The Chancellor of Gregory University, Prof. Gregory Iyke Ibe has said that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele should publish the names of South-East people, CBN he has granted loans to develop their farm and other businesses .
He was reacting to a recent press release issued by the apex bank , alleging that South Eastern people does not request for loans to develop their farming and other businesses.
Ibe described the statement as blatant story-telling , aimed at discrediting the Igbos, “So that people will think, when injustice is perceived, that South Eastern people are to blame for not benefiting from CBN loan.
He explained that as long as the Igbo business men and women are put through struggle to get loan for importation of goods, prices of goods will continue to be on increase.
He stated that if Emefiele “really call himself an Igbo man, though he is from Delta, he should so far publish the names of South East business people he has succeeded in helping to secure the CBN loans.
He cited example with his Songhai farms, which he explained, applied for loan to develop their Songhai initiative but their request was not granted.
“We used bank of industry, bank of Agriculture, went round and round, nobody gave us loan. And finally, all his pronouncements for the money they kept for Healthcare institutions, everything we applied through banks met their water loo, and ended in that place. So trying to blame South-East people, who are more business oriented and more business inclined, amounts to playing to gallery”, Ibe said.
He said that his organization is ready to present documentations to prove what he is saying , adding that South Eastern people are more inclined to do any agricultural venture to make sure that they feed their people.
“We are ready for it, in fact when I got the news, I sent it to some of the bankers who have denied us loan, and they said we should not mind CBN, that they are playing to the gallery , so that people will think , if there is perceived injustice to SE, they will be the ones to blame”, Professor Ibe stated.
He made reference to a particular agricultural programme, which CBN introduced to help agricultural business men and women, “initially, they were giving between N50 million to N100 million to applicants.
“But by the time the people I taught entrepreneurship, agricultural Business men from the south East and students from the universities in the S/E, who have designed their thinking, prepared and decided to get the loans to go into their different ventures, they reduced the money to N5 million.
“ I know that 5 million can start up something, but it shouldn’t be the money for that type of agric venture that is not aimed growing food for the family, but for proper commercial farming. Even then, all those people that applied, I want them to tell us how many people they granted the loans, the y should try to publish it for South East, let them also request to know how many S/E people that applied and were not given”, he Ibe challenged.
He decried a situation where CBN policy will restrict South Eastern business people , who have between 30 to 40% of the money in Lagos, more in Aba and Onitsha, will be barred from exporting goods or sending more than ten thousand dollars for their export transaction because they don’t have bureau de change business, “and these are the people that have chains of businesses, scattered all over Nigeria”.
