Fidelity Bank boss advocates financial education, inclusion for children

Mrs Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, the Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, has urged parents to ensure financial education and inclusion for their children to prepare them for opportunities in the future.

A statement by Mr Ejike Ndiulo of the Corporate Communications department of the bank, on Friday in Lagos, said Onyeali-Ikpe gave the charge at the graduating ceremony of Sunnybrook International School,

She urged parents to invest time and resources at an early stage of their wards’ development to encourage financial education that would be valuable throughout their lives.

Onyeali-Ikpe who was the guest speaker at the ceremony told teachers, parents and guardians to continuously engage children in activities that would embolden and strengthen them, saying those were virtues that would prove invaluable.

She also admonished parents to pay special and undivided attention to the girl-child.

“Children are the future of tomorrow, they say. This also means the tomorrow we will see is largely dependent on the intellectual, financial, and social prowess of the kids we raise today.

“This is why we at Fidelity Bank have continued to support children, especially with academic and financial education.

“I am a testimony of the importance of paying attention on the girl child. My parents focused on me and they made sure they gave me the best education as a child.

“That is what is playing out today. You need to give the girl-child a lot of support and focus so that they don’t get carried away by what is not important,” she said.

Onyeali-Ikpe acknowledged the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and charged the graduating pupils to stay focused to be able to learn under very difficult circumstances.

She recalled that in commemoration of the last Children’s Day, Fidelity Bank doled out N150,000 to 62 Sweet Account (SWEETA) holders across the country, designed for children between the ages of zero and 17 years.