The students of Niger College and Maria Goretti secondary school; Benin, Edo State Capital were on Monday, lectured on the culture of savings and financial literacy, by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).
During the lecture session, the Deputy Director, NDIC, Benin Zonal office, Obembe Bayo said the event was to mark the 2023 World Savings Day, an annual event at the instance of the Bankers Committee usually targeted at the young people.
The Deputy Director, NDIC, Benin Zonal Office, Obembe Bayo representing the Deputy Director and Controller, NDIC, Benin Zonal Office, Mrs. Okosun Patricia lectured the students on paper I: “Conquer your tomorrow through savings” – the theme of this year’s event.
Paper II: “Mandates and Operations of Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation” was taken by the senior manager, Communication and Public Affairs Department, NDIC, Sa’adatu Bowson.
The essence of the lectures was to encourage the culture of savings and the healthy financial habits of the individual, Bayo told the students.
Bayo stressed money is saved for the rainy day, and towards actualization of this, different accounts like fixed deposits, savings, and current amongst others, could be opened with multiple established financial institutions.
Bayo noted that budgeting is the key element of savings, it is the instrument that helps as a guide on how money is spent between wants and needs.
Delivering paper II: ‘Mandates and Operations of NIDC’ Mrs. Bowson gave a rundown of the history of the Corporation, and its mandates.
According to Mrs. Bowson, the core mandates include Deposit Guarantee, Banking Supervision, Failure Resolution, and Bank Liquidation which is the last step of action.
Mrs. Bowson added that NDIC protects depositors’ money with banks, through the Deposit Insurance System (DIS) no matter how small the amount. Noting that this is done in a tripartite format: the depositor, the bank that pays a premium to the Central Bank of Nigeria on behalf of the depositor, and the CBN itself. The bank pays the premium on the ratio of the risk it carries; the higher the risk, the higher the premium.
She further stated that NDIC also builds confidence and contributes to the financial system’s stability, as well mentioning that as the Corporation serves as a financial guarantee to protect depositors in case of imminent or actual failure of the bank.
Mrs. Bowson gave data statistics of the Corporation liquidation activities as having covered a total of about 754 banks from 1999 to 30th October 2023. She also stated the breakdown to include 49 Deposit Money banks (DMB), 650 Microfinance banks (MfB), and 55 Primary Mortgage banks (PMB).
In an interview session with journalists, Mrs. Bowson explained that the Corporation took the lecture to schools following the Bankers Committee idea of World Savings Day, of which NDIC is a member.
“Part of the mandate of the Committee is to take sensitization to young people in line with the phrase ‘catch them young’. The whole idea is to inculcate the culture of savings in young people in Nigeria.
“NDIC as an organization has always been very particular about reaching out to schools – secondary and tertiary institutions not only to talk about the mandates of the NDIC but teach the culture of savings and financial literacy especially because when we do that we have a better society, better informed young adults coming into society and at the end of the day, a better society is achieved,” Mrs. Bowson stressed.
The World Savings Day was established on October 31, 1924, that is, 99 years ago during the 1st International Savings Bank Congress in Milan, Italy.
It is reported that Italian Professor Filippo Ravizza declared the day the “International Saving Day” on the last day of the congress.
