UNILORIN Restates Commitment to Cash-less Policy
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, has reiterated the University’s commitment to the promotion of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cash-less policy.
Prof. Ambali disclosed this penultimate Saturday (January 15, 2014) while receiving the Award for the “Best Tertiary Institution in Promoting the CBN’s Cash-less Policy in Kwara State” won by the University at the 2013 Annual Get-Together and Award Night of the Ilorin Bankers’ Committee held at Kingstone Grand Suite, Ilorin.
The University of Ilorin beat the Kwara State University, Malete; Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin; and the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, to clinch the Award.
Receiving the Award, the Vice-Chancellor thanked the organisers for recognising the University and assured them that the Award would encourage the University to continue to support the products and programmes of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Delivering a lecture on the occasion, the Head, Customer Service, Central Bank of Nigeria, Ilorin Branch, Mr. Chris Eze, urged Nigerians to subscribe to the CBN cash-less policy, noting that the strength of any nation’s economy can be measured by the robustness of its payment system.
In the lecture entitled, “Cash-Less Policy in Nigeria: The Concept and Issues”, the Guest Speaker, said, “A cash-less society is one in which payments for goods and services are carried out with cheques, wire transfers, debit and credit cards, online transactions and mobile banking rather than the use of physical cash,” adding that “Nigeria has been lagging behind in the adoption of e-payments and this is a major disadvantage in many respects.”
While assuring Nigerians that the cash-less policy intends to reduce and not eliminate the use of cash, Mr. Eze, who is fondly called “the Cash-less champion” in the state, said that it would also reduce election rigging, kidnaping and armed-robbery in the country.
Earlier in his remarks, the Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, who was also the recipient of “Leadership Visionary Award” at the event, commended the untiring effort of the Ilorin Bankers’ Committee in driving the financial stride of the state government.
The Governor, who was represented by the State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ademola Ba’anu, pointed out that his Administration had made great efforts towards the provision of an enabling environment for the progress of the banking sector in the State.
In his own remarks, the Branch Controller, Central Bank of Nigeria, Ilorin, Mr. Onoriode Olotewo, implored all end-users to leverage on the incentives provided by the Bank to improve lending to the real sector for the nation’s economic development.
Other organisations that also won Awards for promoting the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) products included the Ilorin Zone of the Union Bank of Nigeria, Heritage Microfinance Bank, Oro-Ago; Shoprite Retail Supermarket Nigeria Limited, Ilorin and LG Electronics.
Among the University officials that accompanied the Vice-Chancellor to the event were the Bursar, Mr. Saka Yusuf; the Deputy Director, Centre for Research, Development and In-house Training (CREDIT), Dr. Umar Gunu; and the Deputy Director, Corporate Affairs, Mr. Kunle Akogun.
Also in attendance were the CBN Branch Controllers in Bayelsa and Ekiti States, Mr. Samuel Ogungbaye and Mr. A. Silvestre respectively; the Head, Currency Management Unit of CBN, Mr. Alonge Moses; the Managing Director, Lower Niger River Basin Authority, Mr. S. Afolayan and representatives of commercial banks operating in Kwara State. (Via: UNILORIN.EDU.NG)
