Ondo All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and former Chairman of Irekari Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Mr. Steve Otaloro,
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, prominent Idoani indigene and former Chairman of Irekari Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Mr. Steve Otaloro, has called on the management of First Bank of Nigeria Plc to reopen its Idoani branch, describing the closure as inconsistent with the enduring legacy of the bank’s first indigenous Managing Director, Chief Samuel Oyewole Asabia.
Otaloro made the appeal in a statement titled “Asabia’s Legacy Deserves Better: Why FirstBank Should Return to Idoani,” in which he argued that restoring banking operations to the historic town would not only revive economic activities but also honour one of Nigeria’s foremost banking icons.
He recalled that Chief Asabia, a native of Idoani, became the first indigenous Managing Director of First Bank in 1975 and played a pivotal role in expanding banking services across Nigeria during the Federal Government’s Rural Banking Programme introduced under the military administration of General Olusegun Obasanjo.
According to him, Idoani was among the rural communities selected to benefit from the initiative, leading to the establishment of the FirstBank branch in the 1980s during Asabia’s tenure.
“While there is no public evidence that the branch was established solely because it was Asabia’s hometown, its establishment during his tenure remains historically significant and symbolises the philosophy of taking banking services to the grassroots,” Otaloro said.
He noted that unlike many rural branches that began operations in rented buildings, FirstBank invested heavily in Idoani by constructing a purpose-built banking hall as well as an official residence for the branch manager, demonstrating the bank’s long-term commitment to the community.
Otaloro explained that for several decades, the branch served as the major financial hub for communities within Irekari Local Council Development Area, including Idogun, Imeri, Owani, Afo, Ikun, Oba and neighbouring settlements.
He added that the branch also catered to the banking needs of important institutions such as the Federal Government College, Idoani, the Nigerian Navy Secondary School, Imeri, as well as farmers, traders, artisans, transport operators, cooperative societies, public servants and other business owners across the area.
The APC chieftain lamented that following the April 8, 2019, armed robbery attack on the branch, coupled with an internal branch rationalisation exercise by the bank, the Idoani branch was eventually shut down, leaving thousands of customers without access to conventional banking services.
He said the closure had forced residents and business owners to travel long distances to carry out banking transactions, while many now rely on Point-of-Sale operators for services previously provided by the bank.
While acknowledging the security concerns arising from the robbery incident, Otaloro insisted that the attack should not have marked the end of FirstBank’s presence in Idoani.
“If FirstBank considers Samuel Asabia worthy of a Professorial Chair at one of Nigeria’s foremost universities, it should also consider him worthy of maintaining a FirstBank presence in the very town where he was born, nurtured and ultimately laid to rest,” he stated.
Otaloro maintained that reopening the branch would not merely honour a distinguished banker but would restore essential banking services to thousands of residents across Irekari LCDA and neighbouring communities while reaffirming FirstBank’s historic commitment to financial inclusion and grassroots development.
He urged the current management of FirstBank to revisit the decision taken by previous administrations of the bank, stressing that history would judge the present leadership not only by the decisions it inherited, but also by whether it had the courage to correct them.
“The present management may not have ordered the closure of the Idoani branch, but history will remember whether it had the vision to restore it.
“There is still time for FirstBank to return to the historic town of Idoani, where its first indigenous Managing Director, Chief Samuel Oyewole Asabia, began his remarkable journey and now rests. Reopening the branch would be a fitting tribute to the doyen of Nigerian banking and a practical demonstration that the bank remains committed to the ideals of rural banking and financial inclusion that he championed,” Otaloro said.
