Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc., Herbert Wigwe, recently reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to the educational development of children in Nigeria, highlighting it as one of the most important tools to sustaining the future of the country.
Wigwe said this while addressing attendees at the Access Bank/UNICEF Charity Shield Polo Tournament which held at the Guards Polo Club, United Kingdom.
Nigeria currently holds the unenviable position of having the highest number of out-of-school children in the world. A problem that Wigwe said Access Bank, in collaboration with UNICEF, aims to solve using funds raised through the high profile polo tournament.
“The number of out-of-school children in Nigeria is very worrisome, and if not tackled adequately does not bode well for the future of Nigeria. Access Bank identified this problem over 10 years ago and through the polo tournament has made considerable strides in improving the educational system in Nigeria. We will not relent in our efforts to ensure that Nigerian children are given the requisite educational foundation to succeed,” Wigwe said.
“We know the challenge before us is great, but we will surmount it through collaboration with relevant international, government and private stakeholders. We will continue to give, because our children are our tomorrow. So far, we have been able to raise over N1 billion and every kobo will be invested providing educational infrastructure, starting one Northern state at a time because that is where we find the highest number of out-of-school and displaced children,” he adds.
Wigwe went further to explain that government buy-in was key to the achievement of the financial institution’s set goals, citing and thanking the Kaduna State government for its support in the implementation of its projects.
Access Bank is already making a telling impact through its charitable projects, recently completing the refurbishment of a 12,000-capacity school and is set to complete another that will cater for an additional 1,200 students at the end of July. These efforts have not gone unnoticed, as the Kaduna State government has committed to replicating every project that the bank will implement in the state.
This year’s Charity Polo Tournament was a huge success with several local and international dignitaries in attendance including the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II; British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing CB, among others.
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