Banking
Unity Bank Webinar: Stakeholders Seek Urgent Action on Plastic Pollution
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The need for urgent and coordinated action to tackle Nigeria’s growing plastic pollution crisis has been called by environmental activists and climate change advocates.
This demand was made at a webinar hosted by the Sustainability Team of Unity Bank Plc in commemoration of this year’s World Environment Day themed Ending Plastic Pollution.
Stakeholders at the event described the country’s plastic pollution challenges as one of the greatest environmental threats.
The webinar, put together to fashion out innovative strategies to curb plastic pollution in Nigeria, had in attendance leading waste management entrepreneurs and environmental activists such as the co-founder/CEO of PETsPoint Recycling Nigeria, Mr Sunday Kolawole Sholanke; and the co-founder/CEO of Street Waste Company Limited, Omoh Alokwe.
The programme offered a platform for robust dialogue around sustainable actions and innovative solutions that can mitigate the escalating threat of plastic pollution and promote environmental protection.
In his presentation, Mr Sholanke decried the alarming volume of plastic waste in Nigeria, putting estimates on the country’s waste generation to about 596 million metric tonnes annually, with 88 per cent of it neither reclaimed nor recycled.
“Nigeria ranks as the 9th highest contributor to global plastic pollution. Much of Nigeria’s plastic waste ends up in landfills, drainage systems, and water bodies, causing extensive environmental damage and posing serious health risks,” he explained.
He also shared startling global statistics: “Over one million plastic bottles and 10 million plastic bags are produced every minute.
“In 2020 alone, eight million tons of plastic bottles were produced globally, with less than 30 per cent collected and under 10 per cent recycled. The rest is dumped, burned, or abandoned in the environment, worsening risks of flooding, climate disruption, and disease.”
He identified poor waste management culture, low public awareness, and lack of community collection infrastructure as major factors aggravating the Nigeria’s plastic waste crisis.
Calling on the financial services sector to be more proactive, Mr Sholanke urged banks to invest in green financing by increasing access to affordable credit for green businesses and eco-friendly initiatives.
Also speaking, Omoh Alokwe emphasized the role of regulators in strengthening enforcement and updating policy frameworks to reduce harmful practices that fuel the global plastic crisis.
Echoing this view was the Head of Strategy and Innovation at Unity Bank, Mr Ibukun Coker, who emphasized the bank’s commitment to sustainable practices and environmental protection, highlighting the role of the financial sector in driving meaningful change.
“Plastic pollution is not just an environmental issue, it is an economic and public health crisis,” said Mr. Coker. “At Unity Bank, we believe that sustainability should be more than a policy; it must be embedded in how we operate, the projects we finance, and the partnerships we build.”
Also, the Executive Director for Risk Management at Unity Bank, Mr Usman Abdulkadir, reaffirmed the lender’s commitment to sustainability, adding that issues like plastic pollution carry deep risk implications for businesses and communities.
“Environmental degradation is increasingly a business risk, not just a corporate social concern,” Mr. Abdulkadir stated. “We must all begin to view environmental stewardship as a duty that cuts across sectors – finance, government, industry, and civil society. Unity Bank remains committed to integrating ESG principles into its risk frameworks and sustainability agenda.”
Unity Bank has consistently championed environmental causes, including its annual Earth Day partnerships with non-profits such as RESWAYE to clean the Royal Beach in Elegushi, Lagos, part of its mission to protect marine ecosystems.
In its most recent Earth Day campaign, the company challenged every staff member across 32 states to plant a tree in their locality, driving a grassroots reforestation movement and reinforcing environmental awareness.
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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