Nigeria is a notorious country in almost all fronts. From non-responsive systems to redundant bureaucracies; the country is frustrating its citizens and foreigners willing and able to invest in profit and non profit businesses on a daily basis.
The Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) manned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is one of the frustrating agencies and agents.
The major reason for the formation of the unit as captured on its website was ‘to be a world-class regulatory unit – one that becomes a benchmark in the supervision, monitoring and regulation of the Designated Non Financial Institutions (DNFI) as regards compliance to Nigeria’s Anti Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism AML/CFT regime’.
Profit and non profit organizations are therefore mandated to register and obtained SCUML certificates before they transact with the country’s banks.
That is a fantastic idea; at least from the prism of accountability and guard against money laundering, given the notoriety we have earned in corruption as a country.
But unfortunately, the procedure for the registration – characterized by non-responsive and retardant atavistic centralization of the process is frustratingly annoying for the following reasons:
One; the system is purely computerized, in that those interested in obtaining the certificate have to apply online. This is a good initiative assuming the systems are responsive and normal. But regrettably, you apply several times and they tell you that your documents were not “legible” as if the EFCC employed blind people to work in the SCUML office.
Two; if you like, get the best scanner in town, scan the documents which are part of the requirements for registration, they will still reply you after weeks of application and upon sending several reminders; that your documents were not “legible” or something related to that.
Three; the SCUML office has an email address were complaints are channeled to their help desk. You send an email several times and you don’t get replies.
Four; the SCUML office has zonal offices in Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Gombe, Ibadan, Edo, Kaduna and Maiduguri. These offices only serve as pick-up stations, in that upon succeeding to scale through the delays and frustrations one is subjected to, one goes there to get the certificate and be told about the rules governing it. Please visit any of these offices I mentioned, some of the officers working there do not even understand the registration procedure themselves.
If you are lucky, you will be handed over with some papers explaining the procedure and the required documents to be uploaded on the web portal.
Five; the SCUML desk complain that documents uploaded on their portal are usually not legible, but they have consistently maintained that documents have to be compressed to 2MB or even less. Someone would wonder why the restriction to 2mb if those working in their offices do not have the comensurate eyes to peruse the documents.
Six; the SCUML zonal offices have phone numbers attached, as evident here; presumably where people are expected to place calls and get their issues or complaints resolved. Even the Abuja office where the registrations are done and certificates printed, those manning their mobile telephony don’t pick calls.
Even this morning, (Thursday 14 Feb.,2019) before putting down this piece, I called the Abuja office several times, my calls were neither picked nor returned in addition to the series of emails that were also not being responded to.
I have been to the SCUML offices in Kano and Gombe at different occasions; their usual response has always been “we don’t have control over the registration process; ours is to tell you the procedure of the registration and offer certificates”.
Ask anybody around you to narrate their ordeal about SCUML; you will definitely hear a lot of disenchantment and frustrations from people.
I know of many people who have forfeit their business accounts because of their inability to obtain SCUML certificate. I now understand why Nigeria still ranks low in the “ease of doing business” report – where even war ravaged countries are far better in their ease of doing business than Nigeria.
With these kinds of frustrations and non-responsive bureaucracies, we will continue to suffer as a people because our systems are controlled by rascals who believe that government jobs or offices are opportunities for them “to eat food”.
I called on the EFCC and the SCUML office to decentralize its registration process and ensures that only competent staff that take government jobs as public trust and opportunity to serve the country are allowed to work in their offices.
There is no logic in centralizing its registration processes since it has zonal offices across the country.
Nigerians should also raise their voices against the reckless ineptitude exhibited by these government agencies—for, it is the only way to entrench the culture of accountability in our systems.
We should not fold our arms and watch lazy and corrupt government officials hold sway our collective progress as a people.
If the EFCC is really serious about the fight against corruption—then it needs to start from within its systems—because it is also corruption when Nigerians suffer because of inept systems manned by non-responsive and lazy public servants!
Haruna Mohammed Salisu writes from Bauchi. He can be reached at [email protected]
