NAL Merchant Bank: Remembering a Day of Infamy.

This month marks the 20th anniversary of the month, in 1995, when Nigeria’s premier investment Bank decided to do away with several of its staff. It was not due to any professional misconduct on the part of the affected staff. And neither was the bank in financial distress. Ironically, it was only a couple of weeks earlier that the same bank declared a good profit. But the new CEO and some senior management staff got greedy. They wanted an increase in their collective benefits. And the only way to achieve this was through the massive staff lay off.

Unfortunately, NAL offered no gratuities or pensions. Each of the victims was only given a token sum of money which the bank called a “Golden Handshake”. The hardest-hit were those with outstanding loans. The little sum was summarily utilized to off-set their loans. Sadly, many of them walked out with nothing. And, unlike some of us young folks, there were those long-serving guys on whose backs the bank was built. They had invested the major part of their lives in the bank. Within the next couple of months therefore, the sad effects began to manifest in their lives. The shock was so palpable for some guys that they became psychologically-disoriented. Some others fell into manic depressions. There were those whose marriages fell apart. And worse, a couple of guys died.

Why all these severe reactions? In Nigeria of those days, NAL was a place to be. The salary was enormous. The benefits were gargantuan. There were assorted allowances. From Furniture to Housing and other allowances. Some perks were even duplicated. Monthly car maintenance allowance came with luxurious buses for those who preferred to be chauffeured-driven free-of-charge. Staff enjoyed generous monthly luncheon vouchers in addition to groceries that were called “essential commodities”. Opportunities for loans at very low interest rates were vast. Examples were mortgage loans, Car loans and shares (stocks) loans. Personal loans were interest-free. In addition to a paid annual leave, every staff was also entitled to a leave allowance. Every December, double salaries were paid for Christmas celebration. This would be followed by an elaborate Christmas party at a selected posh hotel. And lest I forget. At the end of every financial year, staff were paid “Incentive Bonus”, a share of the bank’s profit. But on the day of infamy, everything came to a screeching halt!

On that fateful day, I was the first person to walk out of the premises because I had earlier been tipped off about the impending doom. The source also gave me the names of those in the panel that compiled the list. In retrospect though, I will always thank God for His grace and mercy. I also congratulate the other survivors. But what about members of the panel, especially those of them who seized the opportunity to witch-hunt their “enemies”? Under what circumstances did each of them eventually leave the bank? And what about the CEO? Now, fast-forward to 2015, how much fortunes have they all amassed since 1995?

As for the bank, the March, 1995 mass sacking was the prelude to its demise. Neither its latter-day recourse to retail banking nor name-change could save it. It has since vanished from the nation’s banking landscape.  In 2006, I visited Nigeria and was (one day) driving by the erstwhile “NAL Towers”. A dear friend, who was with me, was so touched by the ghastly appearance of the building that he subsequently wrote a newspaper article about the rise, decline and fall of the bank.  It was aptly titled “In Loving Memory of NAL”.



Pictured above is the erstwhile majestic and magnificent "NAL Towers" towering above all other buildings along the Lagos Marina landscape.