As normalcy gradually returns to the various universities in Nigeria, First Bank of Nigeria Ltd an FBN Holdings Plc company, in partnership with Strand Student Fair is bringing to Nigerian higher institutions across the country, its annual Student Fair.
The Platform, a student fair where students can visit to not only purchase goods and services at reasonable prices but where they can gain requisite knowledge and experience in various areas of endeavor as well as interact with one another will run from this month of February and end in November 2014. The FirstBank Strand student fair, which kicked off with the University of Ibadan, will also feature University of Port-Harcourt for this month. In the month of March and April, the fair will move to Federal University of Technology, Owerri and the University of Lagos, while in the month of May through to July it will feature institutions such as LASU, YABATECH, LAUTECH, DELSU and OAU .The final lap of the student fair will run from August to November and will have the Universities of Uyo, Calabar and Jos as well as the Cross River University of Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure and Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.
One of the main drivers of the FirstBank Student Fair is to promote business opportunities in the youth market by creating a platform and an enabling environment for healthy commerce and industry activities, so that, visitors to the fair will enjoy activities such as shopping, light entertainment, empowerment sessions and competitions. They will also enjoy access to quick and direct services from the FirstBank stand, which will include enlightenment and demonstration campaigns on the various products and services the bank has to offer, prompt and effective card issuance, speedy account opening processes as well as interaction on the banks social media platforms. Amidst these, the students can liaise with and get more information from the various products managers and entrepreneurs present on the required knowledge and skill sets they will need to become entrepreneurs themselves.
According to the Head Marketing and Corporate Communications, FirstBank, Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuney, FirstBank’s Strand’s Student Fair provides students with an avenue to familiarize themselves with the various products and services the bank has to offer, increase their knowledge base from the various product producers on ground while purchasing other items at very competitive prices.
“At FirstBank, our goal is to continually support our stakeholders perpetually, by providing products and services that meets their needs and aspirations as well as provide initiatives through partnership as this that are geared towards equipping the youths with the skills, tools and resources required for empowerment development. Through our support of fairs such as these and other youth engagement initiatives, we hope to ensure that the youth of our Nation are financially independent and inevitably, sustain the growth of small and medium scale enterprises and as a whole continue its contribution towards nation building and development”.