| ENUGU – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has called on Nigerians to embrace its poverty alleviation initiatives to improve their economic wellbeing.
Its Head of Consumer Protection Department, Hajiya Khadijat Kasim, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Monday that the idea was to partner with the people at the grassroots to enable them to lead a better life.
Kasim, who spoke on the sides of a five-day workshop to educate the customers on the bank’s customer protection initiatives, said it would create a partnership with grassroots customers,
“We are coming with a message of protecting consumers of financial products and services and to tell them of our existence and what we do as a department,” she said.
She said the partnership was aimed at espousing the benefits accruable from the various initiatives the bank was rolling out.
“The CBN desires to partner with the people at the grassroots to get them become members of the formal financial system of the economy,” Kasim, who is a director in the bank, said.
She stressed the need for those in the rural areas to own bank accounts as well as subscribe to the various products and services that were particular to them at affordable costs.
Kasim said that it was also the responsibility of the department to ensure that bank customers got quality services and were shielded from undue exploitation.
She said that customers had the opportunity to direct their grievances to the CBN if they felt dissatisfied with services rendered by the commercial banks.
“We want to inform the people that we now have a redress mechanism at the CBN.
“If you feel dissatisfied with the services rendered to you and fail to get redress from your bank, you can channel such complaints to the CBN,” Kasim said.
She said the apex bank was collaborating with the Consumers Protection Council to protect the rights of the people.
She, however, urged the members of the public to embrace financial literacy to enable them to analyse the various products, services and trends in the market.
The workshop is designed to address the various segments of the public in the South East, including the elite, artisans and the rural populace in their dialects. (NAN) |
