 |
| L-R: Divisional Head, Surulere Business, Dr. Bimbo Akorede; Principal Gbaja Junior Girls School, Mrs.Tawakalitu Dahiru; ED, Corporate & Investment Banking, Polaris Bank, Mrs. Abimbola Ozomah; ED PaceGate Limited, Raj Totlani, Group Head, Customer Experience & Value Mngt; Bukola Oluyadi & GM, Evolve Charity Trust, Mr. Godwin Ejeh when Polaris Bank & Evolve Charity Donated over 200 Schools essentials to both Gbaja Junior and Senior Secondary Schools in Surulere last week in Lagos |
Polaris Bank and one of its strategic CSR partners, Evolve Trust Charity on Wednesday stormed Gbaja Girls (Junior and Senior) High School, Surulere, Lagos in continuation of its presentation of school essentials programme to selected public school students in the country.
The partnership which birthed in 2021 and primarily focused on empowering the girl-child and their male counterparts has reached over 15,000 students across 35 public schools in nine states including Lagos, Kano, Kogi, Imo and FCT, Abuja. The initiative includes empowering young learners with brain training techniques and emotional intelligence education alongside making and distributing user-sized school essentials (bags, uniforms, sandals, books, and pens). The initiative also captures the training of teachers in the respective schools, all sponsored by the Bank.
Speaking at the presentation
on Wednesday, the Bank’s Executive Director, Corporate and Investment Banking,
Mrs. Abimbola Ozomah emphasized that the Bank being a signatory to United
Nations (UN) Principles for Responsible Banking aligns its practices and
strategies with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate
Agreement thus igniting its sustained interests in the training of the
girl-child.
According to data from the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO),
there are about 10.5 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, six million girls.
“This event is not just about
distributing educational materials but empowering girls for bigger roles
because educated girls grow into informed women. At Polaris Bank, we are
committed to bridging the educational gap, empowering girls and building
sustainability aligning with global framework,” she said.
The Executive Director
further charged the students to embrace the opportunities inherent in education
while stating that the Bank will stop at nothing to support them.
“Education is the most powerful
tool at your disposal and you have to utilize it to the maximum. Polaris Bank
will not relent in supporting this laudable mission to empower girls who will
drive the needed change to better our country and world. This intervention is
in line with the Bank’s ongoing sustainability efforts aimed at reducing out-of-school
children population and increasing access to quality education, especially for
the girl-child and we urge you all to take full advantage,” Ozoma noted.
Also speaking, Programme
Manager at Evolve Charity Trust, Ejeh Godwin thanked Polaris Bank for keying
into the Trust’s mission of supporting the girl-child nationwide. Godwin noted
that while the initiative commenced in 2020, Polaris Bank partnered in 2021 and
the Bank has never for once backed out since then.
“I want to specially
appreciate Polaris Bank for their tremendous support since 2021 when the
partnership started. We couldn’t have done this alone nor come this far without
their support. We’ve expanded our reach and hope to even bring more schools in
other states on board this year, all thanks to Polaris Bank,” Ejeh said.
The Principal, Gbaja Girls
Junior High School, Mrs Dabiri Nwabuoku Adetoun Iyabo in her remarks also
appreciated Polaris Bank for including the school in the intervention
programme.
“I want to specially thank
Polaris Bank on behalf of staff and students for finding us worthy of
benefitting from this laudable programme. You can feel the energy in the hall
that the students are happy and so are the staff. This has boosted our morale,
and we are incredibly happy about it,” the Principal enthused.
One of the beneficiaries and
Assistant Senior Girl of the school, Bankole Oreofeoluwa Emmanuella also
thanked the Bank for a symbolic gesture while promising to put the items into
judicious use.
“My friends and I are happy about this gesture from Polaris Bank, and we can’t thank the Bank enough. These items will further ease our learning, and we promise to not only put them to judicious use but imbibe good maintenance culture,” Bankole said.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of the items to students by officials of Polaris Bank and Evolve Charity Trust.
0 Comments