Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, has commended the initiative of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) to donate a 160-seater capacity Bankers’ Hall to the Department of Banking and Finance, Nnamdi Azikiwe University (Unizik), Awka.
Soludo, represented by the Accountant General of the state, Chudi Okoli, at the groundbreaking ceremony of the lecture hall, at the weekend, lauded the gesture as the best way banks can give back to society after maximising huge turnover of profits from customers. – Soludo.
Speaking, the President and Chairman of the Governing Council, of CIBN, Dr. Ken Opara, said the Smart Centre would be digitised with state-of-the-art facilities and resource materials accessed online globally. The initiative, he noted, is in line with the high premium the institute places on education, which is the bedrock of development, and possesses transformational power.
According to The Guardian, Opara disclosed that the governing council had okayed legacy projects in Ibadan, Nekede and Kano polytechnics, as well as Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Univeristy of Technology, Bauchi, Amadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Rivers State University and Federal University, Nasarawa, in phase one for 2021, then Olabisi Onabanjo University and Unizik in phase two in 2022, respectively.
More from CIBN on Projects and Commendation from Soludo
According to him, the institute will up the ante through establishment of the banking school to serve as a pool where scholars can upgrade their professional knowledge and skilled manpower, before being marketed to the banking and finance, as well as other sectors of the economy.
He noted that it will deepen knowledge and infused teaching, learning and professional skill enhancement, stressing it will serve as a melting point for training young and agile future bankers, boost banking and finance, business education, as well as the economy.
In his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of Unizik, Prof. Charles Esimone, appreciated the move, enjoining all to work harder to sustain and lift the CIBN-Unizik collaboration to greater heights.
Esimone pointed out that the institution relies not only on teaching, research and community/public service, but also on transformational research to provide solutions to existential challenges identified by industry and universities themselves.
