THE LENDING CONSTRAINTS OF NIGERIAN COMMERCIAL BANKS

The history of banking and lending dates back to the barter period and the period when sold Smiths were used as acceptors of deposits from the public. Banking developed out of the Gold Smiths who developed the practice of storing people’s gold and valuables for safe keeping. At first, such establishments were simply like were house.

Depositors left gold for safekeeping and were given receipts, which they would present, to the gold Smiths for their gold or valuables after paying a little charge to the goldsmiths. At apt, the goldsmiths discovered that not all to depositors of gold come at the same time to collect them, the goldsmiths started to issue receipts, which evidenced indebtedness, and was transferable out of the gold deposited. The goldsmiths started to lend out these services this marked the origin of lending in the history of banking.

The major difference between the goldsmiths system of banking and today system of banking is that it is not the particular depositor’s money that is given him back when he calls for it but the value of what he deposited whether his own or others in our economy today. There is much development in the system of banking compared with that obtained during the time of goldsmiths.

Today we operate different types of banking: development, merchant and commercial banking with extensive duties and responsibilities. However, in the discourse, we should focus mainly on commercial banking as demanded by the topic.

Commercial banking activities started in Nigeria in 1892 with the establishment of African Banking Corporation. The first bank of Nigeria than the bank of British West Africa was set up in 1894 followed by the Barclays bank in 1917. the banks were set up to provide banking services f ort he colonial administration and British commercial interests.

Then in 1933, the national bank of Nigeria came in to score prior to 1959, when the central bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 1959 added a new chapter in the evolution of commercial banking in Nigeria. The 1969 banking decree fully established commercial banking in the country by requiring all the banks to be fully incorporated.

Industrial and commercial banks and the Nigerian merchantable bank established prior to that time had collapsed the objective of the government was partly to discourage monopoly of monetary transaction by the two established expatriate bank and to liberalize credit facilities for Nigerian, Nigerian enterprises. This is the area that really interest. Thus banks have been called upon to be liberal in their credit  policy.

Nigeria commercial banks while applying their funds mainly in loans and advances encounter problems in credit advances. It is in most cases the rule rather than exception that money advanced to most indigenous customers is often regarded as “our money or my own share of the Ori Boom” while is meant not to be repaid. In the book of most of our indigenous commercial banks. There is a backlog of bad debts. It is any wonder also that while the greatest security for an advance is the personal integrity of the customer, our environmental constraints have made us to make rather indigenous contribution to the world’s banking practice by our insistence on valuable security as a necessary condition f or an advance.

The lending policy of these banks showed that loans were granted to those close to the corridors of lowers without adequate.  Securities, the average Nigerian has always complained grumbled abut his inability to obtain.

Financial assistance by way of credit facility from his bank the customer also complained of how the very strigent conditions for obtaining loans and overdrafts have crystallized the burdens on this way to secure bank credit; he has always believed that only highly placed and influential customers can obtained loans and advances with little or no form of security. This resulted in set backs in the growth and development of these banks so that more funds were being injected to neutralize the situation or restructuring and streamlining the boards of management which led to the existence of state owned banks like the bank of the North, new Nigerian Bank, progress bank etc.

One factor was dominant in the development of the early indigenous banks. This was that they were al founded to assist indigenous businessmen. To certain extents, banking facilities came readily to the door step of Nigerians. In spite of the problems involved, most state governments still see the establishment of the state banks as the panacea for the economic survival od their respective states more state banks have been established in recent years in collaboration with private sector partners as a means of improving the revenues base of the respective state government, and consequently as a means of stimulating the economic development of the state in particular.

It also extended its participating interest in business, enter in to the banking sector following the promulgation of the indigenization decree of 197 and 1977 by acquiring a 60% interest in all the established expatriate commercial banks. As a result of this, all the commercial banks are now indigenous these commercial bank render a lot of services to customers. These services include lending and it is the problems these banks encounter in rendering this service that the want to discuss.

Effective protection of depositors involves not only stringent measures to ensure unpredictable bank losses. Many instruments were therefore used for this and it is these instruments that pose problems to commercial banks, lending. These instruments will be discussed in later chapters of this book and the way they pose problems to commercial bank lending elaborated on.

Commercial bank give how types of credit to their customers namely overdrafts and loans but the researchers are concentrating on loans even thought that overdraft increase is discussed as well as the different types of loans. This issue is therefore a reflection of a remarkable progress of the financial sector in attaining proficiency and recognition its social and economic significance as well as highlights of most of the problems which the success of the sector has brought in its wake. The success and growth and profitability of all commercial banks depends on the satisfactory services which customers receive and the confidence they repose on them.