Wow, First Bank?
My First Bank ATM debit card expired in February and my frequent traveling made it hard to go get another one.
In April, I stopped by at Motorways Centre Oregun but the number of customers in the queue drove me away. Since then, it has been one leg in Nigeria, one leg out.
But today, I drove to the Adeniran Ogunsanya branch of the Bank where I opened the account in 1996 as a Corper( Law’d ‘ave mercy, that’s 29 years ago?), I was prepared to waste time so I braced myself.
But on entering the banking hall, I was directed to a vending machine. One of the officers elected to help me but I politely turned down the offer.
I love to challenge myself with new stuff like this to engage my faculties and learn in the process. I had a similar experience in Abidjan trying to do security checks for self profiling at the airport.
It should take about three minutes, but it took me five minutes to have my card printed because I didn’t know when the first OTP dropped on my phone.
Wow…I was pleasantly amazed and happy that such innovation is available. I was informed that First Bank has about three automated branches in Lagos where everything is self-service. I heard that GTBank at Unilag has similar machines at a few of their branches.
That’s a great development. And you know I report both the good and the bad, even the ugly.
But this is not just about Bank card vending machines. That’s why as I drove out, my mind started asking questions.
If we have automated self-serving machines that print ATM cards, we can have automated self-serving machines that can print National Identity Cards.
We can also have similar self-serving machines to print Voters Cards, Drivers License, and any other security imbeded card system bypassing human to human interactions and make things easier for Nigerians.
At the MMIA International Terminal 2, there are self check-in machines, but they’re there for decoration. In over 65% of the top 20 airports in Africa, self check-in is already in operation.
But do you know why they won’t install these self-service machines, and where they install them, they’d ensure they’re not functional?
Do you know why?
Because such technology innovations removes human-to-human interactions, and such is not good for Nigerian public servants because it brings in efficiency, and gets work done within stipulated periods.
Moreso, anything that cuts off human interactions in Nigeria, and makes processes more efficient, also gives bribery and corruption a Tysonian uppercut.
Inefficiencies were embedded in the system to generate frustrations which pushes people to look for ways out, enabling the officials to present “palm-greasing” windows as the only options.
The Nigerian system is designed in such a way that lack is weaponised as the quality assurance gatekeeper that ensures people have been fully mentally rewired so that they struggle for the basics under the Sun and in the rain.
Such that whenever the controllers of the national patrimony feel like, they release small fresh air like 30 kilometres, then the people would be singing alleluia “at all at all, na im be whinch.” That’s classical”Crumbs Strategy” in mental programming.
Unfortunately, many of you are silent enablers through your “speak no evil, see no evil, and gaslight anyone who speaks out “posturings.
The Nigeria we are sowing will inevitably happen to us one after another.
This is not about automated bank vending machine…
TGIF came early.
