E-Financial
Hidden Shame of Contract Workers in Nigerian Banks- Al Jazeera
A report by Al Jazeera has documented the hidden shame of Nigerian banking system where contract staffers in financial institutions live poverty line.
Poverty wages are typical for thousands of contract workers in the banking industry and they can work for years without a raise, promotion, benefits or job security.
According to Al Jazeera, contract staffing has been a feature of Nigeria’s labour market for decades, but it is especially rife in the banking and oil sectors
The report said that for Basit, climbing the corporate ranks of commercial banking in Nigeria has been an exercise in frustration.
The 28-year-old, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, has worked as a teller with Fidelity Bank in Nigeria since 2015.
Six years on, he is at the same branch, working at the same entry-level position, for the same meagre salary of N68,000 ($165) a month.
It is not Basit’s work ethic that is lacking, but the arrangement under which he works.
He is not technically a full-time employee of Fidelity. The entire time he’s worked there, he’s been a contract staffer hired by an employment agency he has never dealt with directly.
Being a contractor means Basit has no upward career path within the bank, or benefits such as insurance, a pension, or a severance package if he’s let go.
If Fidelity’s management is not happy with his services, or they just want to cut expenses, they can let him go when his contract comes up for renewal every two years.
In the meantime, the employment agency siphons off a portion of his pay each month as a “commission”.
Fidelity Bank did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment. But Basit’s story is far from unique.
More than 42 percent of the bank workers in Nigeria were contract staffers as of the third quarter last year, reports the National Bureau of Statistics.
The remainders are full-time employees with banks – roughly a third of who are senior staffers.
Though unionists and government officials say the issues surrounding contract bank workers are being addressed, solutions have been slow to come.
And until they do, there are few employment options for the banking sector’s largely youthful contract workforce to explore.
More than 42 percent of bank workers in Nigeria were contract staffers as of the third quarter last year, reports the National Bureau of Statistics.
Profits before workers
Basit often thinks of quitting his job as a bank teller.
But there are few prospects for him in Africa’s largest economy.
Nigeria’s official unemployment rate rocketed to 33.3 percent in the final three months of last year – the highest on record and among the highest in the world.
Over half of the country’s roughly 70 million-strong labour force was either jobless at the end of last year or not working a full-time job.
That jobs deficit has made it an employer’s market, leaving workers virtually powerless to negotiate – let alone demand – better terms.
In Basit’s case, that means punishing 10-hour days that leave him little time to even explore the few opportunities which may be available to him.
‘’The challenge is that you barely have the time to go search for a job elsewhere,” he told Al Jazeera.
“You leave the house as early as 5 or 6am and you get back by 6pm or so. How do I get back as tired as this and I still start searching for job opportunities when I know that there are only few?’’
Contract staffing has been a feature of Nigeria’s labour market for decades, but it is especially rife in the banking and oil sectors.
Over half of Nigeria’s roughly 70 million-strong labour force was either jobless at the end of last year or not working a full-time job.
For Nigeria’s unionists, the so-called “casualisation” of these workers is the result of financial institutions carving out bigger profits at the expense of labour rights.
“Generally, outsourcing, as far as labour is concerned, is an exploitative system,” said Comrade Sheikh Muhammed, national general secretary for the National Union of Banks Insurance and Financial Institution Employees (NUBIFIE).
Retired bank manager Abolarian Aderemi worked in banking for more than 30 years. He says the plight of contract workers is the result of poor government oversight.
“They are exploiting Nigeria’s poor leadership,” he said. “Labour union has been kicking against it, but nobody listens.”
Muhammed says contract workers face serious hurdles to joining or forming unions where they can collectively bargain for better pay and conditions.
“[Banks] take on casual workers in order also to make sure they confuse the identity and status of the worker so that they will not be able to exercise their right of belonging to anyone,” he told Al Jazeera.
The government has established a committee to review the myriad issues surrounding contract workers in the country’s banking sector. But its efforts were disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, told Al Jazeera.
“We want to review the whole issue regarding casualisation of workers with the banks and we are also in the process of reviewing all the labour laws now,” he said.
Muhammed said the review should help crack down on labour abuses.
“By the time the review is signed into a working document, no outsourcing will be done [in the banking and insurance sector] without consulting the union and taking cognizance of workers as reflected in the Labour Act,” he said.
A jobs deficit has made it an employer’s market in Nigeria, leaving workers virtually powerless to negotiate – let alone demand – better terms.
Young and exploited
While Nigeria has rules that govern working conditions for full-time staff, the law does not specifically address “triangular employment’’ that covers workers hired through employment agencies.
‘’From the legal perspective, there is nothing illegal about having contract staff; it is a function of contract,” said Waleey Fatai, a Lagos-based labour lawyer.
“From the moral perspective, [it is an issue of] half a loaf is better than none,” he told Al Jazeera.
NUBIFIE’s Muhammed says the problem is not how the current laws are worded, but that employment agencies are falling afoul of it.
“The Labour Act that regulates the relationship did not exempt you because you are a secondary provider of employment,” he said. “It is part of the things we capture in this memorandum of agreement we just worked on.”
But not all contract workers may even be aware of their rights. Many employment agencies look for entry-level candidates in their early 20s with an Ordinary National Diploma (OND), the lowest tertiary degree in Nigeria awarded by polytechnics after a two-year programme.
A higher degree may even work against a job applicant.
Thirty-eight-year-old Ukamaka Olisakwe worked in two banks as a contract staffer between 2008 and 2014 in Nigeria’s east.
She told Al Jazeera the first bank that employed her told her to list her OND on her application but omit her more prestigious Higher National Diploma (HND) – a four-year degree that equates with a bachelor’s degree.
‘’I think they found a loophole in the academic system,” Olisakwe told Al Jazeera.
She said her first bank paid her a meagre base salary of N25,000 a month [$61] plus commission, and assigned to her work in the sales department where she was given performance targets including opening five to six new accounts daily, and generating monthly cash deposits often totalling millions of naira.
“The target heaped on the back of the workers was nasty, unbelievable, [and] mind-bending and if you are unable to meet [the performance targets], you won’t get your commission,’’ she said.
Olisakwe left that job and took a contract position with another bank where she worked in the customer service office alongside full-time, core staff.
‘’It is the same job function that I was doing with the core staff, only that I could not approve account openings,’’ she said.
But her odds of gaining an equal footing with the full-timers were slim.
In order to parlay a contract job into a full-time staff position, workers must take a conversion exam. But few are invited to take the test.
‘’Conversion rarely happens. They will only hand-pick some people,” she said.
Olisakwe finally quit the sector, worried that even if she did manage to convert a contract job into a full-time position, she would eventually fall victim to age discrimination.
“You know polytechnics churn young people every year and when they come for training, the banks retain them to replace the older staff,” she said. “It is cheaper.’’
Building on the successful conclusion of the 17th replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF-17), which mobilised $11 billion for Africa’s most vulnerable countries, the African Development Bank Group and the Government of the United Kingdom convened global investors and private sector leaders in London to accelerate a new phase of private capital mobilisation for Africa’s development.
The inaugural Africa Private Capital Mobilisation Day, held on 17 December at Lancaster House, brought together more than 150 senior decision-makers from private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurers, philanthropies, and development finance institutions and export credit agencies—marking a decisive shift from dialogue to execution.
The high-level event was hosted by the African Development Bank Group in partnership with UK government institutions, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Export Finance and British International Investment, reflecting a shared ambition to scale private capital flows into African economies.
Speaking at the opening, African Development Bank Group President Dr Sidi Ould Tah described the event as a natural continuation of the ADF-17 replenishment process and a decisive step toward addressing Africa’s estimated $402 billion annual development financing gap.
“We will build on recent engagements with development finance institutions, export credit agencies, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurers, and philanthropic partners to advance concrete initiatives under our vision for a New African Financial Architecture,” said Dr Ould Tah.
The Africa Private Capital Mobilisation Day aligns with President Ould Tah’s Four Cardinal Points vision, which focuses on unlocking Africa’s capital potential, strengthening financial sovereignty, transforming demographic growth into a dividend, and delivering resilient infrastructure and value chains.
UK Minister for Development, Jenny Chapman said, “We are delighted that President Ould Tah decided to hold the first Private Capital Mobilisation Day here in London, recognising the critical role of the City of London in mobilising investment for Africa. The UK’s shifting role—from donor to investor—will support countries who want to grow their economies and ultimately ultimately exit the need for aid.”
The programme featured focused discussions on reshaping perceptions of risk in Africa, designing innovative financial platforms, and mobilising capital in fragile and frontier markets.
New analysis on the Global Emerging Markets Risk Database delivered by the Center for Global Development presented new evidence showing that long-term lending to African borrowers has historically been significantly less risky than commonly perceived.
Sector-focused discussions underscored the strategic role of healthcare and aviation in strengthening Africa’s economic resilience, productivity and integration. Participants were introduced to two flagship initiatives championed by the Bank Group and its partners:
– The Africa Medicines and Equipment Facility, developed in partnership with the Gates Foundation, will provide African countries with predictable, timely, and affordable financing to secure essential medicines and medical equipment.
– The Integrated Aviation Transformation Programme for Africa—supported by a dedicated blended-finance facility—aims to modernise and expand Africa’s aviation ecosystem—from airports and airlines to enabling services critical to trade, tourism, and regional integration.
In parallel, President Ould Tah convened a closed-door roundtable with senior executives from approximately 30 leading institutional investors to explore the launch of an Africa-focused Private Sector Innovation Lab. The proposed platform would serve as a dedicated space to co-create new financing instruments, partnership models, and risk-sharing solutions tailored to African markets.
The outcomes of the Africa Private Capital Mobilisation Day are captured in the London Communiqué, setting out clear commitments by the African Development Bank Group and its partners to scale private capital mobilisation for Africa.
Further work will go into setting out priority actions and implementation pathways to scale private capital mobilisation for Africa, turning ambition into scalable capital and risk mitigation solutions.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced that the National Identification Number (NIN) will automatically serve as the Tax Identification Number (TIN) for individual Nigerians beginning in 2026.
The clarification was issued on Monday through a public awareness campaign on the new tax laws shared by the Service on X.
According to the FIRS, registered businesses will also no longer need a separate Tax Identification Number, as their Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registration numbers will now function as their official tax identifiers under the revised tax framework.
The announcement follows public concerns over aspects of the new tax laws that require a Tax ID for certain transactions, including the operation and ownership of bank accounts.
Providing further explanation, the FIRS said the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA), scheduled to take effect in January 2026, mandates the use of a Tax ID for specified transactions. It, however, noted that the requirement is not entirely new, stressing that it has been in existence since the Finance Act of 2019 but has now been strengthened.
“The Tax ID unifies all Tax Identification Numbers previously issued by the FIRS and State Internal Revenue Services into a single identifier,” the Service said.
“For individuals, your NIN automatically serves as your Tax ID, while for registered companies, your CAC RC number is used. You do not need a physical card, as the Tax ID is a unique number linked directly to your identity.”
The FIRS explained that the new system is intended to simplify identification processes, eliminate duplication, close gaps that enable tax evasion, and promote fairness by ensuring that all individuals earning taxable income contribute accordingly.
The agency also urged Nigerians to ignore misinformation surrounding the reform, assuring the public that the new tax framework is designed to improve efficiency and transparency in tax administration.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed that banks will be required to request a TIN from all taxable Nigerians as part of the federal government’s new tax administration framework, which will take effect on January 1, 2026.
Fidelity Bank Plc has reinforced its commitment to community safety and sustainable ecological practices through the donation of essential firefighting and preventive equipment including hoses and gasoline water pumps to the Ikoyi Fire Service Station in Lagos.
L-R: Lagos State Controller, Federal Fire Service, CF (Controller of Fire), Adebayo Funke; Tolulope Rojaiye, Marketing Business Partner, Fidelity Bank Plc; Assistant Superintendent of Fire, Ishola Folorunsho Olufemi; and Station Commander, Onikan Fire Station, Lagos, Okeke Ferdinand; during the donation of firefighting equipment to the Federal Fire Service at Ikoyi, Lagos, recently.
The donation was made under the Fidelity Helping Hands Program (FHHP) by the True Serve team, reaffirming the Bank’s commitment to the environment and community safety. Through the FHHP, members of staff identify areas of critical community needs, raise funds, and then receive matching monetary support from the bank to execute the projects.
Commenting on the reason behind the donation, Divisional Head, Brand and Communications Division, Fidelity Bank Plc, Dr Meksley Nwagboh, emphasized that the donation reflects the bank’s dedication to strengthening emergency response capabilities and promoting public safety within the communities it serves.
According to him, “Fidelity Bank remains committed to supporting initiatives that contribute to the protection of our environment, lives and property. We see community safety as a shared responsibility and continuously extend support to both corporate bodies and individuals.”
Dr Nwagboh further noted that, “We believe that preventive measures are far more effective than reactionary responses. This donation is part of our efforts to drive sustainable practices by providing the necessary tools. Our goal is to ensure that people live meaningful, safe, and empowered lives.”
In her comments, Lagos State Controller, Federal Fire Service and Controller of Fire (CF), Funke Adebayo commended Fidelity Bank for the timely support, while cautioning residents to exercise heightened vigilance during the festive period, especially with the dry weather conditions.
“We appreciate Fidelity Bank for this timely donation. We are in a harsh weather period where fire incidents can escalate quickly. Parents must educate and caution children against the use of fireworks during celebrations. Fire should never be treated carelessly,” Adebayo said.
She noted that the Fire Service has embarked on sensitization visits to various corporate organizations, warning against unsafe practices that could lead to preventable fire outbreaks.
On his part, Area Commander, Onikan Fire Station and Chief Superintendent of Fire (CSF)Oswere Michael expressed appreciation to Fidelity Bank for supporting their operations. He encouraged families, business owners, and community members to prioritize fire safety at all times.
“Everyone has a role to play in preventing fire incidents at home and in the workplace. This support from Fidelity Bank will go a long way in enhancing our capacity to protect the community,” CSF Oswere added.
Ranked among the best banks in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank Plc is a full-fledged Commercial Deposit Money Bank serving over 9.1 million customers through digital banking channels, its 255 business offices in Nigeria and United Kingdom subsidiary, FidBank UK Limited.
The Bank is a recipient of multiple local and international Awards, including the 2024 Excellence in Digital Transformation & MSME Banking Award by BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards; the 2024 Most Innovative Mobile Banking Application award for its Fidelity Mobile App by Global Business Outlook, and the 2024 Most Innovative Investment Banking Service Provider award by Global Brands Magazine. Additionally, the Bank was recognized as the Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria by the Euromoney Awards for Excellence and as the Export Financing Bank of the Year by the BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
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