FRAUD IN NIGERIA BANKING SYSTEM PROBLEM AND PROSPECTS

CHAPTER ONE

1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

            The entire world has become increasingly aware of the destructive effect of a lack of accountability and transparency in both public and private life. This awareness is so pervasive throughout the world that governments, business organizations and non- governmental organizations alike are involved in crusades to promote accountability and transparency and prevent corrupt practices in all its ramifications. These crusades have gathered so much steam that international award for the “Most corrupt” and least corrupt country” in the world now exist. It is very unfortunate, and a national embarrassment that our father land which we hope to give to our children as a legacy has repeatedly won the former rather than the later price.

 The fraudulence for which our nation was given a price is not located in the sky over our land; it is the aggregation and multiplication of little acts of fraudulence in our interactions with one another (Ezeogu 2007:10).

The dark days of  tyranny, military rule and social enslavement were  thought to be the period in which corruption festered in Nigeria and fraud became common place, but have you ever thought of the role some fraud stars played in the inability of some commercial banks to meet their obligations to its customers, owners, stake holder and the economy?

Has it ever occurred to you to search out how a sizable proportion of financial institutions had liabilities exceeding the market value of their asset, which may lead to ruins and other portfolio shifts and eventually, collapse of the financial system?

Society has long adopted to plunder the noble Nigerian identity and from military to civilian regimes, pubic office holders had followed strictly the unwritten constitution to live up to societal expectations. Values were waded off in exchange for graft and pecuniary benefits, millions were defrauded of their rights to good education, basic health, good roads and electricity, housing has become the preserve of the rich and professionals have lost chunk of their respectability.

The entire world has become increasingly aware of the destructive effect of a lack of accountability and transparency in both public and private life. This awareness is so pervasive throughout the world that governments, business organizations alike are involved in crusades to promote accountability and transparency and prevent corrupt practices in all its ramifications. 

Fraud and errors are occurrences and like winds, they blow no good to any firm, industry, association, business organization and government. Instead they bring regrets, reduced patronage, losses, distress and failure to such business and organizations as mentioned above.

It is not also interesting to know that like the ‘canker worm’, they have eaten deep into the fabrics of the Nigerian financial institutions especially the banks.

It is not uncommon to day to hear of fraudulent acts like uninsured deposits, theft of identity, forged or fraudulent documents, wire fraud, cover of losses by rogue traders, demand draft fraud, and payment card fraud, cheque kitting, management fraud, Automated teller machine fraud etcetera in our banks.

            Ojaide (2000:18) posits,