COVID-19: Why banks would rather donate billions to FG than credit their customers’ accounts

Prior to when an Italian national brought in Nigeria’s first COVID-19 case in late February, many Nigerians perceived the contagious virus as a “white man” disease. Little did they know that barely one month later, most parts of the country would be under lockdown in a bid to contain the virus from spreading. Also, a lot of people did not envisage that the outbreak would come with severe economic consequences.

Fast-forward to present times and Nigeria is really struggling to contain the spread of the virus. The adverse economic impacts have also been grave. As part of efforts to assist the Federal Government to combat the virus, some of Nigeria’s biggest companies, and most notable business executives decided to donate money. They have donated a total of N25.8 billion as of April 17th, 2020.

Nigerian banks have been particularly instrumental in this regard, having contributed a significant portion of the money.
And while the government is very grateful to them, some of their customers are quite displeased. These customers cannot understand why the banks would rather donate to the government instead of crediting their bank accounts directly.

To be fair, bank customers have a good reason to be upset. In Nigeria, everyone has been adversely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. Some people have even lost their jobs, with no immediate hope of getting replacements. Therefore, everyone needs some financial relief which hasn’t been forthcoming, unfortunately. So, it is very understandable for bank customers to expect some money transferred into their accounts by their banks. After all, the banks already have their customers’ account details and could easily send money across to them.

A Social Media backlash against banks

The banks’ “inability” to offer financial assistance to their customers have generated quite a lot of backlash on social media. Some customers even resorted to name-calling, describing the banks as insensitive to the plight of average citizens. They also wondered what the Federal Government is going to do with the billions that have been donated by the companies, even as some other people simply dismissed the donations as a hoax or “audio money.”

You guys don't love your customers … Am indoor starving and hungry .. I have just 300 naira note left with me .. why can't you guys credit my account pic.twitter.com/UNOeEuV0KP

— Fredtony (@Fredtony111) April 14, 2020

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