Banks Urged to Empower Young People with Financial Skills

Ugo Aliogo

The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, has called on banks to play a major role in equipping young people with requisite financial skills, and knowledge needed to manage their finances.

Adebule made the remark at the launch of Heritage Bank Financial Literacy Comic Book entitled: “The Protectors-Keepers of the Heritage,” for young persons, in Lagos yesterday, lauded the initiative.
She said it will further help to recognise the values of children as the building blocks of a strong and united nation.

Adebule who was represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Service Office, Mr. Adesina Odeyemi, stated that the Lagos state government would continue to encourage initiatives meant for the proper upbringing of children in order to prepare them for the future.

She stressed that the resolve of the administration to curb all forms abuses such as domestic violence and all negative tendencies that may impede their fundamental human rights.

Furthermore, she stated that the state is committed to providing not only free education, but quality, and effective education, “we believe that no investment is too much to spend on the mental, physical, social, emotional as well as the psychological development of our children.”

The Divisional Head, Customer Experience and Analytics, Rabi Momoh, said the book would help develop the mindset of the children especially in the area of taking good financial decisions, adding that the bank is highly committed to addressing literacy in the society, while also aligning itself with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) financial inclusion strategy.

Momoh said the initiative was focused on educating not only children in primary, secondary schools, universities, youth corpers, but also market women, and those at the grassroot, in order to help develop good financial culture and be able to manage their income effectively.

She explained that inculcating the habit of early savings was vital for the children, adding that it would help them curb unnecessary spending on unimportant things, and save for their future, “most Nigerians do not have the culture of savings for the future, therefore they easily go bankrupt because they were not thought the savings culture from a very early age.”

“We have adopted many schools in Oyo, Ekiti, Aba, and the Federal Capital Territory. We are not looking at the high premium schools only, we are starting from the grassroot schools that do not have the opportunity to get this type of education.

“It is not just teaching mathematics and English language only. We organised workshops for them where we thought them basics about money, savings and banking.
“Different banks have taken up different initiatives in line with CBN directives, but there was no bank doing comic, therefore we decided to research on what would connect with children for them to learn financials. This is was how the book came about.

” If you read the comic the basic information about finance is there. In line with CBN strategy to drive financial inclusion, the bank formally launched its financial literacy programme in February 2014.”