INTRODUCTION
In
recent times much has been said as regards the neglect of the rural area in
It
has been argued that over years, paper development strategies and policies for
the rural areas have not been pursued. This has led to a haphazard, not well
defined and problem by – problem policy or rural development in
Given
the lopsided nature of Nigeria development effort with its urban bias, many
scholars, policy makers and government have contended that there is no way we
can simultaneous develop and modernize urban and rural areas and that infact
one of the obstacles to developments is the existence of undeveloped rural
economy.
Consequently,
Mobogunji (1980) asserts that after many years of inadequate emphasis, during
which pride of place was given to industrializations, it is now becoming
generally recognized that rural development represents perhaps the only logical
way of stimulating overall development.
This
has led to the pursuit of different policies and strategies for the
transformation and development of the rural areas. One of such policies is the
rural Banking Scheme embarked upon in July 1977. The banking industry especial
the commercial banking sub-sector was given this challenge of extending banking
services to the rural areas in particular and the
Therefore
Agu (1986) has pointed out that the mobilization of financial resources is the
first step to resource mobilization for development purpose. But the
mobilization of financial resources requires an institutional arrangement which
encourage and mobilizes saving into productive investment. In this way, the
establishment of bank branches in the rural areas and the manner in which they
conduct their business activities and perform their development role are
particularly important since according to Lipsay (1983) if they do not function
monthly, the link between private saving and investment may be broken and the
problem of finding fund for investment greatly intensified.
Unfortunately,
the above warning by Lipsay was not headed to by commercial banks in
The
only institutions that can be used as the magic wand are those financial
houses, which are completely rural based, and not outposts of profit maximizing
financial institutions, those institutions, which understand the rural people,
are very willing to assist in solving their problems without necessarily
attaching a lot of importance to profit maximization.
In
view of the above, the Federal Government introduced community banking as a
strategy to facilitate rural development, as there is a general belief that
commercial banks are not fared well in the realization of government objectives
as rural development.
Community
Banks was conceptualized as a solution to the problem posed by the dearth of
credit at a period when the directorate of Food, Road and Rural Infrastructure
(DFRRI) was making some attempts at rural regeneration. The question then was,
how could the credit need be resolved at the rural level when formal
conventional leading institution for reasons of procedure and cost could not
effectively manage the situation? Given the usual attitude of Nigerians to
government institutions and property, it was through their credit institution
based on private initiatives and adopted to the rural culture, institutions and
security stood a better chance of success. The community-banking scheme was
thus born in the cradle of traditional peer pressure sanction and community
ownership.
At present,
community-banking institutions is the only entrenched in the wheel of
development to monetise the rural and sub-urban economy vis-visa rural development?
Anonymous, U (2020). Community Banking as A Strategy for Rural Development in Nigeria. Afribary.com: Retrieved March 04, 2021, from https://afribary.com/works/community-banking-as-a-strategy-for-rural-development-in-nigeria
User, Anonymous. "Community Banking as A Strategy for Rural Development in Nigeria" Afribary.com. Afribary.com, 04 Sep. 2020, https://afribary.com/works/community-banking-as-a-strategy-for-rural-development-in-nigeria . Accessed 04 Mar. 2021.
User, Anonymous. "Community Banking as A Strategy for Rural Development in Nigeria". Afribary.com, Afribary.com, 04 Sep. 2020. Web. 04 Mar. 2021. < https://afribary.com/works/community-banking-as-a-strategy-for-rural-development-in-nigeria >.
User, Anonymous. "Community Banking as A Strategy for Rural Development in Nigeria" Afribary.com (2020). Accessed March 04, 2021. https://afribary.com/works/community-banking-as-a-strategy-for-rural-development-in-nigeria