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Tag: First Bank

  • ‘How First Bank is raising new entrepreneurs’

    ‘How First Bank is raising new entrepreneurs’

    Ibukun Awosika, Chairman, First Bank Nigeria Plc, is passionate about entrepreneurship. She spoke with some young entrepreneurs and innovators on various business initiatives on the sidelines of Global Entrepreneurship Week with the theme ‘Igniting youth entrepreneurship in Nigeria by supporting innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs,’ reports Bukola Aroloye

    Justification of the initiative

    After 124years of First Bank involvement in the economy, you will realise we are systemically relevant to the institution doing everything we can in every way to help build a nation. This is why we are investing in a programme like this. When you think where our customers of the future will come from, we believe they will come from the next generation of businessmen. So we build next generation of businesses, lives, organisation and our country. This is our commitment.

    Assessing the programme thus far

    I think that when you look at some of the speeches that were presented today, you will see that young Nigerian business men are not going to sleep. They are doing all they can within their limited resources to find solutions to establish an enterprise. Everything might not be perfect yet but it is a process. We didn’t expect it to be like this that is why it is a combined effort of First Bank, Afrigrants and other financial institutions pushing discourse and stories that affect the minds so that we can move forward in building the right kind of enterprise.

    Advise to entrepreneurs on investing in Kliptocurrency

    What I said was that as at this moment in this country, the regulatory framework does not exist. It is not a legal transaction. You will find that banks, based on compliance with regulatory rules, do not engage in any part of that kind of business but it is a future business.

    You can see an emergence and discourse going on around concerning the transaction so it is something to watch and all financial institutions should be watching the impact and its effect on the existing global financial system. We don’t have a legal structure to support it yet. If you want to borrow, you cannot borrow on something that will run afoul of the law.

    On challenges facing entrepreneurs

    It’s different for each individuals but I will rather talk about how Nigerians have fair despite challenges. The challenges are there and despite the challenges which have been there for many years, Nigerians have continued to build businesses. Despite the issues, they keep trying to build around it and find solutions. We should rather celebrate things we have been able to do such as the success Nigerians have achieved despite the challenges. As we do, some of those challenges become opportunities that businesses solve. It is a better mindset for us to push forward and think how to solve these problems and create businesses that represents solutions to the problem.

    An ordinary farmer will talk about lack of capital to buy kinds of machineries needed but there are businesses where a group of people has all the machineries that a farmer need. No farmer need to buy all the machines. As a farmer, you only need to book time for the machineries and the group will move into your farm with the machines, do everything for you, pay them and they go. You don’t need huge capital investment for something you don’t need every day. That’s more efficient use of resources and allows many more people to come into commercial farm without going into large debt to run a farm.

    We have to think innovatively and say despite our limitations, we need to succeed in what we do. Federal government is pushing diversification of our economy which is so important because oil is old story; it is not going to solve our problems anymore. We need everybody on board. We can’t all work in the oil and gas sector. Oil can fall any time in prices. We can’t depend on that. We need to build in all other areas that we have talent. We have a large population to settle and feed. We have massive arable land where we can grow so many things and sell to the rest of the world. We have so much that is needed internally and build our economy. It is about maximizing the skills and talent of our people to build economic value for our nation.

    When I started business almost 30years ago, some of the challenges are there. There was no power and finance and we are still talking about the same thing but in the last 20years, I know how many businesses have been built successfully by many Nigerians. We need to stop focusing on the problems but think what we can do in spite of the problems. They are not going to go away overnight and new problems will emerge. We can’t stay focus on the problem but we just have to find how to solve the problem.

  • First Bank empowers 100 pupils

    The First Bank of Nigeria has embarked on career counselling with 100 secondary school pupils in the Federal Capital Territory.

    Justifying the need for the empowerment, the Executive Director, Retail Banking North, Abdullahi Ibrahim said the programme will help to provide the students in making the right career choice. Career counselling is very important for the students especially at this stage of their lives.

    He said, “These are secondary school students who are trying to find their ways through life. The essence of career counselling is to help them identify their strength, weaknesses and passion.

    “We are empowering the youths with knowledge base that is required for them to take the right career decision so they come out as a productive member of the society while also achieving their dreams.’’

    The essence of career counselling, he stressed, is to empower them with knowledge base that is required for them to pursue what they want to be in life, so it’s all encompassing and could lead some having passion for entrepreneurship, engineering, medicine or the legal profession.

    “First bank has been involve in CSR for as long as the bank has been in existence, we have been around for over 120years and we believe in impacting society in many ways than one, one of which is CSR, career and capacity building. So the theme of this year’s event is career counseling and that is what we are doing all over the country as we speak.”

    The programme officer, Junior Achievement, Nigeria, Northern Region, Saratu Bijimi said the programme is for 100 students, the whole idea is to enlighten students on what career they should pick as they graduate from secondary school.

    It is expected that they start preparing for their career at that early age, not at the university level. The programme is completely educational. Junior Achievement of Nigeria still partners with other banks apart from First Bank of Nigeria.

  • Business with First Bank: A Promising Future for Nigeria SME

    Business with First Bank: A Promising Future for Nigeria SME

    When the National Bureau of Statistics released the revised figure of active small and medium scale business operators in Nigeria, it looked normal; about 37 million SMEs are active in the Nigeria market.

    We have become too conversant with statistics without digging deep into the outcomes, the implications and the futuristic forecasts. For instance in 2007 Nigeria had a population of about 10 million out of school children according to the United Nations Organization. It was just like a statistics but that figure doubled in 2017.

    There is wisdom in acting upon development statistics. Buried in those statistics are information that can inspire action, create growth and sustain development.

    37 million SMEs in Nigeria sounds like one good news, the challenges notwithstanding, it generally reflects the entrepreneurial spirit of Nigerians and the possible outcome if the right things are done.

    China is a good reference of modern development; about 40 years ago China was underdeveloped but visionary and determined to lead world economy. China’s strategy was investment in education and sponsoring a mass of micro cottage industries which engaged in diverse forms of production, about 30 million micro cottage, small and medium scale industries emerged with the goal to dominate the global market. It was not a perfect smooth; they made mistakes, had a bad reputation for fake production but with time, China perfected its acts through trial and error. Now, the world calls on China for technology or textile, China is destination for all forms of production.

    Nigeria too, can become that industrial hub at least in Africa. The opportunity abounds but the coordinated strategy seems to be lacking.

    Although financial institutions like First Bank leads in creating platforms to stimulate and advance the growth of small and medium scale businesses, government needs to create a clear vision and a more aggressive path.

    Creating that path was expounded by Chairman of First Bank Nigeria, Ibukun Awosika when she observed that “Path to a sustainable economy for Africa, particularly Nigeria, is feasible only if efforts are made and sustained to build as many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as possible because SMEs constitute the bulk of most African economies, and comprise business enterprises that employ fewer people. She said.

    “To build a sustainable business, you need to be clear on where you want to go and why you started,” Awosika said.

    The programs and products of First bank attest to the positioning of the bank to deliver unequal service to the small and medium scale business sector.

    For instance, the Economy and You, a program which highlights essential capacity development for startups was conceived to deliver information that will inspire and support the growth of SMEs in Nigeria.

    No doubt First bank story is unique; the bank is the biggest lender to SME sector in Nigeria, through partnerships with organized small scale industries association, the bank has a single digit lending rate for members, smashing the high interest rate phenomenon, the very first steel ceiling that inhibits inclusion of small businesses in the corporate lending circle. This is a major step to advancing the Nigerian SME to the next level.

  • Justice Agbadu-fishim arraigned over alleged N4.4m gratification

    Justice Agbadu-fishim arraigned over alleged N4.4m gratification

    Justice James Agbadu-fishim of the National Industrial Court, Lagos Division, was on Tuesday hauled up before Justice Raliatu Adebiyi of an Ikeja High Court over alleged N4.4 million gratification.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Agbadu-fishim for allegedly receiving N4.4million from seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), a lawyer and a law firm from 2013 to 2015.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the seven SANs accused of unlawfully enriching the judge are — Felix Fagbohungbe, Paul Usoro, Uche Obi, Muiz Banire, Adeniyi Akintola Gani Adetola Kazeem and Joseph Nwobike.

    The prosecution alleged in the 19-count charge of unlawful enrichment that the judge received funds from a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr Enobong Etteh and Alliance Law Firm.

    According to the EFCC, Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN) deposited N200,000 on Dec. 5, 2013, N700,000 between May 10 and Dec. 19, 2014, N250,000 on Feb. 26, 2015 and N250,000 also on Feb. 26, 205 into the First Bank Account with no. 3008199491 belonging to Agbadu-fishim.

    The anti-graft agency alleges, that Mr Paul Usoro (SAN) between Aug. 5 and Dec. 12, 2015 deposited N300,000, between March 25 and March 26, deposited N400,000 and N100,000 into the First Bank Account of the judge with no. 3008199491.

    The law firm of Gani Adetola Kazeem (SAN), paid N100,000 on Feb. 10, 2015 and Mr Uche Obi (SAN) between Oct. 17 and Oct. 20, 2013 paid N200,000, Alliance Law Firm deposited N250,000 into the First Bank Account of the judge with number- 3008199491.

    A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr Enobong Etteh, paid the sum of N200,000 on two occasions into the First Bank Account of the judge with number – 3008199491 on Oct. 27, 2014.

    The EFCC told the court that Mr Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), deposited N200,000 on July 12, 2014, N100,000 on Feb. 10, 2014, N100,000 on Feb. 26, 2015 and also N100,000 on Feb. 26, 2015 into the First Bank Account of the judge with number – 2006900216.

    The EFCC claimed that Agbadu-fishim received N150,000 on Dec. 12, 2014 and N100,000 on Sep. 10, 2015 from Dr Joseph Nwobike (SAN) into his First Bank Account with number – 2006900216.

    Agbadu-fishim, however, denied the 19-count charge.

    After the judge’s plea was taken, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, the prosecuting counsel for the EFCC requested for a trial date.

    Prof. A. Amuda (SAN), counsel to Agbadu-fishim, asked the court to grant the judge bail.

    “I will ask My Lord for your leave to apply for the bail of the defendant.

    “Pursuant to the case of Abiola VFRB, we are saying this with all sense of respect the defendant being a judge of the National Industrial Court was just served yesterday at 5pm with this charge.

    “It was at this time that he got the charge that I couldn’t get a flight to Lagos from Port – Harcourt and I had to travel overnight to Lagos to represent my client.

    “I pray that the court grants bail to the defendant on self recognisance, he is a judge of the National Industrial Court and he has started sitting.

    “My Lord we pleas that your Lordship grants the defendant bail.”

    Responding, Oyedepo told the court that he would not be opposing the bail of the judge.

    “I leave the issue of bail to the discretion of your Lordship, I ask that your Lordship secure the bail terms that will ensure the attendance in court of the defendant,” he said.

    In her ruling, Justice Raliatu Adebiyi said: “In Abacha V State, the main function of the nail is to ensure the attendance of the defendant.

    “In considering bail, the court must consider the nature of the offence charged.

    “No facts have been placed before the court to indicate that the defendant will skip bail.

    “The court hereby grants the defendant bail on self recognisance, he is to deposit his international passport with the Chief Registrar of the court,” she said.

    Justice Raliatu Adebiyi adjourned the case until Oct. 11, Oct. 12 and Oct. 13 for trial.

    NAN recalls that the National Judicial Council (NJC) had on June 2 recalled Agbadu-fishim and five other judges from suspension.

    A total of eight judges were suspended in November 2016 following a raid on their homes by the Department of State Security (DSS).

    They include, Agbadu-fishim of the NIC, John Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court, Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme Court, Uwani Aji of the Court of Appeal and Hydiazira Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court.

    Others are Musa H. Kurya of the Federal High Court, Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court and Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court.

    All the judges except Ngwuta and Ofili-Ajumogobia who are both currently facing corruption trial were recalled by the NJC.

    The NJC had said that the reason for their recall was the huge backlog of cases in their courts.

    The judicial body noted that only Ademola, Ngwuta and Ofili-Ajumogobia had been charged to court, emphasising that Ademola had been discharged and acquitted of the charges filed against him. (NAN)
    MAE/ENN/DA

  • Monitors say FG’s school feeding programme in Ebonyi in danger

    Monitors say FG’s school feeding programme in Ebonyi in danger

    The Ebonyi Commissioner for Education, Prof. John Eke, says the Federal Government’s Home-Grown School Feeding Programme in the state has been “a massive success” contrary to the view of monitors of the programme, who warned that the programme is being derailed and will collapse.

    Eke, who is also the chairman of state implementation committee of the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abakaliki that the initial challenges encountered by the cooks in the programme have been overcome.

    According to him, the cooks were initially unable to access their money deposited in Heritage Bank which he said had only one branch in the state.

    The professor said the state government’s intervention made Federal Government to use First Bank which eased the problem of cooks accessing fund deposited in the bank for the programme because the bank has many branches.

    He said that government and its agents have no direct access to the fund meant for the programme.

    Eke, however said the N70.00 allotted for the meal of each pupil is not enough to provide a pupil a balanced meal because an egg cost N40.00 in view of the rising costs of food items in the market.

    But, some concerned citizens monitoring the implementation of the Federal Government’s initiative have decried the way and manner in which the programme is being run in the state.

    They spoke in separate interviews emphasising the need for the operators of the programme to follow the guidelines as stipulated by the Federal Government.

    They noted that primary school pupils were not being served quality food for the five school days as stipulated by the FG’s guidelines.

    NAN recalls that Ebonyi was one of the five states that received N400 million for the continuation of its Home-Grown School Feeding Programme in January, 2017.

    Under the free Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, an estimated 5.5 million pupils in the five states including Ebonyi would be fed for 200 school days and  N93.1billion has  been appropriated for the feeding scheme in the 2016 budget.

    Mr Jerome Nwoba,   a concerned citizen keen at monitoring the programme, told NAN that government’s intention was being thwarted due to the manner the programme was executed in the state.

    According to him, primary school pupils were fed with less than N30 for a meal as against N70 approved by FG.

    He said that the vendors claimed that they were only managing with little resources made available to them by their handlers.

    “The programme is a total failure in Ebonyi and an urgent review of the programme is needed including investigation into how money is being released to fund the programme in the state; this is necessary to salvage the appalling situation.

    “Vendors are provided with about N20, 500 to feed 43 pupils for five days in some schools while the amount is less in some other schools.

    “If you breakdown the amount, it’s less than N30 a day per a meal while FG provided N70 for a meal per a day.

    “I guess some persons are somewhere allegedly sabotaging the efforts of the Federal Government and an urgent probe will unmask the elements undermining the programme.

    “In all the three primary schools visited in Izzi Local Government Area including Achara Unuhu, Akpurata and Amanato community primary schools, the story is the same,” Nwoba said.

    He said that the food vendors were threatening to quit the programme unless the FG intervened and addressed the noticeable lapses.

    Another concerned citizen, Mr Ikechukwu Ogbonna, said he monitored the implementation of the programme in three schools and interacted with cooks in the different schools.

    He said that the cooks complained of underfunding, making it impossible to serve the pupils with decent meals.

    He further claimed that the affected cooks have threatened to quit the programme unless there was proper funding of the programme.

    “In Adangene community primary school, Effium in Ohaukwu Local Government Area with 115 pupils only N21, 000 was released to feed them for five days.

    “In Akpe-Amanachi community primary school in Abakaliki Local Government Area, the story is not different; N6, 000 was released to feed a school population of 134 pupils for five days, and no feeding has taken place for two weeks now in the school.

    “In Amandim community primary school in Mgbom, Ugwulangwu, Ohaozara with 85 pupils, N21, 000 was released to feed the pupils for five days.

    “In most cases, pupils are served food on their palms and in a most unhygienic manner,” Ogbonna said.

    Mrs Queen-Juliet Ijezie said only one out of five schools she monitored in Izzi local government area fed the pupils once since the school feeding programme began in the state.

     

  • Zenith Bank Women Basketball League Phase Two begins

    Zenith Bank Women Basketball League Phase Two begins

    The Phase Two of the Zenith Bank Women Basketball League is to begin on May 1 in Kaduna, Ajibarede Bello, the Technical Commissioner to Nigeria Basketball Federation, has said.

    Bello said in Abuja on Monday that the Phase Two to hold at the Muritala Stadium, Kaduna, would end on May 8.

    The commissioner said that the Local Organizing Committee of the league was working hard to ensure a hitch-free tournament.

    He said that the federation would expect more mobilization of spectators in the second phase.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Phase One of the league, which started on April 10, ended on Monday (April 17).

    The 13th edition of the Zenith Bank Women Basketball League is being organized by the Nigeria Basketball Federation, with Econet Media Ltd. as partner.

    “It has been a successful tournament with 45 games and 18 teams; no game was missed; some teams were stronger than others in some aspects but we are satisfied with the general performance.

    “The format of the league has changed this year; everything will run smoothly till the end of the season.

    “We expect the officiating to be better; we expect greater mobilization of spectators in Kaduna,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that 18 clubs, divided into three groups, are playing in the annual Zenith Bank competition.

    In Group A are First Bank, Nasarawa Amazons, Taraba Hurricanes, Plateau Rocks, AHIP Queens of Kano and First Deep Water.

    Group B has Dolphins, FCT Angels, Zamfara Babes, Delta Force, Coal City and Sunshine Angles of Akure.

    In Group are Nigeria Customs of Lagos, GT 2000 of Kaduna, Oluyole Angels of Ibadan, Ekiti Angels, Benue Princess and IGP Queens.

     

  • Man with stolen ATM cards docked in Abuja

    Man with stolen ATM cards docked in Abuja

    A  28-year-old man, Ifeanyi Obasi, was charged on Teusday before a Gudu Upper Area Court, Abuja, for allegedly attempting to make withdrawals with 10 stolen Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards.

    Obasi, whose address is unknown, is facing a two-count charge of possession of stolen items and theft.

    Police Prosecutor Fidelis Ogbobe told the court that the complainant, Galadima Usman of First Bank, Garki, reported the incident at Garki Police Station on April 7.

    Ogbobe said the complainant alleged that the accused attempted to withdraw money with stolen ATM cards bearing different names at the bank in Area 3, Abuja.

    “During police investigations, the accused could not give a satisfactory explanation how he came about the ATM cards.”

    The offences contravened Sections 95 and 319(a) of the Penal Code.

    The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    The judge, Mr Umar Kagarko, granted the accused N100, 000 bail with one surety in the like sum.

    He adjourned hearing until June 6

     

  • Basketball League: First Bank BC wins opening game

    Basketball League: First Bank BC wins opening game

    First Bank Basketball Club began its title defence on a winning note, beating Nasarawa Amazons 89-22 in one of yesterday’s game at the Zenith Bank Women Basketball League in Abuja.

    The Elephant Girls (First Bank) dominated the game winning all four quarters 29-6, 21-0, 20-9, 19-7 for a cumulative score of 89-22. It was a comfortable win for the FIBA Zone Three Champions, who are hoping to retain their title.

    The Amazons also had their spell in the game, but they could not match the superior fire power of the Elephant Girls.

    Coach Peter Ahmedu of First Bank said his players gave a good account of themselves, but still need to do a lot as the league progresses. He stated that he doesn’t underrate any opposition as he his wary of an upset.

    “In every game that we play, we go all out for victory. We do not underestimate any team so as not to suffer an upset. We have also see some lapses in this game and we will correct them with a view of improving on our game,” Ahmedu added.

    He also said today’s game against Plateau Rocks will be better than yesterday’s game, noting that the first game is always used to gauge team chemistry. “We will play better today, that I am sure of.’

    In some other games, Delta Force beat Coal City Angels 86-29, Ekiti Angels lost to IGP Queens 19-100, while Plateau Rocks defeated former champions, First Deepwater 52-46.

    In today’s opening game at 8am, Taraba Hurricanes will take on AHIP of Kano, while it will be the turn of Zamfara Babes and Sunshine Angels at 9.30am. In the third game, Oluyole Babes will take on Benue Princess, while Plateau Rocks and First Bank BC slug it out in the fourth game.

    Delta Force Basketball Club of Asaba will take on last year losing finalist, Dolphins Basketball Club, while the last game will involve Ekiti Angels and Nigeria Customs.

  • First Bank increases mobile app transfer limit to N1m

    First Bank increases mobile app transfer limit to N1m

    First Bank of Nigeria Limited have increased transfer transaction limits on its FirstMobile Lifestyle app from N500,000 to a maximum daily limit of N1 million.
    According to a statement signed on Monday by the Head, Digital Banking at FirstBank, Mrs. Folasade Femi-Lawal, the bank will continue to leverage on evolving technologies to support consumers’ lifestyle.
    It stated also that N150,000 could now be transferred through the app to first bank account as well as to other banks accounts without the use of a token.
    According to the statement, the new plan is aimed at providing customers with a suite of financial options in a convenient and highly secure environment.
    “This development is expected to boost convenience and ease of banking as well as enhance customers’ digital banking experience in line with the bank’s commitment to offer value-added services.”

  • First Bank to showcase food business

    First Bank to showcase food business

    First Bank of Nigeria is set for a fair that will showcase the art side of food business.

    Tagged Food is Art, the event, according to a statement issued by First Bank’s Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Folake Ani-Mumuney, is scheduled for the Freedom Park, Lagos from 11:00a.m. and is open to everyone.

    Ani-Mumuney said the event, whose theme is Street Food, is designed to enhance economic diversification by showcasing varied opportunities and potentials in food photography, artistry, presentation, and packaging, among others.

    The statement noted that food being an essential part of human life, the way it is grown, processed, transported and consumed is worth understanding and improving.

    It added that First Bank of Nigeria Limited, as “Nigeria’s most valuable bank brand, is presenting Food is Art, a food fête, to reaffirm its commitment to the development of the art and business of food.

    “Food is Art initiative aligns with the World Food Day, which holds annually in October. With this event, First Bank is creating a platform of exposure and expansion for SMEs in food business whilst providing subject matter experts to coach entrepreneurs on the wide-ranging avenues of thriving with food photography.”