BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA – Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has challenged the banking sector to embrace the fight against violence, terrorism and sundry acts of criminality by creating opportunities for Nigerians to pursue dreams capable of yielding positive outcomes.
He said the inability of many young, talented and gifted Nigerians to access funds and realize their dreams has driven them into activities detrimental to the growth and development of the society.
Speaking when a delegation from the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) visited him in Abuja, the Speaker said, “When citizens are alive, they are free but they are excluded from pursuing their dreams and realising them, they cannot be said to be enjoying the promise of democracy. “
According to him, such exclusion and inequality in the system remain the biggest challenge of Nigeria’s democracy and “it is giving birth to other challenges that are even threatening the entire democratic architecture and that is lack of opportunities and we see that manifesting in violent crimes, in terrorism. Most of the people doing this, the young people are involved in kidnapping, sundry acts of criminality.”
He stated that given opportunities to release their latent energies or potentials, the youths would “definitely be doing other things for the benefit and good of the system and not joining the coalition of the enemies of open society.”
Speaker Dogara said the banking industry stakeholders must take an in-depth look at the possibility of reducing rates as part of incentives aimed at encouraging Small and Medium businesses in the country to thrive, adding that this would not only strengthen the country’s democratic architecture, but also enable Nigerians to enjoy life, liberty and pursue what makes them happy.
Giving assurances that the House of Representatives is committed to the ease of doing business in Nigeria, the Speaker said the commitment of bankers, reduced interest rates can be achieved.
“To be candid, when you borrow monies from banks to fund businesses, especially in Nigeria, it is like you are signing your cheque to poverty because in some cases, you struggle with the interest, not even the principal, and years and years, you have not been able to sort it out and once you run into any misfortune, banks are even like in a rush to ensure that you either pay or they close it on you”, he said
Speaking earlier, the President and Chairman in council of CIBN, Professor Segun Ajibola, praised the Speaker for promoting the ease of doing business in Nigeria through the passage of landmark bills, including the Collateral Registry Act, by the National Assembly.
