CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

In this chapter, the researcher intends to look and conduct research on the Impact of Internal Control Mechanism for successful operation in an organization particularly First Bank of Nigeria, Kaduna South Branch.

According to Weber (2010), define impact “as a powerful effort that management has in order to perform their function effectively and to achieved their goals or objective.

According to Benarivo De Guisppee (Augustan Gill, 1943), he said that internal control is a plan of organization and all of the coordinate methods and measures adopted within a business to safeguard its environment, check it is effective and efficient and encourage adherence to prescribed managerial policies.

Louis Fisher (2004) said that Operation is an organized activity in an organization that involves several people performing different task in order to meet organizational goals.

Some of the interesting areas about the topic is as follows:

1.           Fraud and Error Prevention: According to Adebayo Adedeji (1979), the responsibility for the prevention of frauds and errors in organization is the responsibility of management, which is usually achieved through the implementation and continuing operation of adequate systems of internal control.

2.           Discover Good Internal Control System: Rober H. Haverman (2004) said that a good internal control system should have a proper coordination and communication network for decisions and policies of management to be effectively communicated throughout the organization and the result thereby reported back efficiently.

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The most serious problem hampering the smooth operation in public and private sectors at all the levels has been fraud, errors, defalcations, mismanagement and abuse of office.

Applicants are complaining bitterly that First Bank of Nigeria, Kaduna South branch do not allow staff to go on training and development having worked for specific period of time with the bank.

Another paramount problem facing the organization as regard to the recruitment, selection, training and development of applicants or candidates during and after an interview because of the pressure by the top official to select their candidate of the applicants regardless of their betterment.

No fair play for promotion and training in the organization

The condition of work is not adequate and the problems of motivation and grievances settlements procedures are not adequate as well.

Over the years, various management has been trying to institute a corrective measure. In spite of all these, a lasting solution is still far reached. At times, one tends to wonder if at all the numerous internal control measures instituted in public and private organizations do function, and if they do, to what extent can one conveniently at attest to the fact that internal controls and measures have contributing towards solving the inherent problems that exist in the organization concerned.

The research examines the internal control mechanism of First Bank of Nigeria Plc. With a view to identifying to what extent the controls instituted were able to achieve the goal which they were meant to.

It is note worthy that what matters most is not only instituting internal control mechanism in an organization but the system should be subjected to a process of continuous review and appraisal if it is to function properly and achieve the purpose for its installation.

1.3    OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of internal control mechanism on the performance of workers in organization particularly First Bank Kaduna South Branch.

The research is an effort to determine the prospects and problems of internal control mechanism on the performance of workers in an organization particularly First Bank of Nigeria, Kaduna South Branch are as follows:

i)            To examine the impact of internal control mechanism in First Bank of Nigeria Plc.

ii)          To find out the problems of internal control mechanism face in implementing on the performance of personnel working in First Bank of Nigeria Plc.

iii)        To determine the problems and prospect of internal control mechanism on the performance of workers in First Bank of Nigeria Plc.

1.4    RESEARCH QUESTIONS

              i)              What are the impact of internal control mechanism in First Bank of Nigeria Plc?

             ii)             What are the problems of Internal Control Mechanism faced in implementing on the performance of personnel?

            iii)            What are the problems and prospect of internal control mechanism on the performance of workers in First Bank of Nigeria Plc?

1.5    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This project is very relevant and important to the following categories of people:

i)            Society and the Public: Shareholders, customers and the public at large will benefit from this project because it gives them insight to what internal control is all about, its importance to the private sector and particularly First Bank of Nigeria Plc.

ii)          Tax Authority: They will be interested in knowing how managements runs the company particularly the company looses or gains profit.

iii)        Academic Community: The researcher will add to directly available knowledge in academic world on internal control mechanism. Student, lecturers and other scholars will find it very useful and make reference to it.

iv)         Management: The study will also provide management with suggestions and recommendations on how best to improve the performance of the internal control mechanism. It is only meant as a study, it can go a long way in alleviating similar problems for some organization in the banking industry.

v)           To the Researcher: This is part of organized work for awarding HND in Human Resources Management.

1.6    SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study is intended to cover internal control mechanism in the Nigerian banking industry with particular reference study. The First Bank of Nigeria Plc has various branches in the state of the country with the headquarters in Lagos. This study will be restricted to the Kaduna branch.

The First Bank Plc has many branches in Kaduna and other major towns of the state like Zaria, Zonkwa and Kafanchan. The study will focus on the branch along Kakuri Kaduna South from the period of six years, that is from 2006 to 2012.

1.7    LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The general reluctance of banks, as exhibited by First Bank Plc, to let out information about their activities for external analysis has impaired this research work. The research analysis would have been relatively in-depth if all the desired information were made available. Also, the availability of a plethora of information on the subject matter constituted a source of worry at some point to the researcher.

Finally and obviously, the cost of conducting researches is quite enormous, which posed a great limitation to the work.

1.8    HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE CASE STUDY

First Bank of Nigeria Plc for over a century, has distinguished itself as a leading banking institution and a major contributor to the economic advancement and development of Nigeria.

First Bank was founded in 1894 by Sir Alfred Jones, a shipping magnate from Liverpool, the bank commenced business in the office of Elder Dempster and Company in Lagos.

It was incorporated as a limited liability company in London on March 31, 1894 with head office in Liverpool and started business under the corporate name of the Bank of British West Africa (BBWA) with a paid up capital of 12,000 pounds sterling. It commenced business upon absorbing its predecessor the African Banking Corporation which had been established earlier in 1892. This signaled the origin of the preeminent position which the bank was to attain in the banking industry in West Africa. In the early years of operation, the bank recorded an impressive growth and worked closely with the colonial government in performing the traditional function of a central bank such as issues of specifies in the West African sub region.

To justify its West African coverage, a branch was opened in Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1896 and another in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1898 which marketed the genesis of banks international operations. The second branch of the Bank in Nigeria was opened in the old Calabar in 1900 and two years later the services of the bank were extended to Northern Nigeria. With a network of 411 branches (as at May, 2012) spread throughout the federation, the bank maintains banking industry. The bank also has a branch in London and had diversified into a whole range of banking activities and services including commercial merchant and international banking.

The bank has continued to remain the leader in the financing of long-term development project in the economy. The genesis of this was in 1947 when a long-term loan was advanced to the colonial government, to demonstrate its commitment to its customers and the development of the Nigeria economy, the bank has since diversified its loan and credit facilities to various sectors of the economy.

At the inception of the bank’s operation in 1894 it has staff strength of six, comprising three Europeans and three Africans. Today, the bank is fully Nigerianized and in response to the aspirations and yearning of the Nigerian people and government, as well as the bank’s determination to support the country economy.

To be well positioned for opportunities in the changing market environment, the bank undertook and several restructuring exercises. First it changed its name from the Bank of British West Africa to Bank of West Africa in 1957 and Standard Bank of British West Africa Limited in 1966. Then, the bank was incorporated locally in 1969 as the Standard Bank of Nigeria limited in line with companies decree of 1968. Thereafter, active participation of Nigerians in the management of the bank became a matter of corporate policy. The bank got listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in March 1971 and has won the NES President’s Merit Award eight times as the bank with the best financial report.

Changes in the name of the bank also occurred in 1979 and 1991 to First Bank of Nigeria Limited and First Bank of Nigeria Plc respectively. In 1985, the bank introduced a decentralized structure with five regional administrations. This was fine-tuned in 1992 to enhance the bank’s operational efficiency. In 1996, it introduced the FBN Century II Project to resolution its operation in line with the dynamics of the market.

In readiness for the keen competition occasioned by government’s decision to liberalize the country’s financial sector. Also the bank in a consordian with other banks in promoting a smartcard project aimed at eliminating the risk associated with carrying huge cash for transactional purposes. The bank’s brand is called First Bank Value Card.

Over the years, the bank has experienced phenomenal growth, from N107.599 million in 1993, the banks share capital had grown to N530.309 million by March 1999. The groups total asset base was N139.785 billion while its deposit base stood at N89.868 billion as at March, 1999. As a further demonstration of First Bank’s indisputable profitability and leadership in the Nigerian financial industry. The bank declared a profit after tax of N12.4 billion for the year ended March 31, 2008.

Demonstrating the confidence the public has in First Bank, the bank offer for sale of over 2 billion shares in 2009 was fully subscribed and that 2.5 billion in 2010 was over subscribed by 18.79%. The bank has over 300,000 individual and institutional shareholders in all part of the country. Its leading position in the private sector drives from its consistent recorded as a successful financial institution.

Below is the organizational chart of First Bank Plc:

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