General
Heritage Bank, GTA Fete 500 Children in Lagos
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Last weekend was fun for about 500 pupils who participated in the Heritage Bank Plc-GTA Communications Limited Children Day Celebrations organised for 20 primary and secondary schools in different parts of Lagos State.
Apart from the exited pupils and students who trooped out to participate in the celebrations, the event, held at Ronnie Event Centre at the Agege, also had in attendance parents, teachers, proprietors and proprietresses of the schools that took part.
In her remarks at the event, Chinenyenwa Ozoemena, Financial Literacy Analyst, Heritage Bank said as a timeless wealth partner in Nigeria, Heritage Bank considered the platform as a veritable one through which it could educate the participants about financial literacy.
Ozoemena explained that the importance of financial literacy cannot be overemphasised as it is essential to the young and the old. She said even the children present needed basic knowledge about activities of banks in the country.
She therefore, engaged the pupils and students with questions that bother on Financial Literacy in order to arouse their curiosity. Among the questions asked are: If you have N20, what will you do with it; what do people do in a bank; Name two types of bank account you know; and what is the name of Nigeria’s currency?
Besides, Ozoemena explained that Heritage Bank would be happy to partner with the schools represented at the occasion. She said: “We are here to partner with you and with your business. Heritage Bank has various banking solutions that can be deployed to grow your business even beyond your imagination. We do what is called business advising.”
According to her, record keeping is essential to the growth of any business adding that Heritage Bank has an enviable record keeping system that can effectively back up their businesses wherever it may be situated in the country.
For the children, who would like to be successful entrepreneurs, Ozoemena disclosed that Heritage Bank has specific banking solutions that are meant to nurture them to maturity.
In her welcome remarks, Mrs Gbemisola Abdul-Olatunbosun, CEO of GTA Communications; commended Heritage Bank and the schools represented at the event. She expressed optimism that the financial literacy experience that the children would gain would surely add value to them and also help to shape their understanding about life.
Although, GTA Communications has been organising Children Day celebrations since five years now, Abdul-Olatunbosun said with the Heritage Bank’s involvement this year, the content is more enriched. With that, she stated, the participants would benefit more.
Among the pupils whose presence was visible at the event is Ossai Samuel, a JSS2 pupil from Bishop Kola Onaolapo Memorial College who played saxophone to entertain the audience.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The office of the president-elect has confirmed that Mr Bola Tinubu has jetted out of Nigeria for a rest in the United Kingdom and France ahead of his swearing-in ceremony slated for May 29, 2023.
An online platform on Wednesday reported that the winner of the February 25 presidential election travelled to Europe for urgent medical attention.
But in a statement issued by one of his aides, Mr Tunde Rahman, it was emphasized that the former Governor of Lagos State only left the country to have a rest in London and Paris before going to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj.
It was disclosed that Mr Tinubu travelled out of Nigeria on Tuesday night via the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos.
“After a very exhaustive campaign and election season, President-elect, Asíwájú Bola Tinubu, has travelled abroad to rest and plan his transition programme ahead of May 29, 2023 inauguration.
“The President-elect left the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, for Europe on Tuesday night.
“The President-elect decided to take a break after the hectic campaign and election season to rest in Paris and London, preparatory to going to Saudi Arabia for Umrah (Lesser Hajj) and the Ramadan Fasting that begins Thursday.
“While away, the President-elect will also use the opportunity to plan his transition programme.
“He is expected back in the country soon.
“We enjoin the media to stop publishing rumours and unsubstantiated claims and to always seek clarifications from our office,” the statement said.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The candidate of the Labour Party in the governorship election in Abia State, Mr Alex Otti, has been declared as the winner of the exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The former banker polled a total of 175,467 votes to defeat his closest rival in the poll, Mr Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 88,529 votes.
The Abia State governorship election was earlier declared inconclusive by the electoral umpire due to issues arising from over-voting. The collation centre had to be moved to Abuja from Umuahia, the state capital.
The governor-elect, in a short post via his verified Twitter handle, reacted to the development by saying, “See what the Lord has done.”
Mr Otti left the banking industry a few years ago after serving as the managing director of the defunct Diamond Bank, which merged with Access Bank. He left his office in the bank to pursue his political ambition in 2015, but he failed until he succeeded in 2023.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has directed public sector workers in the country to embark on strike beginning from Wednesday, March 29, 2023.
President of the union, Mr Joe Ajaero, gave this directive at a media briefing at Labour House in Abuja on Wednesday, March 22.
He also directed affiliate unions of the NLC to be on standby for a picketing exercise across all branches of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) nationwide.
The union leader said the directive became imperative following the expiration of a one-week ultimatum given to the apex bank to make cash available for Nigerians.
The scarcity has heightened with plans by the central bank to mop up the old Naira in circulation. The apex bank recently said it had removed N2.3 trillion from circulation between October 2022 and February 2023 while printing fewer new notes.
Business Post reported that between October last year and February 2023, the cash in circulation dropped to N982.09 billion from N3.29 trillion.
This is one of the factors that has extended the scarcity of the Naira and have also prolonged it into March.
Despite the Supreme Court judgement on March 3, 2023, that the old Naira remain legal until December 31, 2023, new notes have not reached many households with the old notes and new notes difficult to acquire.
With the cash in circulation dropping and the currency in commercial banks’ vaults or that of the CBN rising, Nigerians still find it difficult to access the money deposited in their accounts despite the ruling that the new and old notes should co-exist for 10 months.
