Polaris Bank Supports Girl-Child Education in Nigeria in its Corporate Social Responsibility
More than 400 students in the Lagos State communities of Ikeja and Surulere received educational materials from Polaris Bank in yet another demonstration of the bank’s dedication to supporting the “Girl-Child Education Project,” a key tenet of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) framework.
On October 18, 2023, students at Opebi Junior Secondary School in Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos, and on October 12, 2023, students at Gbaja Junior Girls High School and Gbaja Senior Girls High School received the donated materials, which also include school uniforms, school bags, pens, sandals, and various books.
The initiatives to the three schools were a part of celebrations for the International Day of the Girl (IDG) sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Every year on October 11, the world celebrates the International Day of the Girl as a platform for promoting the full range of girls’ rights. It is appropriate that Polaris Bank’s support for the “Girl-Child Education Project” aims to encourage the girl child’s empowerment through education.
Adekunle Sonola, Managing Director/CEO of Polaris Bank, addressed at the presentation of the educational materials in Opebi Ikeja and emphasized the bank’s dedication to providing girls with high-quality education. “At Polaris Bank, we firmly believe that every investment in education, particularly in the empowerment of girls, has a positive long-term effect on both the child and society. To start the Support for the Girl Child Education Project, we teamed up with Evolve Charity.
“We believe in education as an organization, and more importantly, we believe in identifying with the pupils in these schools,” he said, reiterating the Bank’s belief in education. We have been doing this throughout the last few years, and we’re committed to continuing to do it.
The CEO claims that the intervention’s goal is to keep girls in school and educated, which will lessen the rising number of early marriages in society. “By giving these disadvantaged girls the necessary school supplies and tools for personal development, the goal is to empower them through education.”
Umesh Amarnani, managing director of Pacegate Limited, owners of Evolve Charity, also spoke at the presentation of the educational supplies. He acknowledged the importance of sustainable education intervention and noted that the select schools are now under our responsibility by adoption. We will continue to provide the students with school supplies, with a particular focus on the girls, while also teaching their teachers value-based education that influences good manners in the students.
“We’re happy to partner with Polaris Bank and other institutions that have supported us in our cause,” he said, praising the collaboration with Polaris Bank. And maybe most intriguingly, every Nigerian employee of the organization does their duties freely. Additionally, we cover 36 schools in 6 states. Four years ago, we began this project, and we intend to continue and do more each year.
Prior to that, the Principals of the benefited schools expressed their sincere gratitude on behalf of their respective school administrations and students.
The principal of Opebi Junior Secondary School, Mrs. Omolara Awosan, expressed her happiness at the kind deed by adding, “I’m very delighted, on top of the world. Since I took over as the school’s administrator, they have visited three times to provide our kids school bags, uniforms, sandals, and various writing supplies. I’m overjoyed.
Like their instructors, the children at all the beneficiary schools were unable to contain their joy as they expressed their gratitude and prayers for the thoughtful gesture made in support of their academic growth.
“I have benefited from the writing materials provided, and I received a bag and a school uniform; I don’t need to purchase another uniform to set this aside,”Additionally, this presentation has been beneficial. A wonderful JSS 2 student at Opebi Junior Secondary School is Ogunsanya Kemisola.
One of the top producers of UN Certified Steel Drums and a distributor of Adipro Lubricant Additives and chemical solutions to various sectors of the Nigerian economy, Pacegate Limited’s CSR division, Evolve Charity, is a non-profit organization. In 2021, it finalized its relationship with Polaris Bank, the top digital retail bank in Nigeria.
One of the strategic CSR footprints in education for Polaris Bank is the Girl-Child Education in Nigeria project. The Bank also offers various programs focused at enhancing the lives of women in addition to its activities regarding girl-child education. A capacity-building effort on menstrual hygiene for girls, the Bank’s Feminine Hygiene Campaign visited nine secondary schools in three states in the North-Central & North-East geopolitical zones of the nation in 2021.
In a similar vein, the Bank launched a value-based initiative to increase awareness of women-focused and other societal interventions in the nation. This initiative includes the implementation of tailored interventions like offering free breast cancer screenings to over 20,000 women in Nigeria in collaboration with Care. Organization. Public Enlightenment (COPE), Nigeria’s top breast cancer-focused NGO.
The Nigerian economy is made up of many different sectors, and Polaris Bank, which was named the digital bank of the years 2021 and 2022, is dedicated to providing products and services that will change the industry.
