Umaru Ibrahim, the managing director/chief executive of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), has stated that there is need to always strike a balance between financial performance indices and non-finance value creating measurements in determining banks’ board performances.
Ibrahim gave the advice at the 2014 CBN – FITC Continuous Education Programme for directors of banks in Lagos and emphasised that rather than concentrating on financial measurements such as capital adequacy, asset quality, liquidity, profitability and efficiency, it had become imperative for boards of financial institutions to equally focus attention to indices such as effective risk management, gender equality and family friendliness as well as staff compensation, development and sustainability.
According to him, there was widespread poor perception of banks in terms of their social contributions and economic impacts. He therefore suggested that a critical measurement of social cost and benefits of banks’ operations would assist them in putting themselves on the path of sustainable growth; thereby contributing to the country’s economic development.
The NDIC boss said it was becoming increasingly important for any bank that wanted to attract the best talents to put in place policies that would attract more eligible females among their employees and their boards by adopting family friendly and flexible working conditions.
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On risk management, Ibrahim charged boards of banks to understand the major risks to their businesses and appreciate their financial impact; adding that banks’ boards should “assume nothing, believe nobody and check everything.”
He advised board members to take their responsibilities more seriously by appreciating the enormous legal responsibilities of their positions and the need for continuous self-development to sharpen their skills and competencies.
