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| Marketing Edge Editor, Adewale Okoya |
It is easy to understand the hostility of vested
interests towards the introduction of Bank Verification Number exercise by the
Central Bank of Nigeria. This is because those who insist on the truncation of
the BVN belong to the opaque family of professional critics who would rather
prefer that Nigeria remains a backward nation where nothing works. They would
wish that the nation continues to wait for the conclusion of the snail-paced
National Identity Management Commission-led registration, regardless of the
cost to the development of the nation’s economy.
These persons are quick to educate us that the
NIMC has the mandate to “establish, own, operate, maintain and manage Nigeria’s
identity database.” But in their haste, they forgot to tell long-suffering
Nigerians that the agency also has a mandate to harmonise and integrate
existing identification databases in Nigeria. If this were to be their only act
of amnesia, they could have been excused and directed to thoroughly study the
NIMC Act again. But this will be a disservice to ordinary Nigerians who have
suffered the consequences of being saddled with banking institutions that have
failed them for too long.
It is unfortunate that the usual dilly-dallying,
cronyism and corruption that have been the hallmarks of government-initiated
projects like the NIMC continue to hold back the development of critical
sectors of the economy like banking, health, education and law enforcement
where proper identification of persons are key to success. Rather than vilify
the apex bank for conceiving the BVN project and starting off its
implementation, the critics should redirect their energies towards educating
Nigerians on why the CBN should hasten to conclude the BVN exercise ahead of
time as part of its Know Your Customer project.
For the benefit of those who may not know, the
BVN is designed to give each bank customer a unique identity that can be used
for easy identification and verification at the point of banking operations
across the banking industry. The system will capture facials and the 10
fingerprints of each customer that completes the registration at bank branches.
It will address issues of identity theft thereby reducing exposure to fraud.
Most importantly, the customer’s unique BVN will be accepted as a means of
identification in all banks. So, a person who has an account with Fidelity
Bank, for instance, will not need to supply fresh details if he wishes to open
another account in First Bank. By supplying his BVN to the new bank, access to
his details with Fidelity will be granted from the CBN’s BVN repository.
Although the frenzied push for the integration of
the global economy has cooled down somewhat, one wonders for how long the
Nigerian economy will remain in the doldrums rather than take to the centre
stage. For some time now, global investors have focused on the Nigerian economy
as the next big thing. They are eager to invest in the country in spite of its
many shortcomings. By the time these investors join the fray in full force,
where will Nigerian businessmen and women be if they are unable to compete due
to lack of access to funding from the banking sector? Or, should we be glad to
see foreigners take charge of every aspect of business life while Nigerians are
reduced to mere bystanders and sheer consumers?
Even if Nigerians will be spoilt for choice with
an influx of an array of brands, how will they be able to purchase the goods on
offer if banks cannot extend credit facilities to them? Would they be able to
buy household goods on deferred payments like their counterparts elsewhere? All
of this brings to mind the Latin question, “Cui bono?” which means “Who
benefits?” Or, whose interests are served by maintaining the status quo? Also,
who benefits in an environment where banks are confident to grant loans to
customers knowing full well that the customer cannot disappear into thin air?
Answers to these questions are obvious or aren’t they? Clearly, with BVN,
access to mortgages on housing for instance will become easy for the average Nigerian.
The last time I checked, it was a luxury reserved for the one per cent.
The growth of the Nigerian economy has been
stunted for so long mainly because banking institutions lack the needed
information to confidently grant loans to customers. If banks are to perform
their duty of wealth creation in the Nigerian economy as it should be, the BVN
should provide the foundations for the proper discharge of this duty. And in
fairness to the CBN, having waited for the NIMC to get its acts together for so
many years, Nigerians should applaud its decision to go ahead with the BVN.
The memory of past bank failures or near failures
is still fresh in the minds of those who were affected. Many will still
remember the shameful newspaper publication of names of some wealthy Nigerians
who nearly bankrupted some banks before the CBN intervened. If the BVN had been
established, such brigandage could have been prevented. Ironically, one of the
implementing partners being vilified by the NIMC apologists is the key driver of
the BVN project and similar initiatives by some states.
Methinks the NIMC should proceed with its
registration and harmonise with other Federal Government agencies that have
implemented or are in the process of implementing biometric registration of
Nigerians. This, to my mind, is the sensible thing to do.
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