Fidelity Bank Plc, on Thursday, has educated secondary school students on the importance of developing a saving culture and acquiring fundamental financial literacy skills, to mark the 2023 Financial Literacy Day.
The training, which took place at Seed of Life College in Onireke, Ibadan and at about 50 other secondary schools throughout Nigeria in conjunction with the Bankers’ Committee, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Junior Achievement Nigeria; provide the students with skills to enable them make informed financial decisions as they mature.
Speaking at the occasion on behalf of the bank’s Managing Director, Mrs Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, Regional Branch Head for southwest Nigeria, Mr Folaranmi Jemirin, said the bank organized the event to give students the necessary financial knowledge to help them make wise financial decisions.
“We are not only after making money for society; this is one of the good things that we do as part of our corporate social responsibility. For us as a bank, we do not just want to see it as business as usual. It is an opportunity for us to give back to society,” Jemirin said.
“We are not charging for anything to do this. We give out basic information, and train and develop skillsets for these children so that, as they grow up in life, they will know better. For us, this is about giving back to society,” he noted.
He expressed happiness with the outcome of the training session, which he described as engaging, and was elated that the students would have gained great knowledge.
AyoolaOluwa Odusote, a Junior Secondary School 2 student who participated in the training, thanked the bank for selecting the school for the occasion. “Today, I learnt how to earn, manage, invest, and use the money for the betterment of society,” she said.
“I am going to start saving from a young age so that by the time I grow up, I would have gotten used to the habit and it will be easy for me. I am very appreciative of Fidelity Bank for doing this. I like how they came to our school to teach us,” Ayoola said.
Another student, Francis Funto, also expressed appreciation to Fidelity Bank, noting that the knowledge he had gained would help him to be more productive.
“I learnt how to manage and spend my money wisely, as well as how to avoid fraudulent schemes and others that could hinder my financial progress,” Francis said.
The fundamentals of investing, developing financial plans, the need to be risk-aware, the distinction between bonds and shares and their significance, as well as how to earn, save, and invest money, were all covered by Mr Jemirin in his introduction to the subject.
The students participated in a question-and-answer session where they asked the facilitator questions and also provided answers to various questions. Correctly answering questions or making insightful comments earned students a variety of gifts, including the facilitator opening an account with a deposit to start.
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