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FBNHOLDINGS GROUP WINS BIG AT THE 2020 GREAT PLACE TO WORK AWARDS
Published
4 years agoon
FBNHoldings Group has won big at the 2020 Great Place To Work Award ceremony held last week Friday in Lagos. The Holdings Company along with its subsidiary companies; First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, FBNQuest Merchant Bank and FBNQuest Capital won various awards at the prestigious event.
FBN Holdings Plc received a Platinum Certification as a Great Workplace further attesting to the quality of its people practices. It also received the award for the Best Workplace for Millennials; this has become evident with a high percentage of its workforce in this age category and the targeted HR initiatives to drive engagement and retention. FBNHoldings also topped the following two categories and received the awards as the Best in Leadership Practice and Best Workplace for Women. Overall, FBNHoldings was ranked as the 2nd Best Workplace.
In the other categories, First Bank of Nigeria Limited received a gold certification as a Great Workplace and also won the Best Workplace in Learning and Development, affirming its peak performance in this space. The Bank was ranked as the 5th Best Workplace in the Large Corporates Category.
FBNQuest also had a glorious evening at the event, based on research feedback and metric score from the Great Place To Work team. In the other Categories- (Medium-sized Corporates), FBNQuest Merchant Bank and FBNQuest Trustees were adjudged as the 4th and 5th best workplace ranking respectively. They also received Gold Certification as a Great Workplace, while FBNQuest Capital received a Silver Certification.
Speaking on the awards received by the Group, UK Eke, MFR, the Group Managing Director of FBN Holdings Plc said ‘this is a reflection of the commitment and efforts of the FBN Holdings Group management in providing and building quality life for all our employees’ adding further ‘the awards also demonstrates our recognition of the critical importance of all our employees as we seek to remain the ‘hub for the best industry talent’ towards the delivery of our overall strategic objectives.
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Sahara weekly online is published by First Sahara weekly international. contact [email protected]
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We Must Build A Virile Legislature For The Future, Speaker Obasa Says
Published
3 hours agoon
October 13, 2024We Must Build A Virile Legislature For The Future, Speaker Obasa Says
Speaker Mudashiru Obasa of the Lagos State House of Assembly, on Sunday, counselled members of the House to strengthen the legislative arm of government ahead of the future.
Dr. Obasa gave the advice in Abeokuta, Ogun State at the opening of a three-day budget retreat for lawmakers and staff of the House with the theme: ‘Optimising the legislature’s power of the Purse’ for effective service delivery in Lagos State’.
The Speaker challenged the lawmakers to be committed in their legislative duties as they must leave lasting legacies for the future, strengthen governance, responsibility and accountability.
He charged the lawmakers on improved and effective legislative oversight functions being one of the responsibilities of the legislature.
“What we do now is really not about us; it is for the totality of the system.
“I appreciate this budget retreat. Each one of us must be responsible in carrying out the assignments we are tasked with. This is very essential.
“We carry out budget scrutiny based on what is presented by the executive. Once we give a go-ahead, it means the executive must comply and treat it accordingly because it has become a law.
“Going forward, all the reports of each committee must be presented at the floor of the House. This will help us decide on how to act for the sake of transparency and accountability,” the Speaker said.
He advised the lawmakers against docility in the task of ensuring that Lagos continues to weather economic storms.
“We all have roles to play and, in doing that, sentiments and self-benefits must be removed. The day you start with self-benefit, you have become a failure.
“If you do your job the way you should do it, you will earn your respect and will be held in high esteem by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“We are here today again to look at how we can improve on the laws we make at the House of Assembly as well as our oversight functions.
‘Let’s continue to be dedicated and loyal and I am sure we will get there. Let’s always straighten the path for Lagosians and those coming behind us,” he urged.
In his opening remark, the Clerk and Head of Service of the House, Barr. Olalekan Onafeko, described the retreat as an avenue to have insights into the state’s budget.
While commending the Speaker, he urged the participants to “be attentive and take home fresh ideas and knowledge.”
Eromosele Ebhomele
Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
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Bridging the Gap, Dr Anthony Aduro’s Vision for World-Class Healthcare in Nigeria”
Published
3 days agoon
October 10, 2024
Bridging the Gap, Dr Anthony Aduro’s Vision for World-Class Healthcare in Nigeria”
In a nation grappling with an ailing healthcare system, Dr. Anthony Aduro, a dedicated healthcare practitioner and CEO of Aduro Foundation, is emerging as a beacon of hope. Driven by a deep-seated passion for improving the lives of his fellow Nigerians, Aduro is spearheading a transformative approach to healthcare in Nigeria.
In a media chat the CEO noted that the Nigerian healthcare system is a mess, urging the government to
invest in healthcare infrastructure and partner with private sectors.
As a healthcare professional, Aduro explained that he witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by patients in accessing quality care, noting that the lack of adequate infrastructure, limited resources, and the prevailing apathy towards healthcare among government officials fueled his determination to make a difference.
He said: “The state of healthcare system in Nigeria is saddening, about 80 percent of Nigerians
use the general hospitals where you sometimes go and see patients sharing bed space, some of them not properly equipped.
“That is why I have a lot of interest in the healthcare system in Nigeria, and I’m putting in efforts to develop something where we can have an impact that if other people see, they can actually assist in building the health sector of the country.”
Speaking on some of his significant milestones in the healthcare of Nigeria, he said: “During the #EndSARS protest, my home town was affected. The healthcare centre there was demolished, and I reached out to the local government chairman, and they took me there. So, I rebuilt it, and equipped it, and I told them that it should be for the community. I thank God, a lot of things are going on there, it’s like a mustard seed; something that is small, but it will still grow and I still intend to build more health centres so that a lot of people, especially the low income earners will benefit from it.”
He disclosed plans to facilitate medical outreach in underserved communities in Okitipupa, Ondo state, where he hails from and also employ manpower to drive the growth of the healthcare sector.
In light of the above, the healthcare practitioner outlined strategies to revamp Nigeria’s
healthcare, including partnership with the private healthcare sector; Creating insurance systems for low-income earners; Investing in healthcare infrastructure; Telemedicine solutions.
“Telemedicine is one of my areas of research. Telemedicine is where you can still have the doctors and nurses in the US, and they can still treat you here,’’ Dr. Aduro explained.
Speaking on some of his philanthropic activities, he stated “I believe so much in a clean environment. When the environment is clean and you have some clean water, you are solving some problem that you don’t even know is there.”
Aduro explained that he has drilled a solar powered clean borehole water in seven villages including Okitipupa, Oloto, Ilumeje in Ondo State, noting that his core objective is to set a pace that others can emulate, and create employment opportunities.
“I was there at the commissioning of the town hall that I built and that was where one of the community members proposed to donate books for the students. That was the time I promised them that I’m going to build a library for them, and today, I opened the library and it cost N150 million. The library is an ultra modern one, powered by solar energy,” the healthcare practitioner noted.
Aduro believes that giving back doesn’t have to be monetary, stressing the need to create lasting impacts through job opportunities and infrastructure development.
The CEO noted that the Aduro Foundation was established to transform life through community empowerment, and creating opportunities. He noted that the core objective of the foundation is just to give back to, and have an impact on the community.
“You have to be creative when you want to give back to the community. It doesn’t have to be money, rather let it be something that will create a lasting impact. For example, if you create job opportunities, where you employ people, they will take care of others which gives ride to multiple effects. Giving back to the community entails making sure that something which will positively impact their lives is happening and it is continuous. It will not be one-off,’’ the CEO noted.
Speaking on his farm project, Aduro Farm, he explained that he got the idea while thinking of a way to reduce unemployment in Nigeria and boost sustainability.
He said: “It is just like creating an opportunity economy for people to get employed, and some people will have the opportunity to trade and do businesses with it. It is a highly mechanised farm, and there are staff working there. There are close to 60 people working there.
“We’re building a large piggery farm right now. We have a poultry pen that will take about 20, 000 layers. We have a fish outdoor pond that will probably take up to half a million fishes, we have about 15 people working there. And then you see people doing business, for instance we have egg sellers coming to buy eggs and resell them,’’ he added.
Dr. Aduro’s philanthropic endeavours are driven by a belief in the power of community-based solutions. He emphasises the importance of creating lasting impact through initiatives that empower individuals and communities. By providing access to healthcare, clean water, and economic opportunities, Aduro’s foundation is helping to build a more resilient and equitable Nigeria.
The CEO expressed optimism over the future of healthcare in Nigeria. He believes that
with the right investments and a commitment to community-driven solutions, it is
possible to transform the country’s healthcare system and improve the lives of millions
of Nigerians.
On how his upbringing influenced his present personality and values, he said: “My upbringing was very humble. It takes a community to raise a child. I was raised within a community and that influenced me because I love to have people around me. I was surrounded by people while growing up and I saw the knowledge my mother and father impacted on me on how I have to be nice to people. With that at the back of my mind, I grew up within a very large family comprising uncles, aunties, cousins etc while in Okitipupa and that influenced my upbringing, I really respect the communal life, I can never go away from that, and then the influence I saw within the community is what actually brought me to where I am today. Whatever I am doing or what I am trying to do, that community influence will always come into it and I can never forget that community which I grew up from.”
Educational background
“I attended St. John RCM School, it is a Roman Catholic school that time. I later moved to Joala, where my father was working then. I later moved Saint Columbus RCM School. After graduating from there, I think that should be around 1975 or 1974 or thereabout, I then moved to Modern School, from there to Local Authority Modern School at Okitipupa for three years, after that I went to Government Secondary School, Idanre.
“During that time, things were tough for me. I think the secondary school fees that time was less than N500 per year but it was a tough thing to pay but my parents tried. My mother had to sell her propperties put things together for myself and my siblings to go through secondary school. After my secondary school, I go admission to read anthropology in Maiduguri and I really did not like it because I have interest in health.
“I was actually thinking that I should be a doctor, which was my dream, because if I am a doctor I will be able to give something back to the society; I would be able to take care of other things at home but it did not walk out that way. I went to a technical school, it is more of an engineering school that time but it was a private school. I was there for one year but things were not going like I wanted it.
Going to India
:The purpose of my travelling to India was for education. It was hard in India, very tough, I left Nigeria with $100 that time. During that time, you can only take $100 out of Nigeria and then but being a strong headed person, I went through a lot of things in India. When I got to India, it became so difficult even that $100 was stolen from me because we were placed in a dormitory, like an hostel. We were like 16 of us in the hostel. Before I could register, the money was gone. But I thank God, I went to a church and I told them what happened to me because my passport was stolen also. Then a church community in India, though they are Hindus. The church community gave all they could, their offerings, everything like that, they gave it to me. Till now, that thing never left my memory because when people come together to give you a purpose for life, it will ever stay there.
“That is how I started. I went to Nigerian embassy, I got a little money, I was able to register for college because didn’t register for the university in Belgrade and I couldn’t go to medical school there. I have to go to a Business school. So I got myself into commerce and then I moved to the central part of India, that is Mapal, where I graduated with a Bachelor degree in Commerce and Accounting after which I did Master’s degree in Business and Commerce. But health was still very much in my head.
Why I moved to Kenya
I moved to Kenya for educational purpose. That was where I thought I can survive. there was no job, so we were looking for a best way to survive. I am very entrepreneurial. I have a lot of Kenyan friends when I was in India and from there I knew what was going on there. They are so much involved in coffee and tea export and I got into horticultural export in Kenya. My wife is a Kenyan. I went there to see if I could see a better opportunity rather than going into a main stream employment, maybe I could actually create employment, that was why I set up the horticultural export in Kenya. I did it for a while, exporting to France, UK and Italy. It was very competitive then because I was competing with Indians. Indians were exporters and importers, I didn’t make much in Kenya at all. It was tough.
My sojourn to USA
Things were becoming so difficult, the competition was very high, I love to be in competition but it was very higher for me. The Kenyans and Indians dominated the economy and for you to be able to be successful you have to go through them. The Kenyans and Indians fixed the prices for everything, prices that you are going to use to export and that is only price you’re going to use to export unless you have other means of getting your own deal from London or France or so.
When it was becoming so difficult I just have to move on and I said I would be focused on my dream. It was not because of education that I moved to US, I moved because I was looking for a better opportunity. So when I got to the US I have to start from scratch, that is what a lot of people don’t know. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are coming from or something like that, America will humble you, whether you have Ph.D or whatever you have, you’ll start from the scratch.
The American dream
“The American dream is always there, if you open your eyes, if you are determined, then you are very committed to what you are doing, straight forward, you’ll make it. You can be who you want to be and that is what is there. So,m I got into US and then started working in the healthcare sector. I was employed just like a programme kind of something, to co ordinate programmes within the health sector. “I was in finance, I had a Master’s degree in Finance from India but when you can coordinate programme, it doesn’t mean you are practising. You coordinate programme like the finance part of it, although that is in the heath sector. Then I have to start changing my ways. That was when I developed interest in how the health system works, like how to take care of aged and disabled people, people with disabilities, like autism, various types of disabilities. It is a different sector of health care system that actually focuses on human not on symptoms or treatment. It focuses on you and your health outcome. So healthcare is a big field where you have the physician and co.
“So I got into that and I started developing, I was actually growing in the heath sector. I became the residential manager for healthcare system which was Anthony Wince Services in Texas, Houston then after working in Houston about two years, I moved to Forthwin, Indiana through one pastor from Zambia. We got talking and he said “if you are in this sector, you can get something better in Forthwin in Indiana.” And he spoke with a friend of mine from South Africa. He spoke to Anthony Wince Services. It is one of the biggest health care providers for people with age and disabilities. That was in year 2001. That time I was made a programme coordinator for a sector of heath care, that is residential service of people with disabilities.
“That was what led me into the healthcare education. I moved from there and then I also have a doctorate degree in health care from World University in Minnesota. I grew up and I saw what I was doing there, I have to set up my own. I grew up to the policy level when we started doing policy for Anthony Wince Services now called Benchmark and from there I kind of broke out and started my own called Medị-link. That was the very first aspect of it, it is the first amputatery kind of services that deal with the people leaving with disabilities. I was able to talk to the state of Indiana that I have a better policy on healthcare sector and I was told to bring a proposal.
“That was why I was saying that your dream is possible, the American dream, if you are focused but the idea is that you have to be humble, because whatever the case, you are going to start from zero. It doesn’t matter what and how you are and then. I put my proposal together and it was approved. I started my own healthcare operation system in 2013
Have you been intimidated or were you affected by racism which is usually in practice?
“First of all, I don’t feel intimidated. I remembered one time in 2003 when I was a programme coordinator for Benchmark and we would go for healthcare. the entire hall would be filled and I would be the only black person there. Racism is something that cannot be taken away but you can actually create an opportunity from racism. That is what led me to where I am today, when you use that kind of negativity to create a positive thing for yourself. When you are able to modify the thinking and make use of the best of racism.
Any particular incident when you were in the US Healthcare sector, you were subjected to any form of racism before?
“It is like an unmentioned racism, it is something that you feel and know. There were a couple of times that, I think 2005/2006, I was supposed to be a programme director of a major programme for the healthcare system, we were five of us that were there and I was the most qualified when it comes to that aspect but things moved here and there but I am very grateful for the organisation.
“Everything I am able to build up on my own, it is because of that issue of racism. I won’t say it is a big issue but it has always been there, you’ll feel it. You know, the position you are supposed to get, you’ll probably not get them. There are so many people that I have trained that they will put on top of me. “Those are areas that I told myself that there must be opportunity in this thing. If I can train this person to be in this position, I can actually step out and create opportunities for myself
Regardless of who you are or the colour you are, you can achieve the American dream. It might be difficult but you can always achieve it.”
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OgunEduCash: ‘Approve Payment of Our Funds’ — Contractor Begs Governor Abiodun
Published
3 weeks agoon
September 25, 2024OgunEduCash: ‘Approve Payment of Our Funds’ — Contractor Begs Governor Abiodun
…….Pleads to Governor Abiodun to approve payment of OgunEduCash contracts
Some of the contractors who were awarded thousands of textbooks by Ogun State Government in a bid to empower the secondary and primary schools under OgunEduCash initiative has begged Governor Prince Dapo Abiodun to approve the payment of their March, 2024.
Most of them secured loans from microfinance to execute the project with deadline of payment but they could not meet up due to the delay in payments of the expected funds from Ogun State Government Amebo Newspapers NG learnt.
According to one of them who pleased on anonymity, said he used his personal funds and borrowed money to produce notebooks and supplied to Ogun state government and when it was time to pay him the problems started.
This is to call the attention of Ogun State Governor, His Excellency Prince (Dr) Dapo Abiodun, MFR to an issue involving the State government and a couple of contractors who were awarded printing contracts since March (at exactly the time OgunEduCASH was introduced).
The contract was a mass production of 800, 000 exercise books which was expected to be delivered a week from the day the contract was awarded. It should be noted that the contract which was awarded through the office of the Secretary to the State Government was not committed with cash or any deposit but an agreement to pay contractor in a week after delivery.
Since the delivery day, Your Excellency, we have not gotten any response from the State government – for a job which has been delivered since March, 2024.
Your Excellency, sir, kindly use your good office to help investigate and resolve the matter sir.
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