1,500 Osun Residents Benefit from Fidelity Food Bank Outreach

Over 1,500 residents made up of women, children, widows, and the elderly have benefited from the one-day feeding program organized by Fidelity Bank in Osun State.

The food bank project was held at St. Benedict Catholic Church, Osogbo, Osun State under the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiative created to reach out to vulnerable persons and reduce the effect of hunger in the society.

Speaking at the distribution event, the Divisional Head, Brand and Communication, Fidelity Bank Plc, Dr. Meksley Nwagboh, described the Food Bank Initiative as the bank’s contribution towards helping the less privileged in the society.

Highlighting the bank's commitment to supporting the underserved communities in its outreach efforts in the Osogbo and environs, he noted that, “Food security is a pressing challenge, and as a socially responsible organization, we are committed to tackling this issue. We collaborate with various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to identify communities in dire need and provide much-needed food support.

According to Nwagboh, “There is always a significant turnout of people during our Food Bank outreaches. This program holds every month, and the distribution of the food packs takes place simultaneously across all regions of the country. Today, we brought over 1,500 packs of food items to be distributed to the people and plan to continue to do more in communities across the country to help those in need.”

Applauding the initiative by Fidelity Bank, Reverend Father Michael Domingo of St. Benedict Catholic Church, Osogbo stated that, “It is surprising and commendable that a bank in Nigeria is giving back to the community.  We are aware that banks are known for taking, but Fidelity Bank is giving back to the people.

“The Fidelity Food Bank initiative is worthy of emulation which is why the Catholic Church has a working relationship with the Bank. We recognize its uniqueness and appreciate how it helps the community."

On his part. Reverend Father Joseph Komolafe, the host priest, encouraged affluent individuals to follow Fidelity Bank's example in combating hunger adding that, "You don't have to wait until you have plenty before you give out. Share what you have, no matter how little, for the progress and development of society," he stated.

The Fidelity Food Bank Initiative continues to make a significant impact, providing vital support to those in need and reinforcing the bank's commitment to social responsibility.

Ranked as one of the best banks in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged commercial bank with over 8.3 million customers serviced across its 251 business offices in Nigeria and the United Kingdom as well as on digital banking channels.

The bank has won multiple local and international awards including the Export Finance Bank of the Year at the 2023 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards, the Best Payment Solution Provider Nigeria 2023 and Best SME Bank Nigeria 2022 by the Global Banking and Finance Awards; Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria by the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2023; and Best Domestic Private Bank in Nigeria by the Euromoney Global Private Banking Awards 2023.

1,500 Police Officers Beg IG Over Unpaid Salary Arrears

Police officers under the auspices of Concerned Police Inspectors in Nigeria on Thursday visited the Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, along Asutan Street, Uyo the Akwa Ibom State capital to protest non-payment of 11 months salary arrears.

The officers drawn from different Police formations, who spoke on behalf of their colleagues on condition of anonymity, lamented that their crime-fighting morale had been dampened by the non-commitment to their welfare by the police authorities.

The officers who noted that they were about 1,500 officers promoted from inspector 11-to-1 appealed to the IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, to use his offices to effect the payment for the affected officers, to be able to address the harsh socio-economic realities on their families.

An appeal letter addressed to Egbetokun, and copied to the presidency, national assembly and the Police Service Commission, said, “We are over 1,500 personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, Akwa Ibom Command, promoted from Inspector 11, to Inspector 1, by the IGP effective from September 10, 2023, with a signal dated March 21, 2024.

“To date, we are still collecting old salaries as junior Inspectors instead of senior Inspectors since the IGP gave us the confirmation letters. So we have nowhere to run to than to the federal government who is our employee.

“We are uncomfortable with this inhuman treatment by our IGP, after putting many years into serving our country but our entitlements are being denied.They lamented the high cost of living adding that it had begun to affect how they tended to their families.

They said, “We can no longer feed our families or pay their bills due to the high cost of essential items in the market. It’s difficult to believe that after being celebrated with our families for being elevated to another level, the IGP has been deliberately short-paying us for 11 months now, and by calculation, the shortfall is over N550,000 each.

“When we contacted our pay officers, their reason is always that the IPPS has been returning our voucher because no directive from the IGP. So we ask; between our IGP and the Police authority, who should take matters of our welfare more seriously?

“Since he assumed office as IGP, Mr. Egbetokun, had been promoting officers without commensurate payment of their financial accompaniments. The only signal we have been receiving from him, from Abuja, is dressing code, dressing code and dressing code, what are we going to use to buy the uniforms if our due salaries have not been paid?”

Sterling Bank Sponsors Training For 1,000 youths

 

Sterling Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading commercial bank, has partnered with Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP) to sponsor 1,000 fellows during this year’s training programme.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman said, at the launch of the programme in Lagos, that the bank is supporting NJFP because of its interest in the education sector as one of five sectors it is presently concentrating investments in under its HEARTs of Sterling programme. 

The other sectors are Health, Agriculture, Renewable Energy and Transportation.

The Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP) is a youth empowerment partnership initiative between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and was launched in 2021.

It was borne out of rising unemployment and the COVID-19 pandemic which adversely impacted the ability of young Nigerians to find work. 

The programme seeks to connect talented graduates with local job opportunities that apply their expertise while equipping them with world-class practical knowledge and relevant skills and it does not matter if an applicant does not have job experience.

NJFP targets a broad range of sectors, including the start-up economy, innovation, and creative industries, the digital and technology sector, the green economy sector, financial services, key public and international development institutions, research and development, agriculture, real estate, construction, transportation, and health services. In other words, there is a place for every organisation in this programme.

It will be recalled that as part of its commitment to the reduction of unemployment among youths in the country, Sterling Bank Plc had recently renewed its partnership with iCreate Africa to provide a payment system that allows qualified workers to purchase tools and pay in instalments.

Consequently, the bank has also introduced different packages so that skill-seekers can access soft loans to buy tools and it is encouraging skill-seekers not to let the opportunity to slip off their hands.

Also as part of this strategy, Sterling Bank had also expanded its Café One community to Abuja in partnership with iCreate.

//Ends.

Friday Atufe

COO, Strategic Effects Limited

Mobile: +2348034005024

Email: fridatu@yahoo. co.uk, fridatu@gmail.com

Court Sentences Lagos Man To 1,230 Years Imprisonment

A Lagos State High Court on Thursday sentenced an estate agent Babatunde Habeeb, fondly called Babatunde Salawudeen to 1,230 years in jail for duping clients off N28m.