Banking
Guinness Nigeria Partners NYSC
**Deepens Responsible Drinking Campaign
By Dipo Olowookere
Leading manufacturer and Nigeria’s only total beverage alcohol (TBA) company, Guinness Nigeria Plc, has revved up its commitment to driving responsible drinking behaviour among Nigerian consumers by partnering with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to deliver its innovative and trailblazing DRINKiQ training sessions to officials and corps members in a bid to take the responsible drinking message to every nook and cranny of the country.
At the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Guinness Nigeria and the NYSC which took place at the Gowon House, National Directorate Headquarters, NYSC in Abuja, on Friday, November 4, the Director General, NYSC, Brigadier General Sule Kazaure, who was represented by Director, Community Development Service and Special Projects, Mrs Rhoda Kaka Kwaki, appreciated the laudable hand of fellowship extended by Guinness Nigeria to help create a society where responsible drinking becomes engrained in the consciousness of many young adults and society at large. Commending Guinness Nigeria for the intervention, she described the partnership as a clear demonstration of the company’s positive disposition towards the welfare and development of Nigerians, particularly the youth.
“This DRINKiQ campaign, a form of giving back to the society to be implemented by the Community Development Service and Special Projects is bound to impact positively on the entire society and it is my sincere hope that what we have sown today will blossom into enduring and sustainable entity for the benefit of our communities and environs,” Mrs Kwaki said.
Managing Director of Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr Peter Ndegwa who was represented by the company’s Corporate Relations Director, Mr Sesan Sobowale, described the occasion as historic one and a momentous stride in the right direction with a view to curbing the irresponsible use of alcohol in society.
“We are committed to creating awareness about responsible drinking and promoting the enjoyment of alcohol and our brands as part of a healthy balanced lifestyle. We also believe that efforts to reduce the misuse of alcohol are most effective when governments, society, individuals, families as well as industry work together.
“Therefore, our approach is built around providing consumers with information promoting rigorous company and industry standards for responsible marketing, supporting effective programmes and partnerships as the one that we are signing today to promote alcohol education and to tackle misuse and advocating effective evidence-based policy,” Mr Sobowale enthused.
Other dignitaries present at the occasion include Sustainable Development/ Alcohol in Society, AiS Manager, Guinness Nigeria, Osita Abana; Director, Legal Service, NYSC Directorate NHQ, Barrister Tijani Ibrahim; Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Chief Anthony Ani;, Director, Press and Public Relations, Mrs Bose Aderibigbe; Director, Corp Welfare and Inspectorate, Mrs Victoria Obi Okaku; Director, Certfication, Alh Udu Taura; and Director, Corps Mobilization Chief Frank Ekpenobi.
On the scope of the partnership, Mr Sobowale explained that the DRINKiQ programme is one of the training platforms that Guinness Nigeria, has used to leverage its responsible drinking agenda. The training aims to raise the public’s awareness about alcohol so that people can have a better understanding of the drinking choices that they make, including the decision not to drink, when to drink and how much to drink.
In view of this, the programme would start with Train-the-Trainers, ToT programme, that will equip NYSC officials (drawn from the 36 states of the federation) with information and knowledge about responsible drinking. These officials will then provide trainee corps members with practical tips, strategies and confidence they need to become champions for responsible drinking in their communities.
It would be recalled that last year, Guinness pioneered the use of breathalyzers by the Federal Road Safety Commission via its donation of breathalyzers to the safety agency to enable it check the incidence of drunk-driving on Nigerian roads during the ember months. Other initiatives include the Age Verification Programme, sponsorship of a radio programme, DRINK DIARIES, on Lagos Traffic radio 96.1 FM as well as advertorials and out-of-home messaging aimed at educating the general public on the dangers of drink-driving.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.
The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.
The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.
They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.
They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.
The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.
In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.
The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.
After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.
“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.
“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.
“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.
“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.
“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.
This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.
“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”
Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.
He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.
“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.
“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.
A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.
It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.
The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.
Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.
He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.
Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.
He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.
He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.
At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.
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