobo in time of financial crisis.
Alhaji Hassan emphasised that however the one looked at the issue of safety of money, the formal banking system still remained, and would continue to be “the safest, smartest, and most prudent place to keep money” because the NDIC protects bank deposits.
The NDIC boss gave the encouragement while addressing guests on the Special Day of the Corporation at the ongoing 34th Enugu International Trade Fair holding at the permanent site of the Trade Fair Complex, Golf Estate, Enugu.
Hassan said: “Such deposits also enjoy the benefit of effective regulation and supervision of relevant authorities, and take people’s hard earned money beyond the ambit of illegal fund managers and loan sharks that currently awash the investment landscape and fleecing unsuspecting members of the public.”
The CEO of NDIC also commented on the theme of this year’s trade fair : “Harnessing Nigerian Human Capital Resources for Global Economic Advancement.”
Hassan said it was instructive to note the strong relationship between NDIC’s mandate and the theme of the fare, stressing that, “By discharging our public policy objectives of protecting depositors in the event of bank failures and further offering a measure of safety for the banking system, thereby creating an enabling environment for the financial system to appropriately support the economic advancement of our great nation.”
Earlier, the President of the Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, (ECCIMA), Jasper Nduagwuike had called upon Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to use its regulatory framework to make the work of NDIC much easier, by ensuring the chances of bank failures are reduced to the barest minimum. Nduagwuike, noted that the role of NDIC in stabilizing the financial sector was very key and noteworthy in the country’s economy.
The ECCIMA boss said, “NDIC remains a life-line back-up for Nigerian teeming banking publics who had hitherto suffered in the past prior to the establishment of NDIC by losing all their deposits whenever crisis occur in the banking sector, with banks closing their doors against depositors.”
Nduagwuike while congratulating NDIC on its special day, also lauded the Corporation for the role it had played over the years towards building confidence amongst banks’ depositors, “thereby helping to grow the Nigerian financial sector.”
He also commended the CBN and NDIC, describing them as key players in the financial sector, “for the stability and near tranquility in the banking/financial sector through their regulatory frameworks, despite challenges being experienced in Nigeria economic cycle.”
