By Dipo Olowookere
The first batch of interns selected under the Ynspyre project of Heritage Bank has undergone a training organised in conjunction with Silverbird Group.
Five young entrepreneurs in the Nigerian creative and entertainment industry were chosen from the over 3,000 who applied to be part of the programme.
The selected persons embarked on a rigorous 3-month internship training programme to equip them with the necessary skills for their future engagements.
The Ynspyre interns were Derrick Ugwugbu–Reporter/Anchor; Deborah Johnson–Radio Presenter; Oluwasegun Emmanuel Ikoya–Disk Jockey (DJ); Ayomide Solaja–News Presenter and Abayomi Bello–Cinematographer.
The initiative is part of Heritage Bank’s determination to support the showbiz sector and impact positively on the nation’s socio-economic development.
Speaking during the handover of certificate of completion, the Divisional Head of Corporate Communications of Heritage Bank, Mr Fela Ibidapo, said as a forward-looking financial institution its strength lays in the ability to spot and mould talents into great professionals.
He noted that the Ynspyre Project was established to train, nurture and arm young employees with the right skills needed to fast-track development and enable talents to flourish.
He urged prospective interns who have an interest in participating in the Ynsprye Project to dial *745# to open a savings account with the chance to be amongst the next set of interns, whilst keeping in touch with Heritage Bank’s platform and Silverbird Television.
Meanwhile, Mr Ibidapo explained that the aim of Heritage Bank being at the forefront of youth empowerment is to emancipate the latent entrepreneurial spirit in the teeming youths to unleash their support to the growth of the economy.
He stated that being at the forefront of investing in human capital development for critical economy recovery, “we will continue to up our game to empower Nigerian youths who is one of the bedrock of any vibrant economy.”
He disclosed that one of the channels churned out in partnering the youths to leverage their talents and contribute their quota to the growth of the economy, was the use of financial inclusion strategy which would be adopted to boost entrepreneurship development, as this is critical to Heritage Bank’s mission to create, preserve and transfer wealth across generations.
In her remarks, the Head of Product Development at Heritage Bank, Ms Uchenna Mike Olisa, admonished the trained entertainers to make good use of their acquired skills.
On his part, the Head of Silverbird Television, Mr Mike Nwadike, hinted that lots of resources have gone into the training with series of creative sessions, strategy sessions, brainstorming meetings and re-evaluation, with the aim of ensuring that the participants are grounded in their respective skills.
Also, the Head of Programmes, Radio, Mr Iyke Chinke, commended Heritage Bank for its continued efforts to empower youths in the country.
According to him, it is hard to find banks out there to give young people the opportunity but Heritage Bank has been championing it.
