Access Bank’s Benevolent Train Moves To The Deaf

By Tosin Olatokunbo

The benevolent train of the Herbert Wigwe-led Access Bank Plc has moved to Mowe, a suburb of Lagos, to deliver goodies to the sometimes, forgotten citizens of the society, the deaf.

For more than 11 years the Ajofa Special Education Foundation for the Deaf searched for help for the renovation of their school, but no one responded until Access Bank intervened and put an end to the quagmire.

The gesture, the bank said is part of its community social responsibility, CSR to the Nigerian people.

Before putting smiles on the faces of the deaf students, the tier 1 deposit money bank had earlier renovated the dilapidated Information Technology Centre and provided computers and accessories for Ikosi Primary School – Ketu, Lagos, Nigeria, which benefitted over 1,000 students.

While handing over the project to the community, Access Bank Executive Director, Business Banking Division, Chizoma Okoli, said the project was completed within two years, and in line with the bank’s goals of rendering giving back to the society.

He said the school was in a very shambolic state before the bank took the bull by the horns.

According to him, “We are proud to be identified with this project which falls in our agenda to touch lives, reach out to the needy and show love. This particular project is from the business banking team of Access Bank as part of our own corporate social responsibility. Our attention was brought to this thanks to the Lebanese Women Society. This project took us two years because of the very deplorable state we met it in.

“The children were sleeping in rooms without roofs; there was no water, the entire building was in shambles. We have reconstructed the school and its dormitories, provided the foundation with a borehole and water treatment plant, books, a generating set and a new HP desktop computer with printing facilities.

The proprietor of the school, Francis Ajomiwe, said the bank came to the rescue at the appropriate time as the school had already lost hope.

He expressed gratitude to the bank for a promised fulfilled, noting that the school with 65 students was founded in 2010 and had been struggling with challenges, including dysfunctional dormitories that have now been upgraded by the bank.

The bank has earlier renovated 6-room male and female toilets and installed a borehole for the Ikosi Primary School, a 500-hour project which the lender said was born out of the need to provide basic computer knowledge and education for the pupils, who ordinarily lacked good education because of dysfunctional educational platforms. Over 700 pupils benefited from the ICT facilities.