The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, has commenced public awareness to inculcate monetary saving habits and other financial literacy among students and grassroots communities.
The Sokoto State Coordinator of NDIC, Bello Kaoje, stated this during the 2021 Financial Literacy Day celebration organised by NDIC at Sultan Bello Secondary School, on Wednesday, in Sokoto.
The event tagged: ”Learn, Save and Earn” was attended by no fewer than 150 secondary school students.
Mr Kaoje underscored the importance of monetary saving habits among Nigerian students, as part of the efforts to ”Catch Them Young” to cultivate good financial habits.
He said the good saving habits would encourage prudence, transparent dealings and growth of businesses, in view of the need to breed empowered individuals in the society.
The coordinator urged participants to be wary of financial frauds going on through online banking services, Points of Service (POS) Operators and other forms, which mostly occur due to greed and eagerness to obtain cheap proceeds.
He said that NDIC had core mandates of depositor’s guarantee, banking supervision, failure resolutions and bank liquidations.
According to him, from 1994, NDIC has so far undertaken liquidations of 49 Deposit Monetary Banks (DMBs), 367 Microfinance Banks (MFBs) and 51 Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) in the country.
”As at August 2021, there are 30 Deposit Money Banks, 874 Microfinance Banks, 34 Primary Mortgage Banks and 22 Licensed Monetary Money Offices, ” he said.
Umar Usman-Maitasamu, the Director of Entrepreneur Risk Management Directorate of NDIC, led students question and answer session, in different financial transactions and banking services as well as resolutions.
He urged people to approach NDIC on suspicious misdoings to resolve those issues relevant to its mandate and refer others outside its activities to other institutions.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Sokoto State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Musa Gobir, described the event as timely and relevant in recognition of the present happenings in the financial sector.
Mr Gobir said that such an event would broaden students’ perceptions on financial literacy and give them the opportunity to learn proper financial discipline in the future.
The School Principal, Ahmad Bello, thanked NDIC for the efforts and urged other financial institutions to emulate it.
NAN
