To curb restiveness in the Niger Delta region, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has organised agricultural and small medium enterprise credit scheme for indigenes. 

According to CBN’s Acting Director Corporate Communications and Head of Fair, Isaac Okoroafor, the Scheme, is part of commitment by the bank to ensure economic stability and prosperity for Nigerians.Speaking during the CBN fair sensitisation programme in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Wednesday Okoroafor said the efforts of the Bank through its monetary policy programmes and various ingenious development finance initiatives had played significant role in lifting the economy out of recession.

Represented by Chukwudum Nzelu, of the Department of Development Finance, he said Rivers State is the 34th state the CBN Fair would be taking place. He said the CBN fair sensitisation is to explain policies, programmes and initiatives of the Bank, and also provide means of getting redress on issues in which the public felt short-changed in dealing with deposit money banks, and the activities of the bank.

Also speaking, Jonathan Yusuf, of the Department of Development Finance, said CBN had brought out five interventions to help farmers and people with small scale medium enterprise to access loan from their bank.Yusuf said the CBN would help farmers that want to access loan to get back some of the money if the loan went bad, saying: “CBN will return back 40 per cent of the interest paid by the farmer to service his loan at the end of the payment service to the farmer.

“CBN has the Anchor Borrowers Programme, where farmers who are into cooperatives are grouped or teamed up to borrow and cultivate the same item or crops, and bargain with a buyer on a price to sell the proceeds after harvest,” he said.

On his part, Abubaka Albasu, from the Consumer and Protection Department, said CBN had taken a lot of steps to recover money borrowed by costumers without harassment, adding that the Bank had also made efforts to make sure that customers don’t lose their money while keeping it in the bank.

“CBN has made efforts to ensure that customers don’t lose their money while banking online through the Internet by making sure that customers’ details are kept confidential by the bank,” Albasu said, and urged customers to have the knowledge of any transaction in the bank before they accepted it.