Fidelity Bank Empowers Adamawa State Women

Fidelity Bank's avowed commitment to the wellbeing of rural women and children came to the fore recently when staff of Yola Branch of the bank contributed funds to support the Women Development Centre, Yola. Adamawa State. Working through the Fidelity Helping Hands Programme (FHHP), the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of the bank, staff of the branch renovated two workshop blocks and donated sewing machines to the Centre.

Commissioning the project, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Halima Mohammed Hayatu said that the bank has blazed the trail in corporate social responsibility in the country. She commended the Board and Management of the bank for taking such a bold initiative and for their genuine commitment to improve the lives of the communities in which it does business. Specifically, Hajiya Hayatu said that Fidelity Bank's gesture would go a long way in alleviating poverty and empowering women in the state. While calling on other corporate institutions and wealthy individuals in the state to emulate the bank, the Commissioner said that the ministry wouldl work with the bank to reduce the plight of women and children in the state.

Presenting the equipment on behalf of the Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo,   the General Manager, North Bank, Mr. Idris Yakubu, explained that the Fidelity Helping Hands Programme (FHHP) is the bank's CSR  platform by which the staff of the bank initiate and execute projects in communities using funds contributed by the staff themselves, with matching funds from the bank. He said that Fidelity Bank as an institution takes pride in inculcating in the staff the attributes of citizenship. By this, according to him, staff were able to initiate programmes that impact their host communities, as well as build in them the giving-culture. He explained that the bank, through the FHHP had drilled water bore holes, rehabilitated prisons, developed medical centres, supplied catering and tailoring equipment, renovated schools and embarked on other poverty alleviation projects nationwide. Mr. Yakubu expressed the hope that the donation of the equipment would encourage more women to enroll in the Centre and participate in training programmes aimed at improving the lives of the women in the state.

Chairman, Yola South Local Government Area, Alhaji Ahmadu Waziri thanked Fidelity Bank for coming to the aid of the Center. He explained that the Center had been in dire need of financial support and had been unable to meet its set objectives. 'The lean resources at our disposal and the dilapidated nature of the workshop have been our major challenge' adding that 'Fidelity Bank has wiped away our tears. Now more women will enroll at the Centre and more lives will be saved'.

One of the beneficiaries of the scheme at the Center, Hapsatu Abubakar poured encomiums on the bank and said that the gesture would encourage more women to enroll into the programmes especially during the rainy season when they would have been forced to stay at home because of the leaking roof. She also said that the new equipment donated by the bank would help them improve on their standards.