The formation of the Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB) in 1996 was highly timely, but nurturing it to fruition became a hard nut to crack. The goodwill it had generated within the banking industry was so overwhelming that it made stakeholders scampering to be a part of its success story.
No sooner had ACAMB come into the limelight than when it began to develop hiccups within its hierarchy. This, perhaps, explains why the first three presidents saw the wisdom to serve only one term of two years each and bowed out of its leadership. But, Lanre Alabi, the forth president, thought otherwise. He spent two terms of two years each before he bowed out. He presided over ACAMB very well, I must say. Rasheed Bolarinwa of Polaris Bank is the current president of ACAMB.
The idea of forming an association for banks corporate affairs managers was first mooted at a Bank Directors Seminar at Hilton Hotel, Abuja in 1992. Subsequently, we tabled the idea at a Whispering Palms seminar which, by coincidence, several of the potential ACAMB members attended. From that time, the idea continued to blossom and revolve around three people: Wole Agunbiade of the Financial Institutions Training Centre, late Tunde Thomas of Afribank and yours sincerely then of Union Bank. The three of us became the yet-to-be formed association’s point-men and tried to keep the idea alive, recommending it to whoever we came across within the banking industry. The idea finally got a boost when the well established corporate affairs departments of UBA, First Bank and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) joined the group.
Once the CBN, the four big banks and other banks bought into the idea, we scheduled a meeting for Eko Hotel to discuss the details of forming the umbrella association. After two or three sittings, members agreed to set up the body and consequently named it the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB). We subsequently launched it at the same Eko Hotel on September 4, 1996. From there, the association took off and began to create waves across the banking industry and the news media. The positive responses and the goodwill the association had begun to generate within so short a time eventually launched it into the limelight.
At the time, Nigeria had about 100 commercial and merchant banks, but former CBN governor, Soludo’s consolidation trimmed that number to 24, initially. ACAMB also came at a time banks had not so good image resulting from frequent failures, poor lending to the real sector and the much-talked about round-tripping in the foreign exchange market. From the onset, these were the issues we had to contend with while managing the reputation of the industry, which did not come easy.
But we did it. When we began, less than a quarter of the banks had corporate affairs departments. Even then, apart from the four big banks, most were one-man or one-woman departments, suggesting that bank CEOs at the time did not reckon with Public Relations. So, we began the sensitisation drive within the banks, taking up some of the image issues with our bosses, the bank CEOs. We paid courtesy calls on some of them, cajoled them to set up corporate affairs departments in their individual banks and to open up a little bit to the news media and address the image problems of the industry. Not only did they agree to look at our requests, they also responded positively.
In the process, many of the CEOs had highlighted some of these image problems. Indeed, that helped us to begin to address the reputation issues. The CEOs also supported and helped us with the wherewithal to confront the issues squarely. For a change, they saw the wisdom to set up corporate affairs departments in their individual banks to manage their image. From there, a brand new banking industry began to emerge.
Our drive also got to the media, particularly in Lagos. We sensitised editors to the delicate and conservative nature of banking business which was why bankers tended to operate rather quietly, apart from a few vocal ones. This went a long way to making reporters to appreciate bankers’ reticence on matters relating to banking and secrecy. We were lucky; they understood our predicament and generously lent their support to ACAMB, without compromising the ethics of their profession.
We also courted the Finance Correspondents Associations of Nigeria (FICAN) and the Capital Market Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN). Traditionally, these two associations covered and still cover banks extensively and did a lot to make ACAMB a reality. At one-time, they went beyond their professional mandate and tried to mediate on the internal disputes betwixt members of the Executive Council of ACAMB. Before you knew it, we became partners in progress and worked harmoniously to salvage the image of the banking industry. Little wonder that today, many corporate affairs managers of banks had reported the banking industry at one time or the other.
ACAMB also came up with annual retreat held at the Whispering Palms, which helped to bring out the positive side of banks. The retreats focused on in-depth interaction with journalists and other key players in the two industries. The forum invited editors and other industry people to speak at the retreat, bringing to the fore issues the news media had with the banking industry in the past and offering suggestions on how to achieve our goals. Prior to the setting up of ACAMB, this was somewhat unheard of. Even with a fifty-foot pole, banks would not go near the media, let alone hold interactions with their editors. But with the coming of ACAMB the fear of the unknown fizzled out.
Our efforts paid off well as we generated enough goodwill in the news media and in the polity to help us to achieve our mandate. This also enabled us to successfully resuscitate and manage the industry’s reputation, our main objective. Before we realised it, the old media bashing of banks had greatly subsided and eventually disappeared as every bank had a corporate affairs manager to speak robustly to the press and to answer inquiries on its behalf. As a result, every major report in the news media about the industry had the banks’ side to it.
At the beginning, little did we realise that our baby (ACAMB) was going to grow bigger, stronger and cleverer than we had anticipated. Having attained the age of 25 plus with over 300 registered members, ACAMB has now attained the age of maturity.
Dangogo, ACAMB president 1996 – 1998, is now the Executive Director of Timex School of Communication
