…Why banks are nonchalant
By Yakubu Ahmed-BK
It is the practice of commercial banks doing business in states to, in consonance with their statutory corporate social responsibilities, execute some projects that have direct bearing to the people. In many states, it is not out of
place to see some banks working on roundabouts by rebuilding them to facelift the areas and beautify the city of their host.
Why is it different in Kebbi? Why are banks so nonchalant to the extent that their duties in that regard are absolute zero?
I went into a bank in Birnin Kebbi this afternoon to do some transactions and by chance I bumped into a senior officer – a man I am familiar with.
We pumped hands and as usual I too him up on why the bank has not been responsible with its CSR acts. I particularly mentioned the state of disrepair of roundabouts in Birnin Kebbi. He called me aside and swore that the bank has approached the Ministries and departments responsible to sound them out on the issue. He said (and asked not to be identified) the headquarters of the bank, has since given approval for a roundabout in Birnin Kebbi to be beautified by rebuilding and maintaining it, in order to remove the eyesore nature.
He added that the state Ministry of Lands has footdragged in giving approval by showing which of the roundabouts should be worked on and up till now, the Ministry has kept mute. The bone of contention is that, while the bank has a policy of hiring contractors directly to undertake the job in order to ensure accountability, strict compliance to job prescription and taking the necessary steps to ensure maintenance of the originality of what ever edifice was agreed upon, the signals they have getting from government officials have been discouraging.
On the other hand, the bank official continued, officials in the Ministry of Lands disagreed the extant bank policy of doing the job directly, insisting that the job must come to them to award and supervise. This deadlock is the factor that has stymied the project, leading to keeping it in abeyance.
Another top official of another bank I spoke to, narrated (and asked for confidentiality) the same frustration, claiming that after receiving approval from their headquarters in Abuja, the bank reached out to the Ministry responsible to ask for approval and to be shown which of the roundabout is in critical need of being worked on. He said, sadly, that the officials in the Ministry demanded that the project must be awarded and supervised by them, or it will not see the light of the day. Since then, nothing has been heard about it. The banks are not ready to change position and the government officials have adamantly held to their own demands.
In the meantime, Kebbi continues to suffer the indignities of having dirty and classless roundabouts, even when private concerns have come in to do the work free.
The Kebbi state government should investigate these claims, take action on culprits and quickly reach out to the banks to get them to site.