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Customers Charge Commercial Banks On Improved Services

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Bank customers in the country have called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ensure commercial banks live up to their mandate of satisfying customers.
They made the appeal in separate interviews with newsmen on Sunday in various parts of the country.
The Tide reports that many of the customers were at various bank premises trying to withdraw cash from the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
A cross  section of them decried poor services by the banks, especially in ensuring adequate provision of funds in the ATMs at weekends and public holidays.
A visit by  The Tide correspondent to most of  the centres at the weekend showed long queues at the very limited ATMs within the various premises.
“The bank management is aware of the usual chaos at ATMs during weekends, holidays or festive periods and ought to have made adequate provision, by ensuring sufficient funds in ATMs.
”It is very unfair that the interest of customers is not considered by the banks and the government should try and look into the matter for the good of the poor masses,” a customer, Adams Malamute said.
It was reported that at the  Area 3, Garki, Abuja,  where many bank branches were situated, fewer customers were seen making withdrawers and majority of the ATMs were dispensing cash.
A customer at the Guarantee Trust Bank, Mr Alfred Agula,said he drove all the way to town to withdraw money because he wanted to avoid long queues.
”The economy is very tight and one has to manage every resources he has, if only adequate provisions were made by those in power, things will be easier for all of us.
”We are on Sallah holiday and as you can see, very few people are seen withdrawing money, because everybody is broke, there is no money in the economy.
It was also a tale of frustration for many bank customers during the Eid-el-Kabir celebration in the South West zone as many ATMs  failed to dispense cash.
Long queues were also a permanent feature at  most banks’  premises.
In Oyo State,  some of the customers  lamented about the long queues and insufficient funds in the machines, urging the banks to evolve new measures aimed at  resolving the challenges.
But an official of a commercial bank, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak out said that  the situation was due to high patronage at  ATMs during festive periods .
She said that funds were loaded into the ATMs based on  availability, saying an official  of the bank had  been designated to load the ATMs as soon as fund was available.
”A bank official works  at weekends and public holidays to attend to issues at the ATMs,’’ she stated.
In Ogun, customers  also faced similar hitches and called on banks in the state to step up measures to ensuring  easy  cash withdrawals  through  ATMs.
Most,  if not all ATMs in the Ijebu-Ode metropolis,  are concentrated on  the Folagbade-Ibadan road in Ijebu-Ode, a situation the banks attributed to security reasons.
Mrs Adeola Akinyemi, a teacher in Odogbolu,  said residents of the area and the neighbouring Ikenne town always had difficulties using ATMs.
An official of one of the commercial banks in the area,  who pleaded anonymity,  pointed that the patronage of ATMs was usually high during festive periods.
He, however, said that the bank was trying its  best to fix the problems as they came up.
According to him, each ATM takes as much as N8 million with N2 million of N1,000 notes in each of the four trays in each machine.
The bank official said that security guards from private firms were always available around  the gallery to offer assistance to customers in need to quicken process of withdrawal.

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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