The Chief Executive Officer of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Dr. ย Adesola Adeduntan, has encouraged children to cultivate the habit of showing kindness to people around them irrespective of class, race or circumstance.
Dr. Adeduntan gave the charge on Wednesday, July 3 while espousing the Bankโs values-promoting initiative, โStart Performing Acts of Random Kindnessโ (SPARK) to pupils of Methodist Girlsโ High School, Yaba, Lagos as part of the activities marking the third edition of FirstBankโs Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability (CR&S) Week themed โRipples of Kindness, Putting You First.โ
Represented by the Bankโs Group Head, Retail Banking, Lagos Island 1, Mrs. Olufunke Smith, the CEO explained that the premier and leading financial institution conceived SPARK to help the pupils and Nigerians in general to develop and practice compassion, empathy and giving.
He said kindness has several benefits including feeling happy, fulfilled, developing oneโs skills, improving mental health and live out positive values because โa value-centred life helps in building and achieving goals and objectives.โ
L-R: Olufunke Smith, Group Head, Lagos Island 1, Retail Banking, FirstBank; Incoming Head Girl, Methodist Girls High School, Yaba, Abiodun George; Ismail Omamegbe , Head, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, FirstBank; Outgoing Head Girl, Methodist Girls High School,Yaba, Amarachi Umezurike and Abimbola Ali, Vice Principal, Admin, Methodist Girls High School, Yaba during the celebration of the 2019 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Week of FirstBank held at Methodist Girls High School, Yaba, yesterday.
Apart from encouraging the use of magic words like โthank youโ, โpleaseโ, โexcuse meโ and โpardon meโ, Dr. Adeduntan disclosed that SPARK also encompasses compassion, civility, charity and connection.
He added that connection includes โasking a neighbour how they are doing, reaching out to someone you havenโt heard from in a while, helping younger ones do their homework, expressing compassionate traits like giving one a hug and visiting one that is ill in the hospital.โ
Dr. Adeduntan advised the pupils to imbibe the value of kindness and ensure that they are civil at all times.
Appreciating FirstBank for the initiative and visit, the Vice Principal, Administration, Methodist Girlsโ High School, Mrs. Abimbola Ali, expressed her delight on the impact of the SPARK initiative, noting that the general theme of kindness tallies with the motto of the school.
She said, โI really want to appreciate FirstBank for deeming it fit to choose Methodist Girls High School for this talk. Your character determines how far you can fly and the character-based traits teachings on kindness is synonymous with our motto, โIn Love, Serve One Anotherโ. Serve other people out of love, not convenience. Thatโs kindness.โ
FirstBankโs CR & S Week is holding from 1st July to 6 in Nigeriaโs six geopolitical zones and the Bankโs business locations in Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Senegal, Sierra Leone, DR Congo and The United Kingdom.
The SPARK Initiative in schools is to embed the values of kindness amongst school children at a young age, so it becomes part and parcel of them, forming a habit and nature as they develop into adulthood. The event had some senior management staff of the Bank give talks on kindness to pupils of 20 secondary schools across the country and other locations in sub-Sahara Africa.
Aside Methodist Girlsโ High School, Yaba, FirstBankโs SPARK initiative was also activated at Gbaja Boys High School, Surulere and Opebi Senior Grammar School, Ikeja in Lagos. Other schools visited include, Sunshine International School Bauchi; Government Science School Maitama, Abuja; Racecourse Secondary School, Kano; Girls Model School, Ikot Ekan, Abak, Akwa Ibom State; Recdot Comprehensive Primary and Secondary School, Pine Crest College Independence Lay Out, Enugu amongst others.