The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it is targeting 25,000 women and youths in Jigawa state who have no bank account to do so, in an ongoing five-day Digital Financial Inclusion drive.
Mr Audu Amadu, the Head of Development Finance, Jigawa branch office, said this while fielding questions from journalists in Dutse on Monday.
Amadu said that the financial inclusion drive was an initiative of the CBN and other stakeholders to improve access of unbanked Nigerians to financial products and services.
He said that the drive was critical to economic development, as financial inclusion benefits economies as well as individuals.
“As CBN, we are better able to perform monetary and price stability functions when we have the entire population under the formal financial system.
“This allows appropriate policies and interventions to be deployed for the economic growth,” the official said.
According to him, financial inclusion is also important for households and businesses because interacting with formal systems allows individuals to keep their finances safe in saving accounts.
“It also provides businesses the opportunities to access available credit opportunities/loans and encourages the habit of investment,” he said.
Amadu noted that five local government areas of the state with no presence of financial institutions were targeted for the exercise.
“The essence of this financial inclusion is to create an avenue where these segments of the society (youths and women) who are vulnerable, especially in accessing financial services, will come and access the these services free of charge for a whole week,” he said.
The official noted that financial inclusion in the state was between 10 and 15 per cent, hence its selection as one of the targeted states for the exercise.
“Financial inclusion of the state is between 10 and 15 per cent and that is why it is selected as of the targeted states because it is the most financially excluded state.
“And that’s why the CBN selected Jigawa as one of the states to benefit, taking into cognizance the LGAs that have no presence of financial institutions like Kiyawa, Miga, Roni and Buji, among others,” he said.
Earlier, Gov. Muhammad Badaru commended the CBN for the initiative, saying that it would help to enhance the economy and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state.
“This initiative came at the right time because larger segments of our societies have no access to financial products and services because they don’t have bank accounts.
“It is good this group of people be brought into financial activities because it boosts our economy and GDP.
“Without bank accounts, these vulnerable groups will not be able to benefit from interventions from governments or other organizations.
“And even if they do, they can easily be cheated because it will not come to their bank accounts directly,” Badaru said.
The governor, represented by his deputy, Alhaji Umar Namadi, pointed out that by opening bank accounts, the vulnerable groups, particularly they youth, will be able to access loans and other interventions that will enable them to establish small scale businesses.
“By so doing, there will be employment generation, which in turn, will reduce the level of unemployment in our societies.
“And this will immensely assist in checking the level of insecurity in our states and the nation at large,” the governor said.
In his remarks, the Emir of Dutse, Dr Nuhu Muhammad, urged the apex bank to collaborate with traditional institutions while giving loans to people.
Muhammad said that community leaders were in the best position to identify those who could pay back loans or otherwise.
“We know our subjects better and we can identify those who can pay back loans and those who cannot.
“This is because it is not a good idea to give people loans and at the end of the day they become unable or refuse to pay back. By so doing, they are depriving others who might have the capacity to pay back from getting such loans,” the emir said.
Reports that banks, including micro finance ones, other financial institutions, as well as National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) officials, were seen providing different services to interested individuals.