Is the chicken coming to roost for Nigerian banks?
By Enitar Ugwu and Adeyemi Adepetun WHEN it all started, it was looked upon in certain quarters as drum beats from far away land. The argument was that the seed of the crisis was planted in far away land, and therefore, even if it has anything to do with us, it might just be a little. However, indicators show that, that seed planted abroad is currently infecting Nigerian banks with high financial fever. This is just the beginning of 2009, the symptoms are spreading fast. How prepared are our banks to face this looming crisis? Currently, Nigerian banks are adopting series of belt-tightening measures to stay afloat as the effect of the global financial crisis begins to impact negatively on their operations. Investigation by The Guardian at the weekend shows that most of the banks have officially decided to dump some luxuries hitherto associated with their operations. These measures include cutting the Monthly Expense Run Rate (MERR) allowable for branches and business units, curtailing t
