By Dipo Olowookere
To mark this year’s World Savings Day, Wema Bank held financial education sessions with students in five secondary schools in various locations in the country and more than 500 students participated.
Recall that, earlier in the year, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) released data showing that only 35 percent of Nigeria’s adult population has bank savings accounts.
The low level of financial inclusion in the country has been identified as the primary reason for this not too impressive statistics. However, saving is more of a habit formed over time than availability of structures encouraging it.
In order to encourage people to save more, financial institutions across the world have been celebrating The World Savings Day since 1924.
Asked why kids should save, Ugwuogbe Chidahe, a JSS 3 student at Olomu Community Junior Secondary School, Ajah wrote:
“Saving among kids is an essential part of learning and growing up which should be encouraged very early in life.
“Savings can help kids to keep their parents out of financial trouble in emergency. Even though they are kids, it is important to have an emergency fund set aside to cover unexpected expenses. Their little savings can go a long way to assist their parents, especially during a recession.
“For instance, such savings can be used to help their parents pay part of their school fees or assist in buying some essential things they need that their parents are unable to buy for them.”
Noah Rashidat and Believe Tashak, both members of the Press Club of Crowder Memorial College Lokoja taught other kids how to save in four points:
You should be able to ask yourself the reason why you want to save. Is it for your education, shoes, bicycle, or what?
Make a chart
Set a goal for yourself
Be disciplined and faithful
The World Savings Day celebration reinforces the benefits of the age-long idea of saving money in a bank rather than keeping it at home. It is also a celebration of the role of retail banks in promoting saving and economic well-being among the population.
Commenting, Mr Charles Udoh, who heads Brand & Marketing Communications at Wema Bank, stressed the importance of saving.
“This year’s World Savings Day celebration presented another opportunity to educate Nigerians about the importance of saving,” said Mr Udoh.
“We have taken advantage of this opportunity to teach young people about the importance of having a savings culture. We hope we have been able to impart knowledge to these students through the financial literacy sessions we organized in schools across Nigeria.
“Hopefully, they will grow up with a savings habit which will help them navigate life and economic challenges,” Mr Udoh added.
Wema Bank offers a range of savings products focused on helping customers to reach their financial goals. The bank also has two products tailor-made for young people.
