TO further aid early financial literacy and foster financial inclusion, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has donated handbooks on banking to the Lagos state Ministry of Education.Speaking at the presentation of the books to the state's Commissioner of Education at the weekend, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Mr. Umaru Ibrahim, noted that the move was in line with the efforts of the corporation aimed at enhancing the general public on basic banking and financial matters.According to him, the move was spurred by the need to enhance financial inclusion and close the widening gap of the unbanked population in the country.'While significant developments have occurred in the financial services industry in recent times, available evidence shows that an average Nigerian bank customer lacks the requisite knowledge necessary for making important financial and investment decisions.'As a result of this lack of basic knowledge of financial issues, many bank depositors had suffered some losses by placing their funds in illegal and unlicensed institutions not insured by the corporation. Thus the corporation had taken several measures aimed at enhancing the financial literacy of depositors. This is one of such moves,' he added.On her part, the state's Commissioner of Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye commended the corporation for the presentation, noting that the ministry would ensure that the handbooks were properly distributed.'Insurance can only compensate bank customers when their banks fail. However, this move is a proactive measure to ensure that customers are well protected. There is a need to foster public private partnership (PPP) in order to enhance the growth of the key sectors of the economy as well as the education sector,' she added.Ibrahim further noted: 'In its determination to continue to enlighten the banking public, the corporation has introduced some basic knowledge on banking for education of our secondary schools students, so that they can have early good start in financial literacy.'Explaining the rationale behind the decision, he said that the book, 'Basic knowledge on Banking', covered basic issues that would aid understanding of the principles and practice of banking in the country and thus, would help enlighten the public.He, however, disclosed the corporation's plans to expand the distribution of its basic knowledge on banking booklets to all Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) nationwide.
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