Polaris Bank Limited has reiterated its commitment towards improving the standard of education in Nigeria through its Corporate Social Responsibility interventions.
The Bank made the commitment in Ilorin, Kwara state capital on Tuesday at the presentation of a cheque of N5million to support the management of Kwara state Polytechnic, Ilorin, for the take-off of Open Distance Learning project of the Polytechnic.
Polaris Bank’s Group Head, South West, Dr. Bimbo Akorede stated that, the Bank’s gesture was meant to give back to the institution in line with one of its CSR strategic pillars of Education and also in an efforts to cement the partnerships between the two organisations.
Dr. Akorede stated that, the development would also assist the Polytechnic to add more value to the quality of education of the students of the institution.
The Regional Boss of the Bank further explained that, “the Bank in its efforts to fulfil its Corporate Social Responsibility mandate in the communities where it operates, has seen many institutions of higher learning being a beneficiary of such gesture in moving the nation’s tertiary institutions forward.
According to him, “Today, Polaris Bank has over 250 branches that cut across the 6 geopolitical zones and the 36 state of the federation.
“We pride ourselves in the offering of excellent customer experience which we do majorly, based on our people-friendly service delivery and investment in ICT to ensure that our customers experience seamless transactions in all our touch points”.
Dr. Akorede who represented Polaris Bank’s Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Innocent C.Ike said ,”Today, in adherence to Sustainable Development Goals and especially goal number 4, quality education for all and every place or environment we find ourselves, we always like to give back to the society especially for institutions like Kwara Polytechnic”.
In his word: “What we are doing today, we have done similar things and more across higher institutions of learning in Nigeria. We are proud to mention one or two we did in Nigeria. We did for University of Maiduguri, we did our CSR to University of Ibadan, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTEC) Ogbomoso, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).
“In University of Ilorin, we partnered with the University on the provision of multi-functional cards to all the students. In 2018, a student of the school won a N5m for her educational support and this we did at Polaris Bank.
He noted that, “Again, we look at this gesture for the long term benefit, CSR is not just coming to an environment to take profit and be selfish in that environment, No, we want to give back in our own little way towards the Sustainability of the environment and give back to the people and also contribute meaningfully to the planet.
In his response, Rector of Kwara State Polytechnic, ilorin, Dr. Abduljimoh Muhammed commended Polaris Bank limited for its assistance towards completion of a befitting Computer Based Centre (CBC) for the institution and urged the Bank to do more to ensure the realisation of the project.