Chief Adelakun Ade Emmanuel is putting smiles on faces through his thriving agency banking enterprise in Oda Cocoa Board Community in Ondo State. However, the aged retiree and community leader faced serious challenges, moving from bank to bank until First City Monument Bank supported his dream of uninhibited access to financial services in his community. He shared his experience about the challenges and the joy expressed by his people because they now have bank accounts and ATM cards in this interview. Excerpts.
Please kindly introduce yourself and your business
My name is Chief Adelakun Ade Emmanuel. I am the Chairman of Oda Cocoa Farmers Allottee and also the President of Oda Cocoa Farm Co-operatives Multipurpose Union and an Agent Banker of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) in this community.
How was life before venturing into the agency banking service?
I was living well. Life was okay before venturing into agency banking because I was involved in other businesses before retiring as a civil servant. I ventured into farming, and I am doing okay to some certain extent before venturing into agency banking services.
Why did you venture into agency banking services?
As a community leader, I know what my community lacks. So, I am unhappy that we are not developing or growing as expected. Looking around, I cannot see development compared to other places. There are no service provider masts and banks. Instead, you find them over six miles or seven miles away, with about 15 villages and almost 80 hamlets occupied by many people in between us. Anytime we need to visit banks for transactions, the minimum spends on transportation, especially Okada, is N2,500. Yet, we often return home disappointed, which challenged me to do what I can to bring succour to my people and make life better for them. That was the reason I ventured into the agency banking services.
How long have you been an agency banker?
I started some months ago, it’s close to a year now, and to the people, it was as if we started more than a year ago because of the services they enjoyed. Although we are still developing, we are trying to make our people have a taste of what is happening in the town without any stress or problem. As you can see, they are now enjoying equal benefits with those in urban areas or cities, as banking has been brought to their doorsteps.
From your experience, how is this different from other businesses in terms of patronage and profitability?
My experience is that this type of business is quite different from other businesses, like selling tomatoes or other things. I can see the significant impact on the life of others, ensuring they enjoy the same services as those in townships when it comes to banking services. Talking in terms of profit, we are still developing and growing. I started less than a year ago and have made a good impact. We are no longer crawling. So, it’s alright for people like me who are not in a hurry to amass wealth. With time, I believe the profit will start rolling in.
As an agency banking service provider, are you solving problems in your community?
I have solved a major problem in this community by reducing the stress of moving to town to either withdraw or save money into their account. I can tell you categorically that more than 600 people from this community have opened a new bank account with FCMB, and we are still counting. Making money readily available to them when they need it is a great relief to our people in this community.
Is there an achievement you are most proud of as an agency banker?
Yes. Since I established this business, I have been very happy because it helped bring banking services nearer to my people. Getting banking services nearer to my people is what I wanted to accomplish, and I am glad I did that. When I started and consulted, people kept telling me that banks would not come to this area, citing one factor or the other. But I was able to let them see that we could do it. I approached so many banks, but the conditions attached to it cannot be met because they feel this place cannot be okay for them. Still, when I approached FCMB, they expressed their readiness to midwife it. They took it as their baby. That encouraged me to do more by providing and building the houses to taste, like banking hall standards.
I discovered there was no network here, and we could not do any transactions without the internet. I saw it as an opportunity to try as much as possible to get a service provider in this community. I visited the MTN and talked to them. Still, they explained that they could not bring their mast here because it involves millions of Naira. Still, I believe this project must sail through, and they gave an option of Booster. They explained that they could provide me with Booster Station at my own expense to facilitate network access for the business. It also allows me to open bank accounts for my people in this environment without going to town, give them ATMs, and even generate BVN without any stress. Somebody who wants to collect less than N5,000 in the bank will discover that he needs not to spend N2,000 or more on transportation any longer. My community is proud of this development.
Has this business increased your income and standard of living?
Yes, it has. Businesses cannot grow without profit, even in buying and selling. So, the little we generate and what the agency bank generates have increased our profit margin daily.
Do you think it is essential to have a bank account, an ATM Card, and access to micro-credit from a bank?
I have been clamouring for micro-credit loans so that the bank can also assess us and give us the opportunity of micro-credit facilities. Most people in this environment are farmers and have need to boost food production. Without money, we can’t do all these things. We need support to increase food production in the country, which cannot be achieved without financial assistance from banks. We will be happy if FCMB can look towards this side and help us with funds to support our dreams of feeding the nation and developing our community.
Talking about the importance of bank accounts and ATM cards, our people have already opened bank accounts and are getting ATM cards. This has changed so many things in this community, and I think it is an essential part of banking. For example, instead of using other people’s accounts to receive money in town, our people now receive credit alerts directly from family members from different parts of the world. So, having a bank account and an ATM card is very important.
Do you agree with the point of view – no money, no problem?
To me, money solves all problems. If you don’t have money, you cannot solve any problem. In fact, with money, every problem is half solved. This problem starts from feeding oneself, sending your children to school, and taking care of domestic and business activities. Without money, how can one do all these things? The only problem associated with money is that if you have more money, you should expect more problems. Having an excess of money can make one engage in irrelevant activities, but relatively, I believe without money, you can’t solve your immediate problem
What do you regard as the cause of financial difficulties facing people in your community?
What I feel in that situation is that most people lack knowledge on what they are venturing into, especially business. On the other hand, some people are reckless in spending. People in rural areas do not understand the need to take advantage of banking products and services to grow their businesses. Some prefer to patronise mushroom microfinance companies because they do not know how the banking system works.
Bringing FCMB agency banking service to my community has changed the orientation of our people. It is an eye-opener for them to know they can get financial assistance from the bank. This has changed their perspective of the banking system. I will want the FCMB to look in this direction. Since we have established an agency bank here, FCMB should prioritise the financing of our businesses through microloans to boost our business and make the business grow.
What advice can you give to others in this business?
My advice is to maintain their integrity and be prudent in all their activities. They should not betray the trust and confidence the people reposed in them. So, I plead for honesty in this kind of business and putting in one’s best to attract more customers, giving the best service to earn their loyalty and be transparent enough.
They really did a nice job there but they try and improve on their customer care serice.
In business is always to maintain integrity as you said nice article too