CIBN partners LBS to introduce Master of Business Administration programme, others

Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and Lagos Business School (LBS), have collaborated to introduce Master of Business Administration programme, Senior Management Programme (SMP) and Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB).

According to Ken Opara, president/chairman of council, CIBN, the programmes will give premium opportunities to the participants to update their managerial skills and strategic thinking and also enable them to gain a thorough understanding of the current business context thereby aiding them to implement strategies for effective change processes.

“I would like to state that this programme is a local variant of the existing relationship the Institute has with Bangor University which offers a triple qualification of Masters Business Administration (MBA), ACIB Scotland and ACIB Nigeria,” he said.

Represented by Dele Alabi, 2nd vice-president CIBN, he noted on March 11, 2022, the institute took a step forward to solidify its plans to commence the MBA/SMP/ACIB programmes by signing the collaboration agreement with the Lagos Business School.

In his remarks during the official launch of the programmes in Lagos, Chris Ogbechie, dean, Lagos Business School, said, the launch of the programmes was a combination of the vision and hard work of men and women from the great institutions.

Ogbechie noted that the team was focused on delivering value and positively impacting the society through jointly managed knowledge activities.

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“What we need now in our country is collaboration, partnerships and COVID-19 has actually taught us that the way forward is collaboration and hookup-petition,” he said.

Speaking further, he said, “The strategic corporation between our institutions to jointly manage these degree and executive programmes is for the benefit of our members who will go on and with knowledge to solve the problems of the society.”

Ngozi Chidozie, partner, head of strategy and customer relations, KPMG, Nigeria, said, the LBS/CIBN collaboration is a worthy initiative and will benefit the society in various ways.

She said the collaboration will improve the quality of the workforce by producing workplace-ready students and developing the skills of working professionals.

Chidozie said the two institutions should collaborate to introduce borderless education to enable access to quality learning from any location.

“What we should be thinking from an outsider’s perspective should be about borderless education, where people can get education irrespective of where they are. So, as we think about this interaction and this partnership with the LBS and CIBN, and partnerships that we will also be having in the future. That’s an option that we have to be considering,” she said.

She encouraged the institutions to also start thinking about shorter and specific courses in different areas, pro-courses, micro courses, nano courses, and courses that could be completed within three to four months.

According to her, the collaboration provides opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurial ventures in the financial services sector.

Speaking on ‘Addressing Competency Gap: The Matrimony of Professional and Academic Qualification’, Kabiru Aderemi Adeyemo, Vice-Chancellor, Lead City University and Chairman, CVCRPUN, “this is a symbiotic relationship between CIBN and Lagos Business School.”

This linkage, he said, is designed to blend theory with practice and equip candidates with the requisite knowledge, skills and competencies to function effectively at various levels in the banking industry, academy, and professional bodies.

“The Nigerian universities must return to the central role of a university, which is education, as we serve to make students think. We must feed and train their instinct to understand and seek meaning,” Adeyemo said.