Banks versus police: Beyond armoured cash-in-transit vehicles

Odidison Omankhanlen, Lagos

From left, Soludo and Okiro Just recently, a major catastrophy that would have made a huge nonsense of the present gains in the banking sector was averted. It was the threat by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Sunday Okiro, to withdraw his escort men from banks. Okiro had given all the banks until February this year to acquire internationally accepted Armoured Cash in Transit Vehicles (ACTV) or face withdrawal of his men. It needn’t be explained that this caused panic among the banks in the country. The IG had complained bitterly that the development was to put a check on the incessant killing of his men by armed robbers.

In his word, “The banks insure cash, so when it is stolen, they get paid back, but no one insures any of my policemen escorting the cash. Any one that gets killed is the responsibility of the police authorities. So, any bank that fails to get the internationally accepted ACTV will have policemen attached to them withdrawn. I am no longer prepared to lose any policeman escorting cash again,” he said. However, none of the banks beat the deadline. Their excuse was that they criss- crossed the universe without getting the Police specifications. Following last minute dialogue, a committee was set up to resolve the puzzle. A source close to the committee confirmed that they have begun the search and hopes are that they will be able to access the acceptable ones in no distant time.

Beyond all of these, the issue that was never brought to fore is the policemen on duty at the various banks who are daily slaughtered by armed bandits. The police have lost count of how many of their men fall to the superior power of the armed robbers daily. It is a trite fact that policemen on guard are usually the first target in any robbery operation. It is absolutely impossible to canvass for the withdrawal of these policemen from banks, because their primary role is to protect lives and properties. In the wake of the controversy, the Head of Corporate Affairs, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Festus Odoko, allayed the fears of the public, maintaining that the issue of security was quite important in the sector. He added that the police was part of the society as effort was being made by banks to ameliorate the hazards they face in the course of discharging their duties.

It is quite true that the police are part of the society and cannot be made to abandon that important segment of the society. According to security expert, Jimoh Aliu, while it is good and instructive for the police to call for ACTVs, there was need to equip them too. He maintained that a well equipped police will be able to conveniently combat these incessant armed robbery attacks. He berated the present situation where police are made easy prey for better equipped robbers. Aliu did not absolve the police authorities, advising them to embark on deliberate initiatives to save the lives of its men. The security expert also called for the encouragement of private initiatives which are into bulk cash carriage pending when the ACTVs arrive.

Lending his voice too, a top banker who was at the parley that brought the latest uneasy calm, maintained that the police authorities should share in the present blame, saying that banks pay huge sums of money to maintain the services of the police carrying out guard activities. According to him, “It is not the case that we just go to them to pick their men for free; we pay heavily for their services. The police should also look at the direction of doing its bit by equipping them,” he said. The banks as a matter of fact are doing their best to improve security in the sector, briefing newsmen on the outcome of the last Bankers’ Committee in Lagos recently, CBN’s Director of Banking Supervision, Mr. Ignatius Imala, said the CBN and banks were quite concerned with the issue of security in the sector, adding that every hand was on deck to ensure that the incidence of robbery on banks and killing of security personnel were drastically reduced.

According to Imala, the Bankers Committee had acquired 20 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) with a view to handing them over to the Police to assist them in combating armed robbery attacks, adding that the CBN had earlier conducted a seminar on security for top staff and mangements of banks. “The Bankers’ Committee views seriously the rising wave of armed robbery attack on banks. Apart from conducting a seminar for top staff and management of banks, we have also acquired 20 PAC for the police. This will assist them in the fight against bank robbery,” he said. In all of this, the question that easily arises is ‘can banks do without Police service? The answer is obvious. It is therefore imperative that both sides close ranks and embark on a continuous dialogue with a view to making the sector better secured.

Bank PHB: Unveiling Easy Remit, Apprentice Africa

Akin Adewakun, Lagos

Francis Atuche, MD, Bank PHB

The easiest, fastest, and most convenient means of international money transfer has just been introduced by Bank PHB for Nigerians abroad. PHB Easy Remit, the new product from the Bank PHB stable, is a complete on-line payment application that enables Nigerians in the U.K, the U.S.A and Canada transfer funds into a designated Bank PHB account from their credit/debit cards and bank accounts. It will allow Nigerians abroad or anyone in these countries to send money directly into any Bank PHB account.

The application can be accessed from the bank’s homepage and is powered by PayQuik Inc, an established e-payment solution provider which can be accessed through www.easyremit.bankphb.com Speaking at the product’s unveiling in Lagos over the weekend, the Managing Director of the bank, Mr Francis Atuche, explained that the new product ‘provides Nigerians abroad a convenient and secure way of sending money to Nigeria from the comfort of their homes or offices, using multiple payment options like credit card, debit card and through a direct transfer from their bank account’.

“It also provides Nigerians receiving money from relations abroad a convenient and secure way of receiving money from abroad as the money goes directly into his or her Bank PHB account,” he stated. Highlighting the advantages of Bank PHB Easy Remit over current forms of existing money transfer, Olu Akanmu, Divisional Director, Retail Banking, said PHB Easy Remit offers multiple payment options from credit cards, debit cards or bank accounts. “Money is transferred directly into recipients’ account, making it unnecessary for the recipient to physically visit the branch. The recipient is also notified of the money transferred to his or her account electronically by SMS or e-mail while transferred funds can be monitored online real time to see its progress from when it is transferred to when it is received.”

Olu Akanmu further stated that with PHB Easy Remit, the recipient could withdraw his funds through Bank PHB ATM machines. “It eliminates the chances of impersonation,” he said. The Bank PHB Easy Remit is open to all account holders of the bank. To benefit, interested individuals have to open any account with Bank PHB and can go ahead to request their relations or business partners abroad to remit money directly into their accounts. PHB Easy Remit is another first from the bank that pioneered the Nigerians in Diaspora Account (NIDA) which allows non-resident Nigerians open and operate an account in Nigeria, no matter their place of residence in the world. It also pioneered the Bank PHB House Owners Advantage which allows individuals to convert the locked up values in their buildings to liquid cash.

Bank PHB is one of Nigeria’s fastest growing banks with a strong retail focus. The bank recently concluded its Initial Public Offer (IPO) which is expected to have pulled in about N100 billion and will aid its West African expansion plans. Bank PHB recently acquired a leading bank in Gambia. In another development, Bank PHB had announced that its sponsored Apprentice Africa would hit the airwaves from tomorrow, Tuesday, February 26, and would be aired almost simultaneously in five different countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. In Nigeria, the show airs on Silverbird Television on Tuesday at 9.00pm and Tuesday on NTA at 8.00 pm and a repeat edition on Thursday’s at 10.00pm; TV 3 in Ghana; KTN in Kenya; WBS in Uganda; and ITV in Tanzania.

Apprentice Africa is the African version of the popular TV series “The Apprentice,” produced by Mark Burnet and hosted by US multi billionaire, Donald Trump. Since its premiere in 2004, the show has spawned many licensed international versions as well as several imitations.
The reality series will be the first Africa-wide version of the popular American TV format

which has been a huge success around the world. The Apprentice Africa is an original format of Mark Burnett Productions, creators of other major reality series such as Survivor and The Contender. The TV reality show has been described as the ultimate, sixteen week job interview, where contestants will compete in a series of rigorous business tasks, many of which include major companies and require street smart and intelligence to conquer, in order to show the CEO that they are the best candidate for the job. The CEO of Apprentice Africa is Biodun Shobanjo, Chairman of the The Troyka Group, the holding company for Insight Communications, SKG2, Optimum Exposure, Media Perspective, MediaCom, Quadrant and Halogen, amongst other, which employs over seven thousand Nigerian men and women with turnover in excess of N20 billion per annum.

A consummate advertising and marketing communications practitioner, Biodun Shobanjo, is a perfect choice for the CEO of The Apprentice Africa because as a believer in people, his business style has favoured a mentoring ambience which has spawned protégés who are leading lights of the advertising and marketing communications industry in Nigeria.
Biodun Shobanjo brings to the Apprentice Africa almost forty years of top-notch

corporate experience, entrepreneurial savvy, multi-disciplinary industry experience and a business maxim founded squarely on the belief that success is not negotiable. As he loves to say: “Winning is not everything. It is the only thing!” In each episode, the losing team is sent to the boardroom, where the CEO and his associates judge the job applicants on their performance in the task. One person is fired and sent home. Apprentice Africa is bringing together 18 contestants from Ghana, Uganda, Guinea, Cameroon, Kenya, and of course, Nigeria. Though all the contestants are of African decent, some are Africans in diaspora. There are nine men and nine women. They were selected after a series of auditions were held in different parts of Africa, Nigeria [Lagos, Abuja, Enugu]; Accra, Ghana; Nairobi, Kenya; Kampala, Uganda; London; and Washington DC.

In signing on to bring The Apprentice franchise to Africa, Bank PHB intends to replicate the successes achieved with The Intern show which was last year honoured in the banking category at the inaugural Social Enterprise Report and Award (SERA) ceremony of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) as part of Bank PHB’s untiring efforts at implementing youth-centered and people-focused CSR programmes.

The bank’s dedication to youth-centred programmes is predicated on its commitment to extending the frontiers of education and innovation while building a new corps of future leaders. By bringing The Apprentice-Africa to cable and terrestrial TV as well as the internet, Bank PHB is upping the ante and changing the face of reality television in Nigeria by bringing to our screens a unique, credible and intellectually entertaining programme that impact positively on the society.