Fidelity Bank’s exceptional example in sports, CSR News

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Fidelity Bank’s exceptional example in sports, CSR

By Daily Sports on July 4, 2016

For the utmost respect I have for very constructive public opinion, I decided to write on the outburst in Ibadan, penultimate week, of the First Vice President of NFF, Seyi Akinwunmi, who told the world that lesbianism has slowed down the steady growth of Women football in the country. However, I had to bow to the overwhelmingly wish that we shift attention this week from NFF and focus on what some corporate Nigerians have done for sports and the community in which they do their day to day businesses.

Pronto, we chose to beam our searchlight on Fidelity Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s financial power houses. In short, a charming worker that has done a lot without making headlines the next day. What we unearth about the one-stop-shop bank will shock you.

As you can attest to that giving back to the society in any form be it sports, health, education – plus constructing and stocking Libraries with relevant books, Borehole, Roads and sundry are things that genuinely affects humanity, and from investigation that spanned several months, Fidelity Bank Plc profile is found to be excessively rich, the corporate entity has shown enough capacity setting the pace and tone for greatness on her avowed mission not only to be at her crowning in the area of financial services delivery but also ensuring they are always at the beck and call in other public services.

Without much ado, let’s get cracking to unveil Fidelity Bank Plc this week. It is journey worthy embarking upon which will at the end, put everyone in proper perspective of the corporate give back policy that has touched the people within their operational roots. Theirs’ is no lip service, which is common with some Nigerian outfits and governments at all levels.

It is against such background therefore that many Nigerians especially Sports Federations chairmen would have first-hand information on the contributions the bank has extended to grow sports in the land.

In Charity Shield Polo 2014, Fidelity Bank Plc donated N10m to UNICEF. The glamorous Fidelity Bank UNICEF Charity Shield international Polo tournament came to a flourishing climax with the presentation of the N10 million donation by the main sponsors, Fidelity Bank Plc, to UNICEF.

It would be recalled that the donation was presented at the Fifth Chukker Polo & Country Club in Kaduna by the Zonal Head of Retail Operations, as part of Fidelity Bank’s commitment to Charity and in support of UNICEF’s campaign against HIV/AIDS pandemic among Nigerian children.

The Zonal Head who led other top officials of Fidelity Bank to the grand finale, expressed delight that the Fidelity Bank UNICEF Charity Shield is achieving its main objective of reaching out to the less privileged children in the society.

UNICEF Country Representative, Miss Jean Gough who received the donation, thanked Fidelity Bank for the kind assistance, pointing out that through the donation, UNICEF would be able to provide care and support service to orphans and vulnerable children in focus areas of Kaduna State and its environs.

The tournament was spiced with the beautifully designed plaque and a hefty three-wheel golf trolley. The cheque presentation which was the major highlight of the closing ceremony followed on the heels of the final game of the event in which Fidelity Bank/Barbedos defeated max Air 8-6 to emerge the overall champions of the richest charity Polo event in Africa.

The Polo showpiece which attracted over 20 teams and thousands of the sports enthusiasts from around the world was decided over three weekends of top flight polo game in which four major prizes were given out to the winners. The glittering closing ceremony was preceded by the final of the UNICEF Cup that pitched Fifth Chukker team against their Kangimi opponents.

At the end of the four chukka confrontation, Abba Dawule led Fifth Chukker to craft their names in gold with a 5-4 victory, thus becoming the second Nigerian team after American University of Nigeria team from Yola, to clinch the title that has been dominated by the Work-to-Ride team from USA. Bank had similarly in 2013 sponsored Golf competition where Nigeria’s Chris Obije, Ladipo confirmed Genesis Sojourner Hotel Golf tourney titles.

Obije reaffirmed his supremacy as the leading Amateur Golfer in the land when he beat all comers to the cleaners and claimed the overall best nett winner of the Genesis Sojourner Hotel Golf tournament sponsored by Fidelity Bank at Ikeja Golf Club.

On the last day of the summit, Obije carded 70 nett to shoot to the top of the leaderboard. The bank has left no one in doubt about its readiness to sponsor sports summits in the country and it has been a distinctive pathway of all that starts well, that ends well for the bank.

Let us gradually take our journey into Fidelity Bank prodigy and unravel several heartwarming Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) they embarked upon without giving them publicity. It is one of the strong points which won them this space this week.

For the records Fidelity Bank as if all it has been doing for Golf, Polo and CSR are not enough restated it is highly committed to making our community a better place to live, work and play, a true ardent devotee in giving back to the community in various fields.

The Fidelity example must serve as lesson in character and most robust corporate body that is sports friendly. Much dependence on government funds has been the bane of sports in the country, little wonder, only very few of them meet their financial obligations to athletes’ and technical crew. Nigerian administrators’ inability to find sponsors for their various sports, due to arm chair administration remains not only worrisome but also obsolete. They would feel guilty as colossal failures in modern day sports management requires being pro-active.

To put it mildly Fidelity Bank, believes that organisations and the societies in which they operate must develop a polite relationship. Such an all-embracing primary responsibility may have informed the reasons why the Bank takes Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a core of operation right from the inception of the bank over two decades ago. To be honest with you it has successfully taken it to new frontiers, the benefactors have all expressed excitement.

To say the least, from wide interactions before this article was crafted and put to bed, one can safely conclude that the bank’s aim is to be the best organisation in the area of CSR. It is achievable as there are strong indicators that tilt towards such direction.

One of the above dreams may have informed Fidelity Helping Hands Programme through which it has initiated, developed and executed a well-intended number of positive projects and sustainable ingenuities.

It was further gathered that as a bank, they are fortunate to have employees who are actively engaged in all their CSR activities. This obligation has in no smaller measure impacted completely on their host communities and the society at large.

The bank has vowed that in order to continue to expand its scope, the next phase is to dynamically involve their vendors/clients in their vigorous CSR wits and efforts, hence giving them prospect to be involved with a bank that is focused on giving back to humanity. That is the truth judging from what many that have benefitted from the way and manner this vibrant bank spreads and executes in record time, their CSR projects, they are not vague, rather the records are there.

An executive of the bank said, “While we believe that the government has a major role to play in fixing the myriads of problems in every community, we also deeply trust that private organisations and business enterprises can partner government in solving these hitches. This is where we come in as a responsible organisation. We accept that true CSR in the community is like a wide farmland – every man chooses the acreage to till. Our CSR drive as an organisation stands on a tripod: The Environment, Education Health and Social Welfare.”

The bank believes that there are three key aspects of societal needs that it cannot afford to overlook. They have entrenched mechanisms in place and so many initiatives that are tailored towards meeting these needs. Their strong commitment to these needs explains why a significant part of their earnings as a Bank is committed towards supporting structures, enterprises and life-transforming projects.

This belief has been the driving force behind their support for various creativities over the years. To achieve these noble objectives, the bank profoundly strives to reinforce strong, healthy Community Relations by identifying with host communities in activities that have meaning to them.

As the name implies, the bank has maintained high standards of integrity in its relations with state governments and host communities. Endeavour to play a leading role by identifying with and seeking solutions to the problems of society especially those in our immediate operational environments.

In order to keep the public abreast of the milestones they have reached in the aforementioned areas, the bank has chosen to talk about some of these momentous achievements in detail. Fidelity Helping Hands Programme (FHHP), Awards, Sustainability Report.

Truth is that the cardinal vision of the bank is to be No. 1 in every market they serve and for every branded product they offer too. The Mission is to their Core Values

On the Environment, it would be recalled that over the years, it has supported initiatives aimed at identifying and promoting the preservation, protection and beautification of the environment. This is executed on two fronts, environmental Beautification: Fidelity Bank Plc works in collaboration with public institutions – State and Local Governments – to create and maintain green parks in chosen locations. Instances are bond – the beautification of the Falomo Roundabout in Lagos State, in partnership with the Lagos State Government.

They have successfully accomplished several other beautification projects across the country. Some of these projects include Onikan, Milverton, Dopemu and Matori Roundabouts in Lagos State; RSUT in Rivers State, Rangers Avenue junction in Enugu State, Mbaise Road in Imo State, Abia Towers in Umuahia, KrikaSama Roundabout in Maiduguri, Borno State; Secretariat junction, Ibadan, Oyo State; and Itam Peace Colour, Akwa Ibom State among others.

On the Environmental Protection and Renewal, the bank supports environmental advocacy groups like the Nigeria Conservative Foundation (NCF) in their advocacy programmes, one of which is the annual “Walk For Nature.” The bank also undertakes green initiatives that assist the environment. In this regard, they have become the first, and perhaps, the only bank in Nigeria that doles out cash with recycled biodegradable cash bags instead of polyethylene bags used by others, which is destructive to the ecosystem. The bank also assents to relevant international Accords and Protocols aimed at promoting sustainability, like the Equator Principles. Needless to re-echo that the bank has maintained her slogan which say: We are fidelity, we keep our words.

For instance, it was a full house when the bank launched Fidelity SME Regional Conference North that took place in Kano, the roll call: then Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Nnamdi Okonkwo; Director Fidelity Bank Plc, Alhaji Bashari Gumel; representative of Bauchi State Governor, Nairobi Mohammed; and Chairman /Chief Executive Officer, Dantata Foods & Allied Products Limited, Tajudeen Dantata graced the august event. We could vividly remember that Fidelity Bank has launched a project tagged, ‘Back to School’ among children of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North- east zone. The bank said in a statement in Lagos that the development was part of its CSR effort being passionate by members of its Maiduguri branch who were operating under the aegis of the Fidelity Helping Hands Programme (FHHP).

The statement further explained that the multi-purpose FHHP is the vehicle of the bank through which members of staff contributed funds from their salaries to buy educational supplies, including branded school bags, books and writing materials which they donated to the children. While quoting the bank’s former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nnamdi Okonkwo, the affirmation added that Fidelity Bank was able to identify education out of the many needs of IDPs because “there was a strong link between education and socio-economic development especially in modern times when the emphasis is on a knowledge economy.”

It would be recalled that Okonkwo, was represented at the colourful event by the Executive Director, North, Mohammed Balarabe, who revealed the bank will support initiatives that encourage education at all levels, particularly those projects that enhance quality and standards. That is the way it should be whereby the citizenry feel the presence of corporate entities around them tapping enduringly from their act of benevolence.

•Victor Enyinnaya can be reached via 08055068145 (sms only) or by e-mail via sportzvictor@yahoo.com.au

Source Daily Sports

Posted July 4, 2016