On June 25, 2018, I woke up to yet another social media trend – a
news story with the bold and quite salacious headline “How Safe Are
Customer Deposits At FCMB?” had taken over the digital airwaves. Between
the shares and likes and comments, a storm in a cup had brewed to great
proportions in a matter of hours. Yet again, a demonstration that the
basic ethics of responsible journalism and ethical reporting have been
thrown away in business and, indeed, everyday life.
In writing the
article, the author had made detailed reference to alleged cases of
fraud involving staff of FCMB and went ahead to imply that perhaps the
bank’s depositors funds are unsafe.
It is quite of
great concern
to see so-called professionals go to town with such alarming headlines,
with the full knowledge that most Nigerians will not bother to read the
actual details. It is indeed of greater concern that this sort of
material was released in the way it was, when by his own admission, the
author had received specific information from the bank about its
financial performance and ability to remain a growth driven and
existentially sustainable institution.
I do not have an account
with FCMB, neither am I in any way connected to the bank or its
principals. I, however, do have the simple capacity to read between the
lines and remove chaff from substance.
In the first place, for
FCMB to have increased its shares in Legacy Pension to make it a
full-fledged subsidiary as reported in this article, it means the bank
is forward-thinking and focused on both diversifying and improving its
service offerings and earnings. That’s a bold move, when you consider
that the Pensions industry in Nigeria has the potential to be bigger
than the banking industry in another decade or so.
But even more
interesting is the fact that by his very own article, the author
admitted that FCMB’s deposits grew to N689.9billion as at the end of
December 2017, an increase of 5%, from N657.6billion in the
corresponding year. Do customers increase their deposit in a bank they
have fears over or which is on the brink? Is it not only logical that
customers are only likely to increase deposits in a bank where they
enjoy good service and feel at home? For a fact, I know that the KPMG
Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey 2017 placed FCMB in 5th
position in the entire Nigerian banking industry in Retail Banking, SME
Banking and Wholesale Banking. That’s no mean feat when you take into
account the number of operators in the industry.
I think what
stumped me the most is the fact that by his own article, the author let
us in on key financial metrics of FCMB, including the fact that FCMB
reported a gross revenue of N169.9 billion and a profit before tax (PBT)
of N11.5billion, while profit after tax (PAT) was N9.4billion.
At
face value, it seems to me that the author for reasons best known to
him or her was determined to demarket FCMB and portray it in the most
negative light possible. I do not dispute the possibility that there
were some fraudulent activities – afterall, there is no smoke without
fire and that tends to ring through more in Nigeria than elsewhere.
However, this is an industry challenge – the Managing Director of the
Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Adebisi Shonubi
(who a few weeks ago was nominated a Deputy Governor of Nigeria’s
Central Bank) recently shared some startling statistics on fraud in
Nigeria’s banking industry, revealing the number of reported fraud cases
in Nigerian Banks had steadily risen from 1,461 in 2014 to 10,743 in
2015, 19,531 in 2016 and 25,043 in 2017. It has been argued that frauds
in the Banks are not alien. In the United States of America it has been
said, with compromised credit cards and data breaches often in the news
in the past couple of years, fraud is top of mind with many people.
This
deliberate attempt to demarket FCMB for reasons best known to the
author also brings to mind the most recent attack on GTBank over the
Innoson case.
It is not to be forgotten how earlier this month,
social media went agog with news that a court had directed GTBank to pay
12 billion naira to Innoson Group, one of its clients with whom it has
had a long-standing court battle. The misleading reports on social media
had extremely sensational headlines such as “Court Orders GTBank To Pay
14bn To Innoson”; “GTBank Must Pay Innoson 14Bn Within 14 Days”;
“GTBank In Trouble As Court Orders Payment of 14bn to Innoson”.
It
was such a terrible jamboree on social media that there were certain
broadcasts sent across Whatsapp and other social media asking people to
withdraw their funds from GTBank immediately, on the premise that the
bank would go bankrupt after payment of N14bn to Innoson. Of course,
Nigerians will not pause to ask whether paying N14bn in settlement can
actually cripple a bank that is widely considered Nigeria’s biggest bank
brand and clearly, one of the most solid financial behemoths within the
African continent. Nobody stops to ponder. The fact that this latest
melee was a result of seemingly deliberate attempts to smear the GTBank
brand raises more suspicion about the recent publication on the same
online platforms questioning the safety of depositors funds with FCMB.
The
GTBank vs Innoson saga has so terribly deteriorated on the account of
sensational journalism and reportage, that it has taken an ugly ethnic
dimension amongst the unlearned. Thus, on various online communities and
platforms in Nigeria, you see Nigerians taking sides on the basis of
GTBank being a “Yoruba company” and Innoson being an “Igbo company”.
What a sad reality for a nation!
First Bank of Nigeria also
witnessed the harsh and merciless bite of sensational reporting when
recently there was commotion over the contempt judgement against the
Bank and some of its key officials in the case Chief Isaac Osaro Agbara
& 9 Ors. v. Shell Petroleum Development Ltd, Shell International
Petroleum Ltd and Shell International Exploration and Production BV.
Before fact could be removed from fiction, so many broadcasts and
“breaking news” articles had surfaced online, all leading with headlines
that were designed to damage and not just state the facts.
To
make progress as a country and support businesses to thrive, this
approach must be arrested. Must we sensationalize everything just so we
can earn readership and our 5 minutes of fame, to the detriment of
businesses and companies that provide livelihood for thousands of
families across Nigeria? I think not.
Even where we need to
address real matters arising, surely, the reporting can be more
facts-based and less about blackmail and demarketing. As my Yoruba
friends have a saying in their language “Even if they sent you on the
errand as a slave, deliver the message as a free born”. Crying wolf
falsely too many times has serious downsides. Social media credibility
is extremely important for the dissemination of relevant, topical, up to
date and authentic information. Using it constantly as a vehicle to
settle scores, blackmail and seek for attention will ultimately harm the
reputation of not only the charlatans in that field but also the real
professionals. The fake news toga will be cast on all. That will be a
big shame. Freedom presupposes responsibility. Freedom devoid of
responsibility is excessive liberty.
These institutions need
protection and we really need to stop portraying ourselves to the rest
of the world as people always thinking of fraud and sleight of hand
strategies to make ill-gotten wealth. There are many honest and
hardworking people all over Nigeria. We deserve better than these
constant sensational but fake so called ‘investigative’ write ups.
Article by Emefulenwanne Ibeayoka, a public analyst in Abuja
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