THE TECHNIQUES OF IMPROVING COMMUNITY BANKING SERVICES IN NIGERIA

The federal government of Nigeria in 1990 budget speech decided to establish community banks in order to strengthen its programmes of grassroots economic development.The fundamental concept of a community bank is of a self-sustaining financial institution, owned and managed by a community or a group of communities for the purpose of providing credit, deposit banking and other services to its members largely on the basis of their self-recognition and credit worthiness.  This is in contradiction to the near total reliance by the orthodox banks on viable and negotiable collaterals as the basis for giving credit. It is designed to ensure that a community or group of communities may establish a community bank for the purpose of promoting rural development through the provision of finance and banking services, improving the economic status of small-scale producers both in the rural and urban areas, enhancing the rapid development of productive activities especially in the rural area to support desirable and sustainable rural economic growth in Nigeria.

A bank licensed under the community bank decree shall accept from persons various types of deposits including savings and time deposits.  Receive or collect on behalf of its customers, money or proceeds of banking instruments, provide ancillary banking services to its customers, maintain and operate various types of accounts with other banks, and perform such none banking functions as may promote grassroots development within the banks geographical areas and also operate equipment leasing facilities designed to ensure access of its customers to form inputs purchase on a consignment basis for group of client. Community banks in Nigeria banking system dates back to 1990 when budget speech was delivered by the president, commander in-chief of the armed forces, General Ibrahim Babangida.  Since them each state of the federation now has a minimum of at least twenty (20) community banks.  Even the federal capital Territory has four.  These banks are in all part of the country.

National board for community banks is established for monitoring, promotion, development and general supervisions of the community banks.  Hence the banks are under the control of national board for community banks (NBCB) and the Central Banks of Nigeria. As we move into the 21st century, community banks all over the world realize that only those that overhaul the whole of their service delivery systems and operations are likely to survive and prosper in the new millennium.  This is due to the pressure of globalization, consolidation, delegation and rapidly changing technology.  In order to properly place themselves in favourable positions for competition and be one of the corporations to be reckoned within the new century, community banks are making use of information technology (IT).  They have not only started ensuring that their PC per capital use is one for every staff, they have also started bringing PCS together to form local and wide area networks.

Many community banks have installed a modern computer inter-connectivity backbone that would enable them achieve community of data and multimedia over intranets, extranets, and with the whole world, over the Internet.  They also realize that they have to achieve not only management/staff wide computer literacy, but what could e called information literacy, i.e. knowing how to locate, analyse, store and use information.  All staff and managers in a modern community banks need to be able to search and gather data from several different types  of sources, analyse them, select the relevant ones and organize them in such a manner to allow them to make decisions based on the organized data. Community banks of the future realize that the banking of tomorrow requires more of electronic manipulation and shuffling of bits-based money and other banking transactions, instead of paper.

The fact that the rural areas are under developed when compared to the urban areas in true and the fact that there are untapped material and financial resources in these rural communities is also true.  The major problems therefore is how to harness these abundant resources for the development of the rural area through the improvement of banking services based on staff important bearing in mind that these resources are minutely held by the vast population of the rural dwellers.

The banking sector as the prime mover of the nations economic life is seen as the most viable sector to make this dream a reality.  But then, given the Nigerian situation especially Enugu Metropolis with vast area of land and low income base, the task before the community bank are quite enormous with the problem of ignorance and illiteracy of the majority of people whom the banks are dealing with and also the problem of infrastructual facilities which includes good roads, water, electricity, office equipment and residential accommodation for the bank staff who work in these rural areas. But perhaps the most delicate of these problems is the lack of banking habit among the rural dwellers who still use old traditional ways of savings mobilization like the daily savings method or the “ISUSU” of the social meetings.

How can the bank make the rural dwellers less apprehensive of the bank and use the services provided by them to enhance their welfare?

Among the problems include:

1.  Effects of these bank in national economic development.

2. Lack of modern equipment in the community bank.

3. Poor level and quality of services provided by this Ohha community Bank.

4. It is difficult to know the extent discrimination of services has gone in the banking service.

5. The contribution to growth of small scale industries in Enugu Metropolis.

6. It is also difficult  to know the extent of alleviating the urban economic development problems.

The objectives of this study is to analyse the techniques of improving banking services in Ohha Community bank.  These objectives includes:-

1.To find out the effect of community bank in the national economic developments.

2.To ascertain the extent to which lack of modern equipment effects banking services.

3. To find out the extent to which the poor quality of services effect Ohha community bank.

4.To ascertain the extent to which discrimination effects banking services  in Ohha Community bank

5.To determine to what extent contribution of Ohha Community bank to small scale industries in Enugu Metropolis.

6.To ascertain the extent to which these developments effect in urban economic development problems.

This research work was chosen with the intention to analyse the techniques of improving banking services but with particular reference to Ohha Community bank, Enugu.  This is with the view to determining how the bank has been able to change the economic situation of the people around the area. In the analysis, attention will be focused on the contribution of this bank to the growth of small scale industries.  The study covers ascertaining from the bank all necessary information and requirement that will be of help in achieving customers satisfactions.

The following research questions have been designed for analysis:

1.To what extent does the establishment of community banks in Nigeria especially the Ohha Community bank affect national economic development?

2.To what extent does lack of modern equipment affects banking in Ohha Community bank?

3.To what extent does poor services affect the banking services of Ohha Community bank?

4.To what extent does discrimination of services affect Ohha Community bank?

5.To what extent are contributions to growth of small scale industries in Enugu Metropolis?

6.To what extent does these services affect the urban economic development problems?

This research work will be of immense help to the government especially the rural development authority as it will give them the opportunity to access their performance in rural banking development.  It will also be of great value to the community banks to access their performance in the area of services to their customers and improve in the area of poor performance.  Hence it will be beneficial to the generality of the public.  It will also be of great importance to people carrying out research in related topics.

To the economy at large, this study is of great value since rural economic development involves providing these social amenities in the urban areas to the rural areas.  This will e some extent restrict the usual movement of rural dwellers to urban areas.

The movement restriction will lead to massive agricultural and industrial production, the promotion of rural financial and banking services and the promotion of emergence of an effective and integrated national financial system that responds to the need of the whole economy.

BANKER: The bills of Exchange Act  of 1882 defined a banker as a body of persons whether incorporated or not, who carry on the business of banking and having duly made a return to the commissioner of inland revenue, and also any savings bank certified under the Acts relating to savings bank and also any post office savings bank.

COMMUNITY BANKS: A community bank is a financial institution established to cater to the saving and credit needs of small scale producers throughout the country.

BANK SERVICES: Bank service is a professional service, professional service marketing involves all organized activities and programme by professional services designed to retain present customers and attract new ones by sensing, serving and satisfying their needs through the delivery of appropriate service on a paid basis in a manner consistent with creditable professional goals and norms.

TECHNIQUES: This is a manner of artistic execution, the part of artistic work that is reducible to formula, mechanical skill in art or the doctrine of the arts.