Hard times hit Unity Bank

· Management plans to effect mass sack even as staff threatens to reveal more skeletons in the bank’s closet
· CBN inspects bank’s records in the wake of financial crisis
Whoever believes that the bank is mightier than the storm should ask the management and customers of Unity Bank. They probably know better. As you read, Unity Bank is caught in the turbulence of steep and unforgiving commerce; and the sad fact is that the bank’s management does not lack the instinct and judgment required to guide it through its scariest storms. So what happened? The hard times have indeed dawned on the commercial bank.
Sources within in the bank revealed that it currently hovers at the precipice of liquidation and this according to the highly placed sources within the bank, is an open secret within and outside bank’s halls. Consequently, proactive customers of the bank have started making panic withdrawals while shareholders are selling off their shares in the bank, at times, at very ridiculous prices.
It would be recalled that few months ago, in July to be precise, the management board of the bank had to place the Managing Director of the bank, Henry Semenitari, on a 10-day compulsory leave. After the 10-day leave elapsed, his leave was further extended to allow for time to investigate allegations of misconduct levelled against him by some staff of the bank.
It is believed that former Head of State, Gen Ibrahim Babangida, owns the major stake in the bank; when he was notified of Semenitari’s misconduct, he ordered a thorough forensic audit of the bank’s financial records, and the result reportedly indicted Semenitari of grievous cases of financial misconduct.
Ever since the news got out, people’s trust in the bank has drastically reduced as it recorded huge losses courtesy customer withdrawal of deposits and desertion.
As you read, the bank’s sordid past seem to be catching up with it as it is reportedly in serious financial crisis and it is currently being inspected by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The bank’s management intends to sack as many people as possible in order to deflate enormous overhead costs and the bank’s huge loan portfolio. The move as usual, will be cloaked as a ‘rationalisation exercise.’
This no doubt elicits feelings of resentment among the bank’s junior staff. They are angry that the management is desperate to make them suffer for crimes they were no part of. Consequently, they have vowed to blow the whistle and reveal several other skeletons in Unity Bank’s