Kogi State was carved out of Kwara and Benue States in 1991. Prior to this time, the present Yagba West Local Government could only boast of one commercial bank situated at Egbe.
Another commercial bank was opened at Odo-Ere decades ago.
In all, Yagba West LG has two commercial banks and one microfinance bank.
Yagba West comprises of Ogga, Ogbe, Omi, Odo-Ara, Igbaruku-Okeri, Iyana Merin, Odo-Ere, Oke-Ere, Akata, Esia, Egbe, Ejiba, Isanlu-Esa, Okoloke, Okunran, etc.
Last December, bank customers faced enormous hardship when the banks closed down business for fear of armed robbery attack.
Worse still, customers could neither get cash at the counter, nor through the ATM. We had to travel to neighbouring Kwara and Ekiti states just to withdraw money!
As things stand now, most ATMs don’t dispense money, as they are either not loaded with cash or there is no service at all for the ATM machines to be operational.
The few banks that operate are usually jammed with customers.
Egbe alone can accommodate three commercial banks, while Odo-Ere can still accommodate one more commercial bank.
Another idea is for the management of commercial banks to come down to Yagba West LGA and explore the communities such as Ejiba or Igbaruku-Okeri.
Ejiba town is good for banking operations because it is located on Trunk A road and all the communities in the local government area can access the town.
Secondly, the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority, Federal Road Maintenance Agency Office, Local Government Secondary School, UBE Junior Secondary School and no less than five nursery and primary schools are located at Ejiba.
Siting a commercial bank there will reduce the stress encountered by workers and farmers whenever they need to do buisness.
Thirdly, Ejiba is a peaceful community with tight security network offered by the police, the Civil Defence Corps and the community neighborhood watch.
Again, banks can explore the likelihood of siting their branches at Igbaruku-Okeri, as it can serve customers from Ogga, Omi, Odo-Ara, Iyana-Merin, Odo-Ere and other communities.
Jacob Olukoya,
rabbiowa@googlemail.com
