The Central Bank of Nigeria and Union Bank have expressed commitment to driving development in the country through investment in education.
Union Bank disclosed this when it organised the second edition of its annual education festival, Edu360, with the theme, ‘Education beyond walls’, in Lagos.
Stakeholders in the education sector, government officials, policymakers, teachers, parents, school owners, investors, students and some other interests group participated.
The event sought to boost collaboration among the education sector stakeholders, with the goal of accelerating development and investment in the sector.
Over 200 teachers from government and privately-owned schools benefited from the free training sessions as part of Union Bank’s drive to upskill the workforce of the important sector.
In addition to parenting panels and workshops, there were various activities such as digital training sessions, coding and robotics workshops and STEM classes.
Special guests at the opening ceremony included the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, represented by the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba; the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Special Adviser on Education, Mr TokunboWahab; and his Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mrs Aishah Ahmad.
The Chief Executive Officer, Union Bank, Mr Emeka Emuwa, said the bank had focused on education as a key driver of national development.
He said, “Our goal over the next three days here at Edu360 is to drive conversations and collaboration that will catalyse actions necessary to move our education sector forward. We understand that scaling up government spending on public education is imperative, but to actually drive impact, we believe the key is creating the scope for private investments in the sector.”
Ahmad commended Union Bank for the initiative, and assured of the CBN’s commitment to ensuring development of the economy.