By Bayo Bernard, Business Editor
Access Bank’s resolve to promote quality education in Nigeria has been boosted after its partners raised a whopping $1.7 million at the recently concluded Access Bank Polo Cup in London, the United Kingdom.
The yearly Polo event is organized by the Herbert Igwe-led corporation in conjunction with the United Nations Children Education Fund, UNICEF, an organ of the United Nations, UN saddled with the responsibility of promoting education among children of pre-primary and post primary school age across the world.
For two years, the event did not hold due to the corona virus pandemic which affected the global economy and almost rendered the economy of many countries comatose.
Nigerian financial sector was also not left out in the COVID 19-induced economic crisis which limited the operations of commercial banks, especially in the areas of CSR/ charity.
Therefore when the event returned this year, not a few applauded the resilience of the bank, despite the seeming economic challenges in using sports and entertainment to promote causes that advance humanity, particularly education in Nigeria where paucity of funds has drastically hampered government’s capacity to fund quality education.
UNICEF has lamented the rising number of out-of-school children in the country, essentially in war ravaged areas from 10 million to over 18 million within a few years.
The UN agency said about 18.5 million children, the majority of whom are girls, do not have access to education in Nigeria going by 2021 figure.
This is a sharp increase, considering that the UN agency had earlier estimated that 10.5 million children were out of school in Africa’s most populous country in 2021.
“Currently in Nigeria, there are 18.5 million out-of-school children, 60% of whom are girls,” Rahama Farah, the head of the UNICEF office in Kano, told reporters.
Viewing the parlous situation of Nigeria’s educational system from this prism, analysts insist that the return of Access Bank Polo Cup this year did not only provide entertainment for lovers of the elite sports, it also means more funds for education in Nigeria.
For Polo fans, the event presented an opportunity to enjoy the game at its very peak, after a two year hiatus caused by the COVID 19 headwinds.
Nigerian Polo enthusiasts are even more excited that Access Bank team beats Fifth Chucker to lift the cup. But much more, the icing on the cake for most of them is that after enjoying themselves from the sterling event, funds raised from the event will be channeled towards supporting quality education in the country.
“The bank is sending a good message to the Nigerian public, and the world that it’s investing in entertainment to promote education.
“The bank has channeled huge funds towards CSR across the country, what has been raised from this event, will, in no small way add value to the nation’s education sector. This is huge considering how many blocks of classrooms and learning materials will be provided from the $1.7million,l. You will agree with me that this is a good news for the nation’s educational system and lovers of quality education around the world” Adejobi Sam, an educationist and public affairs analyst said.
He said the bank “has shown itself to be a major stakeholders in Nigeria’s educational sector, it will therefore be safe to describe Access Bank as Nigeria’s education-friendly bank.”
According to sources in the bank, the humongous funds will be used towards building a slew of over 100 well equipped classrooms in the most disadvantage education areas across the country.
