President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday commended the Nigerian banks on successfully spreading their tentacles across Africa. The president also appealed to state governments to simplify the process of land ownership in their domains to enable more Nigerians access bank facilities for affordable homes. Buhari made the appeal when he received the Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) led by the chairman, Dr Uche Olowu, at the State House, Abuja. The president expressed concern over challenges such as land and other collateral related issues, hindering the banking industry’s ability to lend to the real sector. “As a government, we are also facing such challenges as part of our various affordable housing programmes,” he said. While commending the banking industry for increasing their lending in key job-creating areas such as agriculture in the last four years, the president welcomed the industry ‘a collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria in this regard. ALSO READ: Sowore: DSS, African wild dogs on a pack hunt ― Soyinka He noted that the partnership had been a “key anchor” to the food security programme of his administration. “We can only feed ourselves by deploying capital to the right areas. I implore the…