By Elizabeth Chukwuma
Last Monday, officials of the United Bank For Africa, UBA, Foundation, a Foundation established by the Bank, regarded as one of the biggest and viable in the country to execute it Corporate Social Responsibility both within and outside country has remained focused to its objectives: Education, Empowerment and Environment .
Many believe that there is no much difference between the Foundation objectives and that of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, as it as it has touched the lives of millions of since it took off several years ago.
Only recently, officials of UBA and the Foundation an rolled out the drum to join other Corporate Organisations and countries, in different parts of the world to celebrate the International day of the African Child by carrying the message of the reading culture to schools. The one day celebration was capped with a mentoring session for the students who were gathered together at the Tony Elumelu Foundation, TEF, Amphitheatre, located at the Bank Marina Head office Complex.
The International Day of the African Child which is a yearly event to celebrate June 16, a day declared by the United Nations, UN to honour African students for their courage to fight for their right to better education in the black township of Soweto, South Africa during the Apartheid era.
officials of the Foundation were said to have brought together students from various secondary schools in different parts of Lagos to the TEF Foundation Amphitheatre where they were said to have educated the students on the importance of” financial literacy, reading culture and nation building”.
Among the schools that were said to have sent representatives to the UBA Foundation one day Celebration of the International Day of the African child include Akande Dahunsi Memorial High School, Lagos, Government Senior College, Maroko, Aunty Ayo International School Ikoyi and Wahab Folawiyo Senior High School, Ikoyi.
Patrick Aderibigbe, the Bank’s Group Head, Human Resources, who had welcomed the students, to the TEF Ampitheatre in his address had outlined the three key pillars of the Foundation: Education, Empowerment and Environment.
Aderibigbe explained that the bank, through the foundation, recognises the huge role that education and a good reading culture could play in the lives of the African child, noting that it is” committed to impacting on the lives of the African youth across the continent”.
He further explained that ”As a pan-African institution, we believe that the future of Africa lies in her youth”. For this reason. The UBA Foundation top Executive may have gladdened the heart of the students when she disclosed that the” Foundation is actively involved in facilitating educational projects and bridging the literacy-wide gap on a pan-African scale”.
Given a further insight about, he stressed that it is currently ”helping to rekindle the dwindling reading and literacy culture amongst African students as they pursue their education. Note that over the years, the Foundation had worked with various schools and educational institutions across the African Continent as part of its Corporate social Responsibility of contributing positively to the development of African child, especially in the area of education , insisting that its plan in this year’s celebration of the International Day of the African Child is to make ” substantial improvements in the lives of the needy and under-privileged in every part of the African Continent by supporting entrepreneurship programmes, such as social entrepreneurship schemes which is expected to benefit the society at large.
Franklin Erebor, the UBA, Chief Credit officer, may have touched the mindset of the students when he spoke on financial literacy and the need to plan for the futureby stressing the importance for them to” manage their funds and finances”.
“You are not too young to start to plan for the future, as what you do now when you are young will impact greatly on you later in
He also charged the students to be financially literate, as this will help to open
The UBA top officials who were said to have spoken to the students on various issues ranging from the Foundation objectives to financial management through savings also had brief mentoring session on reading culture with them where they had read to the students some messages and subsequently engaged them in reading a number of passages from selected reading materials
. Ramon Olarewaju Nasir, General Manager, External and Public Relations, who was said to have used his wealth of experience to organise the students together with his team of dedicated
Note that UBA, described as a pan African Bank, by Financial analysts has been in the forefront of promoting Africa and African values, especially in the areas of economic development for the continent.
The UN International Day of the African child celebration which was organised by UBA in Lagos, was said to have been rounded up with the” Bank’s annul Conversations event for commemorating the Africa Day,” where African icons contributed to discussions around changing the African narrative and growing the continent”.