There is urgent need to establish Education Development Bank to facilitate the achievement of 21 per cent budget ratio for education prescribed by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has said.
President/Chairman of Council, CIBN, Uche Olowu, who made the call during a Stakeholders Engagement with President Muhammad Buhari, said the bank would manage all subsisting intervention funds set up toward ensuring education for all and enhancing its quality in the country.
According to him, the establishment of the bank would provide the platform for all the strategic stakeholders in the education sector to access short to long term loans at single digit interest.
The Institute expressed concerns on the erroneous public impression that banks are making huge profits at the expenses of the other sectors of the economy without any empirical evidence. Olowu further expressed the concerns of the banking industry on multiplicity of taxes by various governments which has continued to hamper their business operations and provisions of Land Use Act impacting negatively on their abilities to extend mortgage backed facilities.
He therefore appealed for the urgent harmonization of the taxes to reduce the burden on the banks and review the Land Use Act to expressly state property and security rights and address the bureaucratic process occasioned by Governor’s consent.
The CIBN President acknowledged President Buhari’s political will and tenacity of purpose to rebuild the economy and address the security challenges in the various parts of the country and reaffirm the commitment of the banking and finance industry to towards ensuring a stable and secured financial system.
President Buhari therefore urged the state governments to assist to address the issues by simplifying and rationalizing land matters and promised to look into the other concerns of the industry.
He stated that he was proud to see the branches of Nigerian banks when he visit other African countries stressing “ i will ask all your members to continue to be great ambassadors of Nigeria as they expand within Africa and beyond”.
