- It amounts to sabotage for banks to sack workers while declaring huge profits
Nigeria’s banking sector lost about 8,663 jobs in the first half of this year, an average of about 360 workers sacked per week. A report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed, without consolation, that the figures were higher in the first quarter than in the second. The report entitled: ‘Selected Banking Sector Data: Sectorial Breakdown of Credit, ePayment Channels and Staff Strength’ noted that more contract staff were employed during the period and that the rash of job losses was in two phases.
This is frightening but not new or unexpected. Last year, many banks retrenched a lot of their staff such that being a bank worker, which used to be a thing of joy and pride, suddenly became a source of apprehension as bank workers became an endangered species.
Indeed, the matter was so serious that the Federal Government directed the banks to suspend the mass sack in June, last year. Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said: “Following the high spate of petitions and complaints from stakeholders in the banking, insurance and financial institutions, I hereby direct the suspension of the ongoing retrenchment in the sector pending the outcome of the conciliatory meetings in the industry.” He added that this was “as a result of the apprehension by my office of the various disputes in the sector in accordance with and in compliance with the provisions of the labour laws of Nigeria.” Many of the banks still fired some members of their staff even after the government’s directive.
Budget and planning minister, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, followed the appeal with yet another, saying the banks would still need the sacked workers when the economy improved. Indeed, he reeled out a long list of what the Federal Government planned to do to bring about economic recovery.
Unfortunately, we do not share his optimism because many banks have been using contract staff for a long time, even before the economy ran into stormy waters. They have been exploiting the laxity on the part of the regulatory agencies to make excessive profits at the expense of their staff.
Yet, the junior members of the staff who are usually the first to go whenever banks run into trouble are the least of their problems. The real problem is the banks’ directors, some of them richer than their banks. They earn fat emoluments that constitute a drain pipe on the banks. So, the place to begin sack in banks, when inevitable, is at the very top; those in executive positions must be ready to shed some of their weight.
Admittedly, the economy is in crisis and the banking sector cannot be immune to its vagaries. But that alone does not explain the crisis in the banking sector. The fact is; our banks no longer do traditional banking. Banks, by their very nature, are supposed to bring up ideas or facilitate the ones brought by their customers and fund same. Because of the long period of gestation of most of these businesses, the banks prefer lending to traders on short-term basis, and they are satisfied because they make a kill from such transactions. But it is the larger economy that suffers the consequence of not funding adequately long-term projects or funding them at cut-throat interest rates.
What is required is an overhaul of the banking system. It amounts to economic sabotage for banks to declare billions of profits annually and still embark on mass layoffs. Nigerian banks must be ready to return to their core duty instead of relying on round-tripping or sale of forex for their survival. The regulatory agencies have a lot of work to do in this regard.
