Microfinance Banks, Soludo’s Greatest Legacy, Says Ogbeh

Former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said weekend that the issuance of licenses for the establishment of microfinance banks was the best legacy of Professor Chukwuma Soludo as Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.
He said the initiative had already impacted positively on the well being of peasants across the country.
Chief Ogbeh made this known at the commissioning of one of the microfinance banks, Mega Microfinance Bank in Abuja. He maintained that microfinance banking remained the bed rock for the development of the Nigerian economy as its primary aim was to give loan and credit facility to small scale businesses which according to him constitute over 70% of the real economic sector of the country.
“The conventional banks to some extent does not cater for the less privileged of the society, therefore, the microfinance policy is about the only policy of this administration targeted at eleminating the sufferings of the poor and has given hope to the peasant man and woman who had no place to go in the past and no body to tell their stories, now can access loans through the microfinance banks”, he said.
Chief Ogbeh, who is also the Chairman of the Mega Microfinance Bank advocated the creation of more microfinance banks in remote area of the country, especially in the volatile Niger Delta region to reach the very poor and to provide loans to some of the restive youths who may be willing to start micro business.
That way, he said, the violence and restiveness in the area could be reduced .
Earlier, the Managing Director of Mega Microfinance Bank, Mrs Dorathy Uko, in her remarks said microfinance banking was the solution to Nigeria’s ailing economy since a larger population of the country was poor and and involved in small scale business.
She, however, maintained that the bank in its short period of operation was able to give out N200 million micro loans to small and medium scale entrepreneurs in Abuja and that the bank already had about 5000 customers.
She further stated that the little fund raised by shareholders could not cater for all their customers who were in genuine need of fund for their businesses.

She therefore called on government and corporate bodies to make more funds available to microfinance houses for onward disbursement to small scale entrepreneurs .
Former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Mrs Biodun Olujimi , one of the dignitaries at the commissioning described microfinance banks as the financial pillar of the poor and the center point of economic development of any country .
She commend Mrs Dorathy Uko for the initiative , saying that the bank would enhance the well being of the very deprived poor Nigerians as they now have hope of resuscitating their small businesses .