Are Nigerian Banks Defrauding Their Customers?
Before Sanusi Lamido, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, began wielding the big stick on top bank executives, Nigerians had long been suspicious of the banks. Their bogus end of year profit declarations, even when basic economic indices pointed otherwise, gave reasons for serious worry. But then no one could say what was wrong until Sanusi blew the lid last month. Yet Sanusi’s actions are yet to address many concerns of the average depositor, who alleges that in a bid to make abnormal profits, he is being subjected to constant undisclosed and anomalous charges on basic transactions. Joseph Ekeng writes. The term ‘voodoo banking’ may not be a regular phrase in most other economies of the world but since the banking consolidation era, it has become popular lexis among bank depositors in Nigeria. The consolidation indeed took banking in Nigeria to a new height. Within a space of few years the industry grew out of obscurity to become one of the fastest growing in the world. The then
