Zenith Bank has named its University of Lagos (UNILAG) branch and the institute’s alumni building in honour of Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe, former vice-chancellor of the university. The building was commissioned on Friday, November 25, 2022.
Ebenezer Onyeagwu, group managing director/CEO of the bank, in his remarks at the commissioning of the building, lauded Jim Ovia, founder and chairman of Zenith Bank for being physically present at the event to honour the memory of his late friend, who served on the board of the bank as a non-executive director, and for his passion for youth education and digital learning.
Onyeagwu recalled how the bank’s partnership with UNILAG began in 2001 with the donation of the first ICT centre, when Jim Ovia was the group MD/CEO of the bank.
According to him, “Today, Zenith Bank has built not less than 15 ICT centres in various tertiary institutions and cities all over the country. And I just want to say that no single institution or individual has been able to accomplish what we have done in that respect.
“And this is a demonstration of the passion our founder and chairman has, not just for education, but also for digital learning and computer literacy. This is in addition to several other support to the university, including the institution of academic excellence awards in 2001, where the best graduating students from selected departments – banking & finance, business administration, economics and accounting, receive awards with financial rewards (currently N500,000) and employment opportunity, and the donation of 3,500 tablets to enable indigent students of the university to learn online effectively in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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The MD noted that the building was a strong statement of Zenith Bank’s sustainability initiatives as a signatory to several global sustainability frameworks, including the United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking, as it incorporates many of the elements that make a facility environmentally friendly and sustainable.
Udom Emmanuel, the governor of Akwa Ibom State, speaking at the commissioning of the iconic building, noted the huge contributions of Zenith Bank and, in particular, Jim Ovia, a man he described as a father to the development of Nigeria.
John Momoh, the national president of the UNILAG Alumni Association in his address, thanked Jim Ovia and the bank management for the building and Sola Ibidapo-Obe, the wife of the late university don for accepting the association’s request to name the building after her husband.
