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125 Years Anniversary: FirstBank Holds Splendid Lecture, Glamorous Gala Nite

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By Eric Elezuo

In continuation of the first class activities lined up to celebrate its 125 years milestone in the banking industry, Nigeria premier financial institution, FirstBank Nigeria Limited, has hosted an economy reviving lecture.

The pot pourri of events, which kicked off March 1, with flag hoisting, successfully continued with a splendid lecture, delivered by one of the industry’s best and Turkish-born American Economist, Professor Daron Acemoglu, who also is the author of the bestseller, “Why Nations Fail” at the prestigious Convention Centre of the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, and a gala nite much later at the same venue.

In his analytical lecture titled “Institutional Impact on Economic Growth and Improved Living Standard” shortly after the Group Chairman, FBN Holdings Plc, Dr Oba Otudeko CFR, has emotionally delivered a welcome address, which exalted the ”extremely remarkable” achievements of FirstBank in 125 years, Prof Acemoglu presented a trend which suggests that “constant development of education and health” will see to the growth of African democracies.

Prof Daron Acemoglu 

With clear cut demographic figures through analytical power point presentation, Acemoglu held his audience spellbound, centring his conviction on his High Quality Growth Prospect in an Emerging World through which he profered adequate technical inputs for growth. Some of them include: employment growth, wage growth for all and health and education for all.

Acemoglu’s well grounded lecture, which explicitly proved the One Lecture, Huge Impact narrative, was immediately followed by a plenary session on Global Interdependency as Catalyst for Africa’s Ascedency, moderated by renowned Economist and Associate Professor, Lagos Business School, Dr. Doyin Salami.

The Panelists

The members of the highly professional panel were Professor Daron Acemoglu, Nigeria’s Honorable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed; Ghan

L-R: Mr. Uche Orji, Mr. George-Gyan Baffour, Prof Daron Acemoglu

a’s Honorable Minister for Budget and Planning, Mr. George Gyan-Baffour; Managing Director/CEO, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority; Mr. Uche Orji and Country Managing Director, International Finance Corporation, Mrs. Eme Essien.

In their various good will messages, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari and the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, who were ably represented by Mrs. Zainab Ahmed and the wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo, respectively, lauded the board, management and staff of FirstBank for a job well done in the last 125 years and counting.

Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Mrs. Eme Essien and Dr. Doyin Salami

The well attended programme had in attendance former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor and Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who is an integral part of the FirstBank family; Dr. Oba Otudeko, Chairman, FirstBank of Nigeria Limited, Mrs Ibukun Awosika, MD/CEO, FirstBank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan; Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN; Representatives of the Olu of Warri, Mr. U. K. Eke among many other notable guests.

In his vote of thanks, the CEO, FirstBank, Dr. Adeduntan, thanked everyone who has found time to celebrate with the organization, promising that they will continue to up the game and set new standards for the benefit of its clients and the society in general.

He noted that FirstBank remains the only financial institution that can be found in the nook and cranny of the country with over 750 branches, stressing they will continue to serve in perpertuity, innovation and lead the path to disrupting standards and setting new ones.

Dignitaries

“We will be here for our stakeholders for another 125 years,” he concluded.

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FirstBank Appoints New MD/CEO, Alebiosu

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First Bank of Nigeria has appointed Olusegun Alebiosu as its new Managing Director with effect from April 2024.

The Bank stated this in a release signed by its acting company secretary Adewale Arogundade.

Alebiosu takes from Adesola Adeduntan, who resigned abruptly on Saturday with eight months left to complete his tenure in December 2024.

The release stated that “following the resignation of the managing director/CEO of FirstBank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, the Board of Directors has appointed Olusegun Alebiosu as the acting CEO of the 130-year-old institution.

“The appointment takes effect immediately and is subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

The release stated that Alebiosu was until this appointment the executive director, chief risk officer and executive compliance officer since January 2022. Prior to that, he was the Group executive/ chief risk officer, a position he held since 2016.

“Alebiosu brings to the executive management of FirstBank over 28 years’ experience in the banking and financial services industry with cross-functional exposure to Credit risk management, Financial planning and control, Credit and marketing, Trade, Corporate and commercial banking, Agriculture financing, Oil and Gas, Transportation (including Aviation and Shipping) and Project financing.”

It added that the new acting MD/CEO commenced his professional career in 1991 with Oceanic Bank Plc (now EcoBank) and prior to joining FirstBank in 2016 served as Chief Risk Officer at Coronation Merchant Bank Limited, Chief Credit Risk Officer at African Development Bank Group and Group Head, Credit Policy & Deputy Chief Credit Risk Officer at United Bank for Africa Plc.

“He is an alumnus of Harvard School of Government and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management. He also obtained a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos and holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

“He is a member of various professional bodies namely, Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants (FCA), Associate, Nigeria Institute of Management (ANIM), Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and Member, Nigeria Institute of International Affairs.”

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Again, Naira Slumps Against Dollar, Trades at N1,169/$1 in Official Window

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The Naira, on Friday, slumped for the second consecutive day against the American dollar at the official window trading at N1,169/$1, according to data from the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).

At the end of trading on Friday, the Naira lost N15 against the dollar when compared to the previous exchange rate of N1,154/$1 on Thursday, April 18, 2024.

The intra-day high and low recorded during the day were N1,236/$1 and N1,021/$1 respectively, representing a lean spread of N215/$1.

Similarly, the Naira slumped against the dollar at the parallel market for the second consecutive day to trade at N1,150/$1 representing a loss of N50 when compared to the N1,100/$1 it traded the previous day.

The British Pound also slumped against the Naira by N50 to trade at N1,500/£1 as against the previous trading price of N1,450/£1 representing a loss of N50 for the local currency,

The Canadian dollar however closed flat against the Naira to trade at N1,000/CA$1 same as the previous trading day rate of N1,000/ CA$1.

The Euro also slumped against the Naira to trade at N1, 280/€1 as against the rate of N1,200/€1 the previous trading rate indicating a gain of N80 in the European currency.

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Glo Launches New Internet Solution Products for Homes, Businesses

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Two new products, which provide internet connectivity solutions specially designed for Residential and SME commercial customers, have been unveiled by digital solutions company, Globacom.

The products, Fibre to the Home (FTTH) and Fibre to the Business (FTTB) were packaged for Glo customers to enjoy reliable and high speed internet through linked fibre services.

Globacom said in a statement in Lagos “With these services, businesses and homes can access dedicated internet speeds of up to 1GBps, allowing unlimited internet usages for seamless video calls, video and music streaming and a whole lot of other dedicated usages to promote business success and equally provide endless entertainment for homes”.

It explained that the new product comes with a unique opportunity for “Residential Estates, High Rise Apartments, Commercial SME Estates to enjoy dedicated high speed internet in their cluster”.

These services, according to Globacom, give exceptional experience and unmatched speed for users at home or in offices and are provided through hi-speed fibre – unlike copper which was being used in the past.

Positioning itself as the premier provider of innovative solutions for businesses of all sizes, Globacom assured customers of the best value for money with the new offerings, adding that users who sign on for these services will also enjoy fully dedicated bandwidth.

“We are committed to delivering the most cost-effective data connectivity experience for homes and businesses in addition to providing dedicated and reliable services.” Globacom concluded.

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