[Suleimana]

I can safely conclude that your Mrs. O. has been the victim of the latest form of 419. You receive an email purportedly from the switch (interswitch) or your bank where you are told that you need to provide your card details; otherwise your card will no longer function. To a cut a long story short, her card was cloned and used by fraudsters. As per the limit affair, it does not apply to POS terminals where purchases can be made without limit on amount. It is even possible that ‘voyeurs’ obtained her PIN. The banking industry is still grappling with the appropriate measures to stem the tide of e-fraud and this kind of frustrations are not un-expected. Tell Mrs. O to review her emails again. Eventually, the banks will have to improve security (although they cannot help you if you give out your PIN) and, where reasonable, refund customers.

The bigger case you made cannot be ignored. People don't steal billions in Ghana must go bags- for that, you need banks. The politicians control most of the money in the economy and the banks are desperate to get their hands on it. That is where the horse-trading begins, with the banks that offer the fastest vehicle to a Swiss account more likely to grow as they win more government business. When N75billion out of N100billion intended to fund agriculture finds its way into one bank, that is a huge advantage. Passport to a Swiss account is a small price to pay.

When it is all said, the politicians are the leaders and the buck stops with them. They define how business is done in the country and some of us will remain perpetual outsiders because we object. A fish rots from the head?