In line with the Holy Writ’s injunction to train up a child in the way he should go so that when he is old he will not depart from it, United Bank for Africa has taken savings literacy education to the students of Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo in Oyo State.
Addressing the students, UBA’s executive director, Lagos and West banks, Mr. Ayoku Liadi said the aim of the programme was to encourage savings among the up-and-coming generation.
He also said the exercise was in line with an initiative of CBN to commemorate World Savings Day.
“Banking is what people think is a high activity but it is not; everybody should have an account in a bank. The students here do not even think that they should have an account in a bank, but with this session, I think they will tell their friends and others about having an account in a bank. It’s what if we do it a lot in rural areas make things better.
“It is important we inculcate the savings culture when people are young. When you start at a relatively young age, you will grow with it, we are also talking to them but they are been neglected in the past. We don’t want a situation when you get to university or working that you start saving. When we catch them young like this, and I think the right thought and message is for many people to be bankable.
“This is going to help the system. There is a lot of money outside the banking system. The number of students we talk to here is about 400. This programme is expected to create awareness among the people outside the state capital for savings and financial literacy, most importantly. It is just to encourage people that they need to keep their money in banks for safety purposes to avoid theft.
“That is why CBN is trying to implore many commercial banks to go there to tell people that there is need for them to save in a formal institution,” he said.
During the interactive session with both the students and teachers, Liadi outlined the advantages of imbibing savings culture, especially at young age.
“The future belongs to children who realise early in life the need to save for tomorrow. To develop a savings culture, one needs to be financially responsible and prudent in management of resources, set realistic timelines for savings and resist the temptation to spend frivolously,” he said.
He said there was a lot of money outside the banking system and expressed optimism that such session would help the system
“This programme is expected to create awareness among the people outside the state capital on the need for savings and financial literacy. Most importantly, it will also encourage people to keep their monies in banks for safety purposes.”
In his remarks after the interactive session, the school’s vice principal in charge of administration, Mr. Tunde Sulola, commended the bank and its initiative describing it as “laudable” and “wonderful”.
“It is an eye opener. Apart from the students, some of us that are teachers too have been seriously exposed to the tenets of savings. Apart from the fact that all our students are excited, they will go back home to tell their parents the need for them to begin to save and the teachers too, we have been lifted and we will pass the message to our children by the time we get home,” he said.
He commended the bank for its contribution to the development of education in Nigeria with UBA Foundation’s National Essay Competition for Senior Secondary School Students and Read Africa Project.
