The new President/Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Segun Ajibola, has said in building on his successor’s achievements while in office, his administration’s focus will be to provide a platform through which the identified skills and knowledge gaps of industry practitioners at all levels can be bridged and to enhance the Institute’s technical, mental, physical and managerial capacity to deliver on its mandate to the banking and finance industry.
Ajibola, who spoke in his acceptance speech recently, said his focus, code-named “the seven Cs mandate,” touches on every aspect of “our life as a frontline Professional Body and a revered Institution in Nigeria.”
Saying that “a distinct feature” of his regime would be its openness to new ideas and the “adoption of superiority of ideas and arguments as a cardinal instrument of management,” Ajibola said his office would do “everything possible to key into the dynamics of the global environment so as not to fall prey to the postulation of Mark Twain,” which was: “twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than the things you did.”
Accordingly, “all the necessary machinery” would be set in motion to commence the implementation of his focus, which he said was capacity building, certification, codification, constructive engagements, communication, creativity and consolidation.
He added that during his tenure, more attention would be devoted to the Compulsory Continuous Professional Development Programmes (CCPD), “to ensure they are in tune with the demand of the time,” saying that a new template to measure the effectiveness and relevance of the body’s programmes under the CCPD would be evolved.
Ajibola said the institute would continue to provide hands-on tailor-made training programmes to the various stakeholders and explore the possibility of introducing cross sector training modules, with main focus on public and real sectors of the Nigerian economy, adding that his administration would look at the possibility of harnessing cross-border training opportunities especially within the West African sub-region.
While thanking the past administration for a job well done, he said under his tenure as the president and chairman of the institute, the physical capacity of the institute would be strengthened through “reassessing the architectural and structural viability of the Lagos Bankers House given our recent not-too- pleasant experience.
“As a matter of urgency, qualified, competent hands will be engaged to harmonise the structural strengths of the building with the recent upgrade to avert any further dislocation.”
Ajibola also said due attention would be paid to staffing in the institute’s quest to strengthen capacity to deliver on its mandates.
“Staffers of right quantity and quality will continue to be engaged at all levels to provide the needed human capital requirements,” he said, adding that the staff’s productivity would be appropriately measured using modern age template and duly rewarded accordingly,” he said.
“The issue of adequate remuneration for the staff, commensurate with best practices would be an important one for this regime. Training and manpower development for the staff of the institute will occupy prime of place under this regime. We will do all within our resources to improve on the capacity of the staffers to enable them deliver on agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPI),” he added.
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