Community Reports

 Banks’ overt culture of  marketing pattern of their products and services has become absurd and condemnable by some members of the public, particularly, those who are  morally rational to demand  a quick repair and  respect for the cultural and moral values of the society. Banks as corporate citizens are expected to be at the forefront of joining effort with government and traditional authority to uphold the moral dignity of the society.

The resultant outcry emanating from these debasement of humanity, overtime, was not heeded by banks. May be, because the power of the regulatory agency was not as commanding as expected. But as banks strive to sharpen their competitive edge against each other, their marketing operations deepens so that it became easy to play down on moral conscience.

There was also the need to raise a solid finance base to remain in business. Using female staff to maintain this status as well as grow the fortune of the banks  therefore become a common place.In some quarters of the society, this use of ‘girl staff’ to drive for the needed fund that keeps the some bank in business is believed to be the reward or the business success of the marketing effort of these girls who do untoward things.It is therefore seen as banks indulging in morally debasement of their employees by setting unrealistic conditions of service for them. 

When professor Chukwuma Soludo took over the leadership of the apex banks,CBN, some changes were noticed in the consolidation of banks and the raising of public confidence in their operations.It is therefore uncommon to think that this position has made them to pose  unrealistic targets to recruited  female staff which they have groomed for cash mobilization.

It is good, however, to market for clients,drive at a target and contribute to company’s growth and continual stay in business but it should be on a realistic premise of goal getting.

 Innocently, while young graduates are happy to have gained employment with banks, the monthly,quarterly and yearly financial target given to them is now seen to be outrageous.Sometimes the female staff had also complained but some of them have not had the courage to resign especially because they fear or do not have an alternative income source.

But the  stake to keep their jobs keep mounting pressure on them to go all the length to get big account,real clients and are seen as productive and hard working.It is said that some banks urged these marketing female staff to wear indecent dressing  to discharge their responsibility.

This dress code has showed them off as enslaved workers.The one focus of this dress code is to persuade prospective client, seductively, to patronage their banks.Most of them possibly would have sealed up the business deal with their clients at some overnight hotel lodgings.

The Nation’s senate,senator David Mark who had observed the trend  said banks are encouraging prostitution. He noted that all the girls going out on a daily basis to bring funds into the banks end up doing  things they ideally should not do.Mark worried why there is an absence of a system to regulate the deposit-hunt activities of banks especially as they put lives of employees in danger.

He said the banks know that such activities are not beneficial to the female  employees and urged them to check the practice.He expressed worry about the huge sums of money published regularly by banks as profits,noting that such was only possible because the banks do not invest in the real sector as they should.

The central bank of Nigeria, Director, Banking Supervision,Mr  Otufa Imala said the Apex bank is having difficulty in controlling indecent dressing as the practice is. He said CBN has resolved that since it is a case of all banks involved in the practice, all banks’ chiefs have been mandated to look closely at  the issues of culture in their operation. This must be emphasizes at the point of recruiting and continuously..There is the need for banks to re-engineer their products to attract customers.

Marketing is about selling produtcts not exploiting the female nature of the worker. This de-emphasis is petinent to revoke the seemingly culture that is associated with the banking sector. This is unconnenected to the fear most people have expressed over seeking for employment in the sector.

Already, Oceanic bank Managing Director,Mrs Cecelia Ibru has said that her bank enforces proper dress code among the staff; a corporate suit for week days and natve attires for Fridays to ease work for the staff. She said any staff  especially the female staff who dresses indecently is asked to go home.

 But Senator David Mark at the plenary session of the sixth National Seminar on 13th,November,2007,on Economic Crimes,organized by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, in Abuja said the  senate would intensify the screening of the financial system in the country.He decried the lack of interest by the banks to develop the real sector. He urged the banks to work with the government towards the economic development of the country.He affirmed of their role in checking acts of financial corruption which hampers the economy.