The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) on Thursday joined its voice to the array of condemnation that has greeted the recent story citing The African Report, a publication of Paris based Groupe Jeune Afrique Magazine, to the effect that "only four Nigerian banks are strong."

A statement signed by the Registrar and chief executive of the institute, Dr. Uju Ogubunka, noted that the publication was fabricated, unprofessional and unethical, in a bid to discredit the nation's banking industry.

The purpose of the report, the statement added, was to paralyse the economy to the detriment of millions of Nigerians and their families who patronise the various banks.

"It is obvious that the report was a bundle of fallacies, as none of the banks categorised have shown any sign of weakness," the institute insisted, adding that all the nation's 24 banks are still in clearing and meeting obligations as they fall due, despite the global financial turmoil.

Continuing, he said, that those who should have accurate information on the true status of the industry namely the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) have so far not expressed concerns over the health condition of any banks.

Many of the nation's banks, he added, are highly rated both domestic and international agencies, using empirical data.

"Tracing the information to its source, it was discovered that it was a story jointly put together by one Nicholas Norbrook and Leonard Lawal in far away France designed to stampede Nigerian banks into giving them advertisements," the institute explained.

Also worrisome, the statement continued, is the timing of the report, when the regulators are making concerted efforts to shield the nation's banks from possible contagion effect of the global crisis of confidence.

The CIBN then advised Nigerians and investors at home and abroad to take reports from the foreign media with some element of caution and not allow such to shake their confidence in the nation's banks and its economy.

In the same vein, the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB) held a press conference in Lagos, wherein it faulted the publication, which "attempted erroneously to rank Nigerian banks by using self approved and subjective criteria not recognised internationally.

According to ACAMB, the internationally accepted form of ranking financial institutions is "Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management proficiency, Earnings, (and) Liquidity (capability)" otherwise tagged CAMEL.

The occasion was also used to unveil the study on the corporate social responsibility initiatives of Nigerian banks, indicating that banks spent N3.307 billion on CSR projects, up by N1.867 billion or 130 per cent from N1.44 billion in 2003.

The breakdown of the areas covered showed that the banks participated in 30 broad areas, with one bank participating in road construction, five in park/monument and nine in environmental projects.

In all, road construction took the lion's share of N1.0 billion, up from N20 million in 2003; followed by the N415.905 million used in the building of school blocks across the country, up from N264.441 million; while another N252.769 million was spent on donating equipment and books to schools/colleges/other institutions. A total of

N192.269 million was spent on environment related projects, a significant rise from N2.87 million earlier; Purchase of vehicles for the Police and security agents gulped N156.846 million from N28.889 million, just as another donations to government agencies rose to N156.169 million from N30.42 million. Sponsorship of sports and tournaments scooped N163.603 million; N153.988 million went into humanitarian causes; while N110.824 million went into public lectures/symposia/conferences, representing a decline from N214.422 million in 2003; among others.