By; USMAN NASIDI, Kaduna.
In an effort to ensure proper awareness on the need for people to embrace the policy of Financial Inclusion Act enacted by the Kaduna State Government, the Rigasa Action and Awareness Forum (RAAF) has organized a one-day programme for the people of the community.
During the event held on Sunday at the Government Day Secondary School (GSS) Makarfi Rigasa, with the sole aim of orienting people of the community, the resource person, Ahmad Salisu explained that there’s the need for people to embrace the policy with good faith to eradicate poverty.
Ahmed Salisu, who is an experienced banker with over 15 years experience both in Islamic Finance & conventional banking, disclosed that it’s a welcome development that the RAAF found it worthy to inform its people of the need to be financially inclusive and it will go a long way in eradicating poverty and the people of Rigasa Community will be financially inclusive.
He added that, just like the word explains, financial and inclusion, they want people to be included in the finance, though it’s not everyone that is inclusive in the non-formal sense, but once they are included financially, they want people to be included formally, which is why the act was passed, hence that has been an issue that has been ongoing for the past 11 years because it started since 2012.
Ahmad said, “we want everyone to be formally financially inclusive, in the sense that they upgrade using formal ways so that they can have access to savings, have access to payment, have access to insurance and loans when the need arises.
“This policy was actually design to encourage the rural dwellers, especially the women to embrace the formal financial sector because they’re actually exclusive and they lose a lot of opportunities. Now if they embrace this policy, they feed not only themselves, but their communities and it is hoped that poverty will be greatly minimized.
According to him, RAAF has really done well for themselves and the community which they represent, by ensuring that everyone in the community is financially literate and financially inclusive.
“We know how we suffer in poverty and we’ve the population and means to make sure we bring ourselves out of this poverty, and RAAF has gone a step further to ensure that it brings this knowledge to it community by creating awareness and what is required after this awareness is action just as the name indicate RAAF, so now that the people of Rigasa are aware, it is hope that they will take action to be financially included to eradicate poverty in Rigasa community.
While responding, the Chairman RAAF Caretaker Committee, Yusuf Wada Muhammad, explained that they were told by some parties that the Kaduna State Government under the leadership of Senator Malam Uba Sani has enacted a law, Financial Inclusion Act, which is meant for individuals to be included in the financial regulations of the policy.
He added that, they came to realize that the same act has been on ground for so long, but they are not in the picture, therefore, they seek the consent of a resource person far away from Zaria to come and inform them or enlighten them about it and how they are going to be included.
He said, “when he came, he gave us the insight of what financial inclusion act means because we don’t even know that we also have capital to invest in other to benefit from the little money we have in the Banks, and we don’t know that we can gain from it not until he came to inform us, so we are very much happy to be aware and we are trying our best to see that we inform our community, so that they too should be involved.
“This is not limited to those who have account at the Bank because those that do not have account in our conventional Banks, they can also have an e-wallet from the various e-wallets that we have, because all they need is your phone number and an account can be opened for you in the e-wallet, then you can have access, while you can be included financially because they have various categories of inclusions depending on were you belong.”
Yusuf Wada, advised the general public to try and understand actually what the policy is, what it means and how it will benefit all, while they shouldn’t pull back but rather try to get themselves involved because almost majority percent of the people have account number, while in as much as they have an account, they can be included so that they can benefit.
