Tsunami In Intercontinental Bank: The Untold Story

The idiom thrives in the corporate world that bank workers are orphans, and recent events in the sector lends credence to this. The hurricane in the banking industry that was ushered in by the imperious CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, does not require a rehash here. We all knew how the appiontment of the Prince of Kano brought a watershed in the banking system. Those that were paraded as kingpins under the Soludo era, became objects of sheer ridicule under the Sanusi dispensation. For better or for worse, Sanusi salvaged the industry. However, the misdeeds that have made some of these banks that were believed to be healthy, to now begin to merge, leaves alot of questions to be asked. Many were shocked to their bone marrows when Ecobank acquired the once 'sublime' Oceanic bank, and surprise do not adequately explain the feelings of many when Access bank took over Intercontinental bank. The expediencies that made all these inevitable remains a theme of debate. However, the alarming sack of staff of Intercontinental bank by the 'power that be' at Access bank, can only be described as inhumane and pathetic. Depending on who you choose to believe, about 1,500 to 2,000 staff were affected out of the over 4,800 staff the bank has. Many that have been in the bank for about 5 to 10 years, were shown the door without their gratuities or any other fringe benefits. As if the penury was not enough, those staff that were fortunate to remain had their salaries and allowances slashed. In fact, everyone were to receieve an entry level salary, irrespective of qualifications or experience. For the axed staff that went to find reprieve in the court, they left disappionted. The court claimed that the working contract they had was with Intercontinental bank, not Access, thus, justifying the whims and caprices of Aig Imhokhuede and his cohorts at Access bank. Suffice it to say, one understands that Access bank, having newly acquired Intercontinental bank, must embark on some drastic measures. But, there is always a better way of doing things. At a time when the unemployment creed has become a song on everyone's lips, this development has come to add more venom to an already open wound. For all his verbose and scatching remarks, only time will tell if all these Sanusi's reforms will bring lasting sanity in the banking sector. Nonetheless, while injustice is meted out to workers of Intercontinental bank, the admirable crichton (Sanusi), has turned a deaf ear. Imagine how many lives are dependent on these staff that have now been sacked. It does not require a strech of the imagination to see that with this debacle, the rate of crimes and other societal anomalies, will skyrocket. Penultimately, it goes without saying that job security in our country is equal to zero.