By Amaechi Agbo
For over three years, Zenith Bank Cash Centre situated along Charles Umeh Daddy Oyeama Avenue, opposite Fidelity Bank in ESUT has been without business and out of operation.
Overtaken by grasses and rodents, ESUT Monitor carried out an investigation to unravel the reason behind the abandoned and neglected bank edifice inside the school.
It was gathered that the cash centre not being in operation has nothing to do with the management of Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT.
“The issue is coming from the authorities of Zenith Bank, not ESUT. They abandoned that place for almost three years now. I think they are having some administrative challenges. It has nothing to do with ESUT, that is the summary,” Registrar, ESUT, Mr Ambrose Ugwu said when our reporters visited him on the matter.
Mr Ugwu who exonerated the institution’s management from the abandoned property, added however that the Vice Chancellor is coming up with contingency plans on bringing more banks into the university.
“Our visionary Vice Chancellor is thinking about bringing other banks to come and occupy the place. ESUT is expanding and we need the banking halls to be equally expanding. The present number of banks we have now, during the time of payment of school fees, you see students clustering that place.”
He noted that the management is interfacing with the management of Zenith Bank for them to come back to the school and reopen the cash centre
“We are still interfacing with the management of Zenith Bank to ensure that they come back,” he stated.
Cash Centre abandoned for operational reasons – Zenith Bank
When contacted, a Zenith Bank official, who pleaded anonymity because he was not “permitted” to talk, said the Cash Centre was abandoned for operational reasons. The source noted that the management of the bank decided to discontinue its operation in ESUT because the cost of running the centre was higher than the revenue they are making therefrom.
“First of all, before you do an interview, you get approval from the management team. I think it (the abandonment) has to do with business challenges, looking at the logistics and operational costs.
“The reason it was stopped has to do with logistics of moving to the cash centre. The costs of managing the cash centre was at a high rate. The cost was becoming above what we were making from there. That’s my little knowledge,” the source who is a member of the Bank’s management team in South-East region said.
The paper further gather that the bank is working on reviving the cash centre this year with April timeline.
