- Continued from last week
If the Bank should ever contemplate a change of name, the obvious choice is ENDURANCE BANK!! Truly, over the last one hundred and twenty – five years, it has been battered and assaulted by the turbulence of its volatile environment – both political and economic as well as the social tapestry and lattice of governance. Regardless, the Bank has emerged as a national treasure with regional tentacles and global foot prints.
At its birth in 1894, the Bank shared its page in history with launching of the Hong Kong Jockey Club which is still flourishing even after the handing over of Hong Kong (Harbour) to China by Britain.
Other epochal events of that vintage to mind:
Long before “Rural Banking” infiltrated the praxis and lexicon of banking, the Bank was already firmly planted in our rural areas – particularly where the commodities for export to Britain were ready for evacuation. Consequently, those who extracted tin from alluvial mining, the cocoa farmers, palm oil tappers, rubber plantain owners etc. were on the radar, if not directly at least through agents and middle men who assured them that payment would be effected promptly by the Bank.
The ruggedness of the Bank must have been put to test during the First World War (1914 – 1918) and again between 1939 and 1945 while the Second World War raged. Inevitably the Bank hooked its wagon to the British train and adopted strategies which left nobody in doubt about its allegiance to Britain. It is also instructive that the Bank’s spunk and grit were very much on display as our nation went through numerous coup d’états and putsches starting on 15th January 1966 followed in rapid succession by the revenge coup of July 29 1966 and spiralling into Civil War (1967 to 1970). Regardless of the turmoil, the Bank for the most part kept its door open with due caution for the safety of lives and cash. It must have been a monumental task and agonising judgment call.
Perhaps when we delve into the archives of the Bank, we shall retrieve records of how it handled some of the most epochal events in our nation’s financial landscape and economic history such as:
- The Goschalk award
- Adebo Award
- UdojiAward
We may also be pleasantly surprised when we discover (or uncover) the discreet role played by the Bank in elections all over the country starting with the first one in 1923 right up to the most recent one regardless of the alarming report and lament by Edwin Enabo, INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) Head of Department of Voters Education and Publicity in Rivers State:
“The INEC office is under siege by men in army uniforms, uniforms of the Air Force and police who have taken over.
They are stopping and screening people.
They are clearing results before they enter the office to the extent that up till now no collation has been done.
We don’t understand where the people are deployed from.
We are not accusing the Nigerian Army or the Nigerian Air Force, but we say the people right now in the office are wearing uniforms of Army and Air Force.
If they are not from them, we are calling on them to come and rectify the situation and allow our officers to enter with their results without molestation and harassment.
Throughout the elections, we had so many reports of insecurity, molestation, harassment and assault on our staff and ad-hoc staff, disruption of the electoral process throughout the state in all the Local Government Areas with the consequence that by yesterday evening we were unable to get any results and by 1 pm today, the office is under siege by men in Army, Air Force, and Police Uniforms.”
The Bank readily availed the government and the election authorities of its advice, observations and support in terms of its trusted officials combined with logistics and communication facilities.
In similar fashion the trust and reputation of the Bank extended to other sensitive matters such as the examination papers of the West African School Certificate; Higher School Certificate and the professional examinations of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria [ICAN] whereby the examination papers would be sent in advance in sealed envelopes to the branches of the Bank closest to the examination centres with strict instructions that the envelopes should only be opened at the examination centres. There is no record of failure to exercise due care on the part of the Bank.
Clearly, following the Nigerianisation of the Bank, no ethnicity can claim that it is its exclusive preserve or turf for the pursuit of primordial interest.
Also, considering the role the Bank has played behind the scenes in defining not only the ethics of banking but also the ethos of professionalism as well as the delicate matter of endemic corruption and its consequences, the least we can do is to line up behind Transparency International and the recent publication of: Nigeria’s corruption perception index (1996–2018)
Thankfully, Nigerian-born World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Anthony Joshua has gone viral and lyrical:
“There has always been a big piece of my heart as a Nigerian and I do believe that it is that piece that sets me apart. It always says to me, “never give up, dream big!” We come from a nation of warriors….we have that same tenacity, that Nigeria fighting spirit that makes us game changers! We are relentless. We don’t just face our challenges, we step into the ring to win again and again. If you believe in yourself there is no limit to what you can achieve.”
Undoubtedly, First Bank of Nigeria subscribes to the same article of faith.
Bashorun J. K. Randle
