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FirstBank: Nigeria’s Premier Eco-Friendly Financial Brand
By Jeremiah Agada
As the world gears up to celebrate the World Environment Day (WED), Brand Communicator’s focus on Eco-Friendly Brands in the Nigerian market falls on Nigeria’s premier and perhaps the strongest financial institution, First Bank of Nigeria Limited. The focus is on the Bank’s environmental policies and its impact on the global environmental issues.
This brings to fore the importance of environmental sustainability in our world today. Environmental sustainability is one of the biggest challenges and most important targets of the present times. Stakeholders (researchers, academicians, scholars, governments and non-government organizations involving individuals, communities, countries, and the continents, are increasingly focusing their attention on how to tackle the challenges associated with driving environmental sustainability. Key stakeholder concerns include the constant exploitation of the environment due to economic development. While the current generation is enjoying the fruits of economic development, they tend to be oblivious of the uncertainty and dangers that future generations would confront as a result of scarce natural resources and polluted environment. It is therefore, our responsibility to leave the planet as a self-sustainable system providing equal opportunities of survival not only to our future generations but also to all other species co-habiting with us.
In Nigeria, studies have shown that various sectors of the economy are vulnerable to climate change. These include human settlements and health; water resources, wetlands and freshwater ecosystems; energy, industry, commerce and financial services; agriculture, food security, land degradation, forestry and biodiversity; coastal zone and marine ecosystems.
Because of the seriousness of climate change and the impact it poses to the environment, an organization like First Bank of Nigeria Limited is leaving nothing to chance in ensuring an eco-friendly society. Its recognition of the environmental and social impacts of its operations has made it adopt policies and procedures that minimize negative environmental and social impacts.
In doing business, the Bank, which is Nigeria’s first and arguably its most prestigious, takes cognizance of potential environmental risks with a view to nipping them in the bud. This it has done by constant interactions with stakeholders, driving sustainable insurance and putting necessary frameworks in place towards ensuring that its actions as a corporate entity does not impact negatively on the environment.
As such, the sustainability of the societies and physical environments in which the Bank operates are critical to its own sustainable success. Therefore, the Bank has shown over the years that it is committed to making positive contribution wherever it does business while avoiding or minimising any direct or indirect negative impact on communities and the environment resulting from its activities, beyond its responsible lending and investment efforts.
The acknowledgement of the fact that its environmental impacts can be indirectly linked to climate change and its global effects has led the bank to adopt an approach to environmental sustainability which is two-fold based on its direct and indirect impacts. The approaches to reducing the direct impacts of its operations include approach to minimising carbon footprints and carbon offsetting; work towards carbon neutrality as well as promote wildlife and biodiversity conservation and preservation.
In minimising waste, the Bank works to improve energy efficiency in its data centres and offices as well as reduce air travels and implement safe paper use initiatives. It also increased the use of conference calls for meetings as against attending physical meeting schedules thereby minimizing fuel consumption and carbon emission from vehicles. Its ‘Going Green’ efforts have also seen the Bank purchase renewable energy; promote tree planting initiatives and the indirect impact of its activities focuses largely on responsible lending.
The Bank’s key objectives of minimizing carbon footprints through the planting of trees, creating awareness among school children of the need to preserve wildlife and biodiversity, developing and educating environmentally conscious students through partnerships with reputable NGOs and institutions, are huge. The challenge in implementing this project is not just in identifying suitable locations with the right soil and climatic conditions for tree planting, but also ensuring students’ participation.
These objectives and FirstBank’s responsible approach to protecting the environment has seen it partner with Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), Nigeria’s premier non-governmental environment conservation foundation dedicated to nature conservation and sustainable development in Nigeria. Its on-going partnership with the NCF has seen it actively support annual activities promoting conservation and preservation of wildlife and biodiversity.
The FirstBank Conservation Initiative is part of our long-term approach to promoting sustainability, which involves minimising our direct and indirect impacts on the environment. And the success of this initiative is dependent on our meaningful engagement with our stakeholders.
With its huge expertise in environmental issues, the Bank found a worthy and perfect partner in the NCF to help implement this programme successfully. The NCF used its experience and influence to engage the various stakeholders to support the programme. This included utilising its conservation clubs, which provided educational sessions for the students on the importance and benefits of conservation and supporting biodiversity. The subsequent enthusiastic participation of the students, and the encouragement they received from the Ministry of Education and school authorities, enabled the programme’s objectives to be achieved.
So far, 240 trees have been planted at the Lagos State Civil Service Model College Igbogbo in Ikorodu, and Evboesi Mixed Secondary School, Benin City. More than 1,000 environmental sustainability champions have also been appointed in these locations. These champions are young people who look after the trees and ensure that they are adequately cared for to help the bank achieve its afforestation goals. “The planting of trees is just part of our efforts to contribute to Nigeria’s green economy and to combat deforestation/desertification, while recognising the key role of children and young people in the sustainability agenda,” the Bank in a statement disclosed.
Through its partnership with Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN), FirstBank sponsored the National Company of the Year (NCOY) Competition. The competition is an extension of the COY programme that brings secondary students together to form a company, choose a business name and elect officers to oversee operations of the company for the programme duration. It teaches students to put theory into practice in order to fully understand what financial literacy and entrepreneurship is. At the end of the programme, the students that complete the programme successfully, compete in the regional competition and represent their school in the National Company of the Year competition in Lagos. In 2020, the New Phase from Brookstone Secondary School, Port-Harcourt, Rivers state emerged winner, producing an eco-friendly block. The eco-friendly construction blocks were made from plastic waste. These sustainable blocks are the next wave of sustainable construction.
Beyond the initiatives above, responsible lending remains one of the strategic pillars in delivering the sustainability goals of the FirstBank Group. FirstBank has put in place an Environmental, Social and Governance Management System (ESGMS) to help the Bank integrate environmental social and governance considerations into its decision-making processes. This includes an ESG policy and procedures for screening transactions. The ESG policy is based on existing policy documents and international best practice, while procedures to screen transactions are aimed at conducting ESG due diligence on potential transactions. These are based on Central Bank of Nigeria’s Sustainable Banking Principles, IFC Performance Standards, and international best practice and are tailored to FirstBank’s procedures, risk management framework, risk appetite and tolerance, and adapted to its strategic objectives
The key objective of this policy is to ensure that all the transactions that FirstBank is considering funding, include adequate provision for actions necessary to prevent, control and mitigate negative impacts on the environment and communities, and improve environmental quality.
With this, FirstBank has shown its commitment to integrating social and environmental principles in all its operations; promoting good corporate governance and ensuring social and environmental considerations are included in the business decision making; reviewing and managing potential social and environmental risks in its lending and investment processes and activities and reviewing all borrowers against the criteria like exclusion list; the International Finance Corporate Performance Standards, and other applicable international standards as well as the Nigeria Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBP) requirements.
Others initiatives are, providing constant education and training for all staff on issues of environmental and social responsibility relevant to the business; regularly communicating to all stakeholders on progress of commitments including achievements, challenges and future direction; continuous improvement on the way in which it identifies, assesses and manages Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) risks within its businesses.
The successful and productive implementation of the ESGMS has propelled the bank to integrate the associated checklist (which is usually completed by a relationship manager and verified by an analyst against the EIA report), into the bank’s credit application platform designed for reviewing credits. The goal is to ensure efficiency through automation as relevant implementation documents such as the environmental, social and governance risks screening checklist will be fully automated.
These initiatives over the years and activities have shown that environmental sustainability remains a key corporate responsibility & sustainability focus for FirstBank.
News
Court Hands EFCC Three Days Ultimatum to Conclude 10-Year-Old Corruption Charges Against Dasuki
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has granted three consecutive days to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to conclude the ten-year-old corruption charges it instituted against a former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Mohammed Sambo Dasuki (rtd).
Dasuki’s counsel initiated legal arguments when he challenged the status of the subpoena because it was issued to the DSS as an entity not recognised by the law of the country.
The EFCC lawyer, however, countered the objection, insisting that DSS was a creation of statute and that there had been no confusion in the identity of the organisation.
“The document was duly served on Department of State Security (DSS). The Department has no confusion as to its identity.
“The witness did not exhibit any confusion as to his invitation by the Court. The objection as to form does not defeat the end of Justice. We humbly pray the Court not to sustain the objection in the interest of substantial justice.”
In the end, Justice Lifu admitted the subpoena as an exhibit and reserved his ruling to be delivered along with the main charge.
“I have carefully and painstakingly listened to learned counsel on the admissibility of the document sought to be tendered by the prosecution.
“I have also perused the document in relation to the name on the said subpoena. Admissibility of documentary evidence is governed by the law of evidence, and it is determined by relevancy.
“Being a criminal case which is about 10 years old in the docket of this court, coupled with the fact that ACJA 2015 envisages speedy dispensation of criminal justice, this document shall be admitted and a ruling shall be incorporated into the final judgement of this court,” said Justice Lifu.
The judge drew the attention of the parties to the fact that the case had dragged and suffered delay for ten years, having been filed in 2015.
At the proceedings, the first prosecution witness and exhibit keeper with the DSS, Monsur Mohammed, was permitted to give evidence on the strength of the subpoena.
He subsequently presented several items found in Dasuki’s properties at 13 John Khadije Street, Asokoro, Abuja; 46 Nelson Mandela Street, Asokoro Abuja; Sabon Birnin Road, Sokoto; and Sultan Abubakar Road, also in Sokoto.
Four different search warrants executed in July 2015 at the four properties led to the recovery of the undisclosed items.
In the end, the DSS exhibit keeper admitted that nothing incriminating was found on the properties.
After the evidence, Justice Lifu held that in the circumstances of the case and by consent of all counsel, “this suit is hereby adjourned to 7, 8 and 9 July 2025 at the instance of the Court for further hearing.
He added: “The learned prosecutor is expected to close his case on these adjourned dates.”
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
There is no doubt everyone experiences different levels of pain and disappointment when things or life don’t go as planned. Many thoughts naturally run through minds. Depending on the issue on the ground, one might wonder what he did wrong, or what he could have done differently. More questions such as ‘was my request too much, did I act too fast or slow, was my approach bad, was my work untidy, did I under prepare will continually flash tbrough the mind? No doubt, the mind will be busy wondering what caused the failure.
Ordinarily, they are supposed to make us feel frustrated, especially when it is an opportunity we have been praying to have. Imagine having an idol, celebrity or an influential leader who can change your life giving you an opportunity, but for reasons beyond your comprehension or articulation, you couldn’t seize the moment to create a lasting impression; an lost opportunity.
Trust me, I can relate to the feeling having experienced similar fate on several occasions. There are relationships that I have lost either because I was naïve or couldn’t nurture it well. However, one may try to look at it, life may not always go as planned; one may be planning out his life and God or the universe will be planning something else. Sometimes, what we thought might be good for ourselves, might not really be good for us.
Let me share a practical story; during my formative years in the United States of America, I worked as a security officer for a decent amount of time, while still applying to many other companies. Though I couldn’t secure a decent paying job, I didn’t lose hope either, I kept my hope alive. It is important to state that I was frustrated and felt depressed. I wondered when my life will change for the better. It got to a stage I felt only a miracle can change the course of my life because people who have less capacity, competency and capability than me were getting opportunities and I began to wonder if I was cursed. Many thoughts were running through my mind. But what gave strength were the words of my Registrar while at New York Law School. According to him, if you lose all options, don’t lose hope.
One thing I did was to maximise my present status as a security officer and used the opportunity to network during the day. I attended events of interest in the morning, afternoon and nights. Sometimes. I will go to work from the event.
In all honesty, I didn’t know the people I met during my formative years while working as a security officer will be instrumental to who I am today, and what I will be doing in the near future. Why do I say this? I know for a fact, assuming I had a decent paying job after my law school program, I doubt if I would have had time to write my first book and as well, attend events and network with the high and mighty in the society.
When I look back, I will say this is a disguised blessing because all these people came in handy to support my work when I published my book.
Furthermore, there was a time I missed a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award event, an award that could have changed the course of my life. While I was troubled by the incident, a mentor of mine said to me, “don’t grieve for what didn’t happen because what didn’t happen could prevent disaster from happening”. This is so true because sometimes we might not know the people we meet, who can do harm to us in the nearest future which we might not know, so the creator of the universe can cause a scene or situation that will prevent the relationship from going forward.
It can also be a case where one is looking for a job, and the job might be that which will consume the fellow in the nearest future. So, when one gets denied the opportunity of working, instead of crying over spilled milk, consider seeing it as disguised blessing, which can be a bigger company that might offer you more benefits. It can also be a case of maybe, your destiny helper might be in the company that offers you less pay as opposed to a bigger company that one is aspiring to get, but was denied.
In the journey of life, sometimes one must refuse to capitalize on one’s gain, this is because anyone can do that, but what’s more important is to profit from the loss, because that requires a certain degree of intelligence.
Disguised blessings can come in different forms, for instance while some people are begging because one of their legs is amputated, another person has won Gold at Paralympics because both legs are amputated and thereby receiving global recognition.
Life is about perspective; how you see it is how it will reflect on you. Life itself is a mirror; it depends on the lens you are using to view it. If you believe that life happens to you, you will be the beggar in that situation. But if you know that you happen to life, you will be bigger instead of being a beggar. So, wake up every day and don’t gauge how you feel that day. Instead, tell yourself how you want to feel on any given day. Be the driver of your life, not a passenger.
In conclusion, when you have done what you are supposed to, and life still doesn’t turn out as expected, instead of feeling frustrated, try looking at it from the angle of disguised blessings by learning the inherent lessons the said situation is bringing to your table of life.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to within 24hrs release socialite and business woman, Aisha Achimugu.
Justice Inyang Ekwo in a short ruling also added that parties in the suit especially the EFCC are to report to the court to give report on compliance to the order of court on May 2, 2025.
Recall that Justice Ekwo had on Monday, ordered Achimugu to submit herself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in connection with an on going investigation bordering on Money laundering and other offences.
Justice Ekwo, also held that following her appearance at the EFCC office, the antigraft agency is to return with her and make an appearance before the court on Wednesday April 30, for report.
Meanwhile, the EFCC arrested Achimugu at about 5am on Tuesday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
The EFCC is investigating Achimugu on a case involving conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretence, money laundering, corruption, and possession of properties reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained.
While she was previously arrested and questioned by the EFCC, she was released on administrative bail by the commission.
However, EFCC alleged that she jumped bail and declared Achimugu wanted.
The EFCC in a press statement urged the public to provide information about Achimugu’s whereabouts, “The public is hereby notified that AISHA SULAIMAN ACHIMUGU is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in an alleged case of criminal conspiracy and money laundering,” the statement read.
The EFCC in its affidavit to show cause, averred that on February 12, 2024, when Achimugu was previously arrested, in their office with her lawyer, Darlington Ozurumba, she wrote a statement.
The commission said in the statement, that she explained some of the huge funds which passed through her corporate bank accounts.
It said that Achimugu admitted the sum of N8, 710, 000, 000.00. (eight billion, seven hundred and ten million naira) was paid by her partners as an investment fund into the purchase and payment of a signature bonus for the acquisition of oil bloc on Nov. 8, 2022.
It said further investigation however revealed that Achimugu, through her company, Ocean Gate Engineering Oli and Gas Limited, acquired two oil blocs, namely Shallow Water -PPL 3007 and Deep Offshore-PPL 302-DO for the total sum of $25, 300, 000 (twenty-five million, three hundred thousand dollars) through majorly cash payments made to the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators who in turn made payments to Federal Government via corporate accounts.
The commission alleged that the ultimate sources of the said sum of $25,300,000 used in the acquisition of the oil blocs were not linked to her lawful earnings or income or any business partner.
