The National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA) chartered has described the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) set up by the federal government in the third quarter of 2024 as a well-intentioned and well thought out initiative.
In a statement issued on behalf of the Institute by the Registrar/Chief Executive, Prof. Chris Onalo and made available to The Nation at the weekend, he said the presidential economic policy statement subsumed in the “consumer credit culture” is gradually redirecting the county towards the adoption of a credit economy.
In the statement which reads in part, Onalo said, “As a statutory professional body established by law to control, supervise and regulate credit management profession in Nigeria, as well as advising, supporting and making actionable recommendations to the federal government on all matters relating to credit economy management in the country, the National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA) chartered is duty bound to educate and inform Nigerians that the current hardship being experienced by a larger population of citizens is the cumulative effects of the inability of the past governments’ economic policies to construct a people-centered system that supports productivity, entrepreneurship actualisation, job and wealth creation, and impactful industrialisation.”
Expatiating, he said, “Given NICA’s status as an independent, statutory professional entity, we believe that the economic revamping measures which Tinubu’s administration has embarked upon, regardless of the slow pace at which it is running, can be better described as laying foundation for a cornerstone economy that will withstand any shock.”
Onalo further emphasised that “Any nation’s economy that has inbuilt robust access to credit, in this case, and in the first instance, loanable funds by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the country, particularly in an environment of emerging market, such an economy will grow exponentially; the people becomes essential stakeholders and centre-piece of the nation’s industrialisation drive, leading to employment creation, better standard of living and multiple revenue generation windows for various arms of government.”
According to him, “President Tinubu, contrary to the perceptions of some quarters, is quietly and carefully laying a cornerstone. In the context of economics, I am referring to a fundamental or crucial element that forms the base of an economic system, essentially acting as the foundation upon which everything in the economy is built; alluding to a key component that is vital for the proper functioning of the economy, similar to how a typical cornerstone is the first and most important stone laid in building construction.”
“NICA’s position as an impartial professional regulatory body for the people and organisations in the art and science of credit management economy enables NICA to see what many people cannot see, understand and interpret what many people do not know about in the various frameworks for the development of a credit economy and its management.
“The ongoing consumer credit administration initiative of the federal government which is designed to actualise the dream that Nigerians can now buy most of their life enhanced consumer items without needing to drop cash at the point of sale is a strong economic widening and improved living standard scheme; this is being midwifed by the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) set up by the federal government in the third quarter of 2024.
“Similarly, to ensure that goods, products and services are enormously available in the market for the consumption of Nigerians using buy today, pay tomorrow mechanism, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu went a step further to announce the plan of his federal administration to establish and take-off the operation of what he called “National Credit Guarantee Company (NCGC)”.
