The 14th of February 2017 marked the beginning of a dynamic era in the Nigerian banking industry as Union Bank PLC officially kicked off celebrations for its 100th year of doing business in Nigeria at a press conference at its Stallion Plaza headquarters in Marina, Lagos.
Prominently featured at the well-attended event were Union Bank board members, including the Chairman, Mr Cyril Odu, the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Emeka Emuwa, former Minister of Mines and Industry, Mrs Onikepo Akande, among others, select Union Bank management staff and members of the press; print, electronic and new media.
The Chief Executive Officer, Mr Emeka Emuwa, could not have kicked the festivities off better with the opener where he said achieving one hundred years is no easy feat for any institution in Nigeria. While being brief, he took the audience through the bank’s milestones from inception, where bank was formed as The Colonial Bank in 1917 when Lagos had a mere population of 98,000, to the present where millions of Nigerians patronize and enjoy the services of the simpler, smarter bank that Union Bank has evolved into. Going forward, Mr Emuwa said the bank shall be celebrating, leading and impacting the industry during the bank’s centennial anniversary and beyond.
With a lot of work gone into reinventing the bank for future challenges, the bank through the CEO revealed how it intends to change the game with various programmes and social innovations. These include propagating simpler, smarter banking by expanding to more corners of the country, supporting social innovators through programmes like #LEAPSIPA2017 workshop and CSR initiatives like WeCare4IDPs, meant to cater to the needs of internally displaced Nigerians in the North-East part of the country.
The press conference was brought to a fitting close with the Chairman, Cyril Odu’s speech where he remarkably said, “The bank has been completely reawakened, thanks to all of you.”
Mrs Onikepo Akande anchoring the cake cutting, promised Nigerians to be on the look-out for Union Bank leading the banking pack with ever efficient and solid services going into the future.
