media trend – a news story with the bold and quite
salacious headline “How Safe Are Customer
Deposits At FCMB?” had taken over the digital
airwaves. Between the shares and likes and
comments, a storm in a cup had brewed to great
proportions in a matter of hours. Yet again, a
demonstration that the basic ethics of responsible
journalism and ethical reporting have been thrown
away in business and, indeed, everyday life.
In writing the article, the author had made detailed
reference to alleged cases of fraud involving staff of
FCMB and went ahead to imply that perhaps the
bank’s depositors funds are unsafe.
It is quite of great concern to see so-called
professionals go to town with such alarming
headlines, with the full knowledge that most
Nigerians will not bother to read the actual details.
It is indeed of greater concern that this sort of
material was released in the way it was, when by
his own admission, the author had received specific
information from the bank about its financial
performance and ability to remain a growth driven
and existentially sustainable institution.
I do not have an account with FCMB, neither am I in
any way connected to the bank or its principals. I,
however, do have the simple capacity to read
between the lines and remove chaff from
substance.
In the first place, for FCMB to have increased its
shares in Legacy Pension to make it a full-fledged
subsidiary as reported in this article, it means the
bank is forward-thinking and focused on both
diversifying and improving its service offerings and
earnings. That’s a bold move, when you consider
that the Pensions industry in Nigeria has the
potential to be bigger than the banking industry in
another decade or so.
But even more interesting is the fact that by his very
own article, the author admitted that FCMB’s
deposits grew to N689.9billion as at the end of
December 2017, an increase of 5%, from
N657.6billion in the corresponding year. Do
customers increase their deposit in a bank they
have fears over or which is on the brink? Is it not
only logical that customers are only likely to
increase deposits in a bank where they enjoy good
service and feel at home? For a fact, I know that
the KPMG Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction
Survey 2017 placed FCMB in 5th position in the
entire Nigerian banking industry in Retail Banking,
SME Banking and Wholesale Banking. That’s no
mean feat when you take into account the number
of operators in the industry.
I think what stumped me the most is the fact that
by his own article, the author let us in on key
financial metrics of FCMB, including the fact that
FCMB reported a gross revenue of N169.9 billion
and a profit before tax (PBT) of N11.5billion, while
profit after tax (PAT) was N9.4billion.
At face value, it seems to me that the author for
reasons best known to him or her was determined
to demarket FCMB and portray it in the most
negative light possible. I do not dispute the
possibility that there were some fraudulent activities
– afterall, there is no smoke without fire and that
tends to ring through more in Nigeria than
elsewhere. However, this is an industry challenge –
the Managing Director of the Nigerian Inter-Bank
Settlement System (NIBSS) Adebisi Shonubi (who a
few weeks ago was nominated a Deputy Governor
of Nigeria’s Central Bank) recently shared some
startling statistics on fraud in Nigeria’s banking
industry, revealing the number of reported fraud
cases in Nigerian Banks had steadily risen from
1,461 in 2014 to 10,743 in 2015, 19,531 in 2016
and 25,043 in 2017. It has been argued that frauds
in the Banks are not alien. In the United States of
America it has been said, with compromised credit
cards and data breaches often in the news in the
past couple of years, fraud is top of mind with
many people.
This deliberate attempt to demarket FCMB for
reasons best known to the author also brings to
mind the most recent attack on GTBank over the
Innoson case.
It is not to be forgotten how earlier this month,
social media went agog with news that a court had
directed GTBank to pay 12 billion naira to Innoson
Group, one of its clients with whom it has had a
long-standing court battle. The misleading reports
on social media had extremely sensational
headlines such as “Court Orders GTBank To Pay
14bn To Innoson”; “GTBank Must Pay Innoson 14Bn
Within 14 Days”; “GTBank In Trouble As Court
Orders Payment of 14bn to Innoson”.
It was such a terrible jamboree on social media
that there were certain broadcasts sent across
Whatsapp and other social media asking people to
withdraw their funds from GTBank immediately, on
the premise that the bank would go bankrupt after
payment of N14bn to Innoson. Of course, Nigerians
will not pause to ask whether paying N14bn in
settlement can actually cripple a bank that is widely
considered Nigeria’s biggest bank brand and
clearly, one of the most solid financial behemoths
within the African continent. Nobody stops to
ponder. The fact that this latest melee was a result
of seemingly deliberate attempts to smear the
GTBank brand raises more suspicion about the
recent publication on the same online platforms
questioning the safety of depositors funds with
FCMB.
The GTBank vs Innoson saga has so terribly
deteriorated on the account of sensational
journalism and reportage, that it has taken an ugly
ethnic dimension amongst the unlearned. Thus, on
various online communities and platforms in
Nigeria, you see Nigerians taking sides on the basis
of GTBank being a “Yoruba company” and Innoson
being an “Igbo company”. What a sad reality for a
nation!
First Bank of Nigeria also witnessed the harsh and
merciless bite of sensational reporting when
recently there was commotion over the contempt
judgement against the Bank and some of its key
officials in the case Chief Isaac Osaro Agbara & 9
Ors. v. Shell Petroleum Development Ltd, Shell
International Petroleum Ltd and Shell International
Exploration and Production BV. Before fact could be
removed from fiction, so many broadcasts and
“breaking news” articles had surfaced online, all
leading with headlines that were designed to
damage and not just state the facts.
To make progress as a country and support
businesses to thrive, this approach must be
arrested. Must we sensationalize everything just so
we can earn readership and our 5 minutes of fame,
to the detriment of businesses and companies that
provide livelihood for thousands of families across
Nigeria? I think not.
Even where we need to address real matters arising,
surely, the reporting can be more facts-based and
less about blackmail and demarketing. As my
Yoruba friends have a saying in their language
“Even if they sent you on the errand as a slave,
deliver the message as a free born”. Crying wolf
falsely too many times has serious downsides.
Social media credibility is extremely important for
the dissemination of relevant, topical, up to date
and authentic information. Using it constantly as a
vehicle to settle scores, blackmail and seek for
attention will ultimately harm the reputation of not
only the charlatans in that field but also the real
professionals. The fake news toga will be cast on
all. That will be a big shame. Freedom
presupposes responsibility. Freedom devoid of
responsibility is excessive liberty.
These institutions need protection and we really
need to stop portraying ourselves to the rest of the
world as people always thinking of fraud and sleight
of hand strategies to make ill-gotten wealth. There
are many honest and hardworking people all over
Nigeria. We deserve better than these constant
sensational but fake so called ‘investigative’ write
ups.
Emefulenwanne Ibeayoka is a public analyst writing
from Abuja
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