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Kuala Lumpur —
Nigerians in Malaysia, especially students have pleaded with President
Muhammadu Buhari and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to prevail on banks
not to prevent customers abroad from using Nigerian Automated Teller
Deposit (ATM) card.
The ban on usage of ATM card abroad is proposed for January 1, 2016.
Students who spoke
with Daily Trust lamented that already many students were finding it
difficult to withdraw money for their school fees and other expenses due
to the recently introduced cash withdrawal limit imposed on customers
abroad.
While lauding
efforts being made by the new administration to improve Nigerian economy
and curb corruption, the students pleaded that usage of ATM card should
not be cancelled.
"There are over
5,000 Nigerians schooling in Malaysia. Most of us rely on money being
sent from Nigeria. There is no job here. We use our ATM card to pay for
our expenses. Banning it usage will cause a lot of hardship for us and
may lead to the termination of some students education. Government
should help us," Ranti Abegunde said.
Halilu Rogo, Sola
David, Sulaimon Kazeem and Abdul Kadir Laaro and other students
suggested that government should devise another means of controlling
capital flight and strengthen naira without making innocent Nigerians
abroad suffer unnecessarily from the sins of the few corrupt Nigerians.
They also want
banks to have a uniform amount that could be withdrawn monthly and
address the problem of disparity in the commission being deducted by
banks when transactions are made from Nigerian bank account.
The challenges
being faced by the recently introduced cash withdrawal limit, inability
to access fund and planned ban of the usage of ATM card are major issues
being discussed in Nigerian community in Malaysia.
