By Damilola Adeyera
As countries like Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States are battling to conquer the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigerian banks Nigeria have begun to impose strict measures to ensure the safety of their staff and customers.
Our correspondent who visited some banks in Lagos, on Tuesday, observed that before customers were granted access into banking halls to carry out their transactions, they were required to wash their hands with soap and water, fill a register, and have their body temperature measured by security officials attached to them.
This development came on the heels of the latest update on the pandemic by the Nigeria Centre For Disease Control, NCDC, which stated on its official Twitter handle that Nigeria had recorded 42 confirmed cases, 39 active cases, two discharged patients and one death. And the figures seem to be growing by the day.
A customer relations officer of a new generation bank, who spoke off-record with our correspondent, said the strict measures became necessary in order to ensure the safety of bank officials and customers. Furthermore, the official revealed that customers were required to maintain social distance as only 10 customers were allowed into the banking hall at a time.
Although some customers supported the initiative, others grumbled they were being unnecessarily delayed. A customer, who identified himself simply as Mr. Friebi gave kudos to the bank, saying the measures were for everybody’s benefit.
“What the banks are doing is for everybody’s good,” he said. “It has no way affected my daily routine. I will advise everybody to be patient and follow whatever protocols the government may prescribe.”
As for Mr. Lanre Ogunbanjo, a businessman, Nigerians needed to reduce the rate at which they visit their bank as the new measures put in place by the financial institutions will slow them down, and cripple them from achieving objectives for the day.
“I just came and I met this long queue,” Ogunbanjo complained bitterly. “I do not know whether to leave or stay because it will surely slowing down my transaction. It’s going to eat up my time. They should give us something to protect ourselves. Once it is 4 o’clock, every bank will close and some of us will be left stranded, unable to achieve our aims of coming to the bank.”
Another customer, Mr. Lawrence Arogundade, also advised people to shun banks for now. “There’s nothing bad in selecting people,” he told The Crest. “But what matters most is that if you don’t have anything tangible to do in the bank, what’s the point coming? There’s no point coming because you can do whatever transaction you want to do on your phones. You can use the ATM. You can withdraw at the ATM and you can do your transfer, local and international, on your phone.”
For Emmanuel Eyo, more work needed to be done by the banks. Pointing to the thermometer in the hand of a security official, Eyo said: “They need to provide better facilities for their customers than what they are holding. The measures they have put in place are not enough.”
