Nigeria can create wealth, achieve improved income, better standard of living, and people’s well-being through adequate financial literacy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said.
The Head, Consumer Education and Evaluation Division, Consumer Protection Department of the CBN, Gbadamosi Lanre, stated this on Tuesday at the 2024 Global Money Week (GMW) Financial Literacy Fair in Abuja.
Similar events were held at designated CBN locations in the six geo-political zones and Lagos with the theme: “Protect your money, Secure your future.”
Lanre who represented the Director, Consumer Protection Department at the event said the apex bank was concerned about the low level of financial literacy in the country, which has only risen from 13 percent to about 33 percent over the years.
He identified financial literacy as a key component of financial empowerment of the people and inclusion, which has grown to about 74 percent as at December 2023, from about 68 percent in 2020.
To redress the poor financial literacy situation in the country, Lanre, who is an Assistant Director in the department, said the apex bank was developing a monitoring and evaluation framework for financial literacy in the country to provide an objective assessment of the CBN financial literacy initiative.
He blamed the low level of financial literacy on the poor income level among Nigerians, vis-à-vis the rising poverty level in the country, which cannot be divorced from consumer protection and financial inclusion.
“For Nigerians, achieving financial literacy is one of the sure ways to create wealth, ensure the people’s well-being, improved income level and standard of living,” he said.
Lawal emphasized the need to start early to cultivate in school children the culture of savings of income and knowledge of money, by including financial literacy in the country’s National teaching and learning curriculum.
To achieve this end, he said the process of drafting a National Financial Literacy Policy curriculum for the country was currently at the final stage, pending the draft copy to be adopted and included in the school curriculum by October this year, starting from the next school session.
The 2024 Global Money Week Financial Literacy Fair was attended by students and teachers from select secondary schools in Abuja and environs, apart from representatives of commercial banks and financial institutions in the country, including the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Commission (NDIC).
This year’s Fair, which was the 12th edition, was a continuation of the annual global awareness–raising campaign aimed at educating young people on the importance of having the right knowledge, tools, attitudes, and behaviours necessary to make sound financial decisions and ultimately, achieve financial well–being for the future.
Organisers of the Fair said the GMW campaign, which began in 2012, has so far reached over 60 million children in 176 countries.
Participants in this year’s celebrations included secondary school children from the six geopolitical zones in the FCT and Lagos.
Apart from learning about the importance of differentiating between needs and wants, money management, fraud, and scam, as well as investing to guarantee a financially secure future, participants were exposed to a trip to the Nigerian Exchange Group in Lagos and the CBN’s currency museum in Abuja.
