FCMB Empowers Nigerian Youths with Dare2Dream Project

As part of its youth engagement and empowerment initiatives, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited is for the second consecutive year sponsoring the 2015 edition of the fashion-to-entrepreneurship reality competition tagged, ‘’Dare2Dream (D2D)’’.

The contest, which is organised by Kinabuti, a Nigeria-based Italian fashion label, and Pulse.ng, provides an opportunity for young and aspiring women across the country, especially students, who desire to take-up career in modelling and fashion, to showcase their skills and live their dreams.

The initiative is also designed to discover, empower and encourage them to realise their aspirations through the sponsorship platform provided by the FCMB brand, while raising the profile of the Nigerian fashion industry.

This year’s competition will kick-off on November 16 with a campus activation that would involve a selection programme of contestants who are students in three universities. The selection which will produce 18 finalists that would attend a boot-camp, holds at University of Lagos (November 16 – 18); University of Abuja (November 19 – 21) and the University of Port Harcourt (November 23 – 25). The 18 shortlisted contestants who make it to the Dare2Dream boot-camp will participate in the FCMB Challenge from November 26 to December 5, 2015.

During this period, the 18 finalists will be trained in modeling, fashion, music, among other creative skills to prepare them for the life of their dreams. It will also afford them the opportunity to showcase their skills, the viability of their respective ideas and projects they intend to execute. The boot-camp will also be an avenue for accomplished celebrities and entrepreneurs to inspire the contestants.

Speaking on this year’s competition, the Group Head, Communications/CSR and Youth Segment & Diaspora Business of FCMB, Mrs. Uchenna Mojekwu, said that the bank’s support and sponsorship of the Dare2Dream initiative is another demonstration of its commitment towards encouraging students and youths to discover their potential with a view to aligning such talents with value-added ventures to empower them, thereby contributing to national economic and social development.

According to Mrs Mojekwu, ‘’FCMB as a helpful bank is once again using the platform to communicate and engage the youth. They are agents of the future and we believe that by effectively impacting them, they could discover their skills and put such to productive use towards a sustainable society. This support is a strong reinforcement of our mantra, “teach a man to fish and he will feed for life’’. She added that this year’s competition, ‘’has been packaged to be great, exciting and life changing. The Nigerian fashion industry has been making waves all over the world and we want to contribute to this positive development’’.

The Dare2Dream initiative has continued to receive the endorsement of stakeholders from fashion, entertainment and other sectors of the Nigerian economy. The 2014 edition was won by Miss. Tolulope Balogun, a 21 years old student of the University of Lagos. For achieving the feat, she won half a million naira in cash and a year ambassadorial role with the Bank.

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) is a member of FCMB Group Plc, which is one of the leading financial services institutions in Nigeria with subsidiaries that are market leaders in their respective segments. Having successfully transformed to a retail and commercial banking-led group, FCMB expects to continue to distinguish itself by delivering exceptional services, while enhancing the growth and achievement of personal and business aspirations of its customers.