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First Bank’s 125th Anniversary Documentary: Exemplifying Business Sustainability In Africa

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4 years ago

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There should never be any word like “arguably” mentioned in the same statement that clearly describes the First bank of Nigeria as the biggest institution in the country in whatever context or perspective one chooses to look at it from. This is obviously because this iconic brand, in its one hundred and twenty-five years of establishment, has been part of the principal players in the building, financing of Nigeria and Nigerians.

The penultimate bank of Nigeria which boasts of the largest number of shareholders in the country; 1.3 million and over 16 million customers, a feat which no other institution comes close to matching, serves as a point of reference to every other financial institution. What makes it the biggest is not just obviously being the oldest, but, it’s massive coverage and aggressive expansion across the country, decades and decades of consistent huge customer support, investments. The scale of its operation influence in the market is simply understood this way, should anything goes wrong with First Bank, there will be systemic reverberations.

There are currently about 50 million banking people in Nigeria and 24 other banks. This means that over a quarter of all the banking customers put their financial trust in First bank.

In the early 20th century, the Bank of British West Africa (FBN) began expanding aggressively across the regions, with branches opened in Calabar, Zaria, Accra, Kano, Sierra Leone, and many more. When the Kano bank was opened in 1914, an illustrious merchant showed up with three camels saddled with twenty bags of money, deposited that day. Today, First bank has over 82,000 locations spread across all 774 local government areas of the 923, 763 square kilometers. This means that it is everywhere.

Speaking about the magnitude of the greatness, Ibukun Awosika, the Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria, stated that one will have to have an insider point of view to fully and truly have a grasp of what a great institution it is, “when I say “institution”, I meant that; an INSTITUTION. Think of how many different ‘future’ First Bank has gone through. Imagine when it was ten years old, the environment that it was in. 1894, by 1904, what did this region look like. By the time you got to the Amalgamation in 1914, you could only anticipate what was going to happen next. Walkthrough all of those seasons into the season of independence of the country, think of the season when we had a lot of cash crops and everything and the kind of development and the nature of the country and the region, and the emergence of the petrodollar and the different political systems, whether military or whatever we had overtime. And think of an institution that has continuously re-engineered itself effectively for each future that it had to encounter and successfully do it”.

For a bank that is 125 years old, First Bank is ‘not competing’ with its new generation counterparts, but, has remained tremendously relevant, outstanding, and consistently at the forefront over the years, with its capacity and ability to invent and reinvent itself. This has strategically positioned the bank to remain as the dominant financial institution, not just in Nigeria, but in the west and central part of Africa, where it currently plays.

Segun Agbaje, the Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank, who also happens to be the son of J.K. Agbaje, the first appointed African branch manager of First Bank could not hide his respect for the giant bank; “There are very few banks truthfully that I have a lot of respect for because I don’t think that a lot of banks are necessarily doing banking the way I would like it to be done and that probably one of the four or five banks that I think are doing banking properly in Nigeria is definitely First Bank nd that if a Guaranty Trust was able to have the staying power and the strength, and the brand and the trust that obviously First Bank has, then I think it would have done very well”.

Agbaje also reveals his latest competition with First Bank, “[It’s] over NIP volumes. I think that last year we controlled about twenty-five percentage of NIP and First Bank was about eighteen percent. Today, they have used their retail base to go up to about 22.9% of NIP, I think we are 20.9%”.

Some of the big features that stand First Bank out as a financial institution is its financial security, customer support, investment. By far, First Bank has the largest asset base; N5.3 trillion. This gives the customer peace of mind knowing his money is always safe. For over a century, Fist bank has been providing support for so many businesses of different sizes that form the engine of the economy. First Bank has been partners with thousands of both large conglomerates and small businesses.

In the 1920s when Nigerians were beginning to clamor against the unfair taxes by their colonial masters, First bank was there to provide heavy supports for the ordinary Nigerians, in all forms of agriculture, trade, and services. At this time, the bank had become the treasury for the governor and the Central bank of Nigeria, CBN, with a customer base of hundreds of thousands.

During every landmark development of and in Nigeria, First Bank has been there. From roads to bridges, to dams. It was there providing financial support. From the groundnut pyramids and cash crops of the 1930s to the first power lines to the first major railway project that connected the two ends of the country, to the Niger bridge linking major cities, First Bank played a major role in these landmark developments. Even today, the flying elephant has continued to carry the modern agricultural developments, privatization of the power sector, and some of the country’s largest infrastructural projects, both public and private.

First Bank has not only the nation in diverse ways, it is impacting individual lives with valuables in areas of health, education, welfare, and so many other areas. Through its initiative, SPARK, Start Performing Acts of Random Kindness. This initiative has restored visible hope in the family of Kate Ogbonnaya, a recipient whose daughter, Ijeoma Gold Ogbonnaya had a hole in her heart and had a successful surgery. So many others have benefited from this tremendous initiative. Many students have seen their education dreams fulfilled, schools have received buses to help the transportation of students to and fro the school premises.

Bringing the Automated Teller Machine, ATM, and introducing the Western Money Transfer, no doubt, this pioneering bank has continued to evolve and deliver values to generations of Nigeria.

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Alleged 76bn, $31.5m Fraud: EFCC Arraigns Ex AMCON MD, Ahmed Kuru, Four Others in Lagos

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2 hours ago

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January 20, 2025

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday, 20 January, 2025 arraigned a former Managing Director of Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria AMCON, Ahmed Kuru and four others for allegedly defrauding Arik Airline N76 billion and $31.5 million, respectively.

 

Other defendants are former Receiver Manager of Arik Airline Ltd, Kamilu Omokide, Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Captain Roy Ilegbodu, and Super Bravo Ltd and Union Bank PLC.

 

The defendants were arraigned before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos on a six-count charge bordering on theft, abuse of office and stealing by dishonestly taking the property of another.

 

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to all the six-count charges when they were read to them.

 

Count one reads: “That you, Union Bank Nigeria Plc, sometime in 2011 or thereabouts, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with the intention of causing and/or inducing unwarranted sale of Arik Air loans and bank guarantees with Union Bank, made false statements to the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), regarding Arik Air Limited’s performing loans, following which you transferred a bogus figure of N71,000,000,000.00 (Seventy-One Billion Naira) to AMCON.”

 

Count two reads: “That you, Ahmed Lawal Kuru, Kamilu Alaba Omokide as Receiver Manager of Arik Air Limited, and Captain Roy Ilegbodu, Chief Executive Officer of Arik Air Limited in Receivership, sometime in 2022 or thereabout, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, fraudulently converted to the use of NG Eagle Limited the total sum of N4,900,000,000.00 (Four Billion Nine Hundred Million Naira only), property of Arik Air Limited”.

 

Count five reads: “That you, Kamilu Alaba Omokide, Ahmed Lawal Kuru and Capt. Roy Ilegbodu, on the 12th day of February, 2022 or thereabout, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, being public officers, directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office and with intention of obtaining undue advantage for yourself and cronies an arbitrary act, to wit: intentionally authorizing the tear down and destruction of 5N-JEA with Serial No. 15058 valued at $31.5million (Thirty One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Dollars), an arbitrary act, which act is prejudicial to the economic stability of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Arik Air Limited”.

 

The counsel to the first and third defendants, Prof Taiwo Osipitan, SAN, informed the court of a motion for bail application dated November 28, 2024 and November 29, 2024 for the two defendants.

 

Osipitan prayed the court that the defendants be granted bail on liberal terms.  According to him, the first defendant had no criminal records and that the EFCC granted him administration bail  which he didn’t jump.  “We pray the court grants bail to the two defendants on the same liberal terms given to them by EFCC,” he said.

 

EFCC Counsel, Wahab Shittu SAN, filed counter-affidavits dated December 2, 2024 against the first defendant and also another counter affidavits dated December 22, 2024 against the third defendant.  Shittu prayed the court to dismiss their bail applications.

 

According to him, the two defendants are facing serious offences of economic sabotage. However, he agreed with the second and third defence counsel that they are presumed innocent pending the determination of the court. Shittu , however, added that the temptation of the defendants leaving the country was very high. He thereafter prayed that accelerated hearing be granted and the defendants’ international passports be seized by the court.

 

“But if my lord decides to be magnanimous to grant them bail, we shall be praying for stringent conditions because we are particular about their attendance in court. “We urge that they should submit their international passports with the court in order to ensure that they come for trial,” he said.

 

The counsel to the second defendant, Olasupo Shasore, SAN in his motion for bail dated December 6, 2024 and filed on the same day, urged the court to also grant bail to his client on self recognition.

 

The prosecuting counsel in his counter affidavits dated January 17, 2025, opposed the bail application of the second defendant.

 

He said the application for bail was incompetent and should be struck out. Shittu cited relevance laws to buttress his argument. “My lord, the record of this court is to the effect that the second defendant, at one point, absconded in which your lordship had to issue a bench warrant. “The learned silk for the second defendant is not the defendant on trial and it is very unhealthy for a counsel to stand as a surety for a defendant.

 

“I urge my lord, in exercising his discretion, to take all this into consideration because our concern is the appearance of the second defendant in court so that he does not abscond.”

 

After listening to the arguments from all the parties, Justice Dada granted bail to the defendants in the sum of N20 million Naira each with two sureties in like sum.   The sureties must be gainfully employed and deposed to means of identification.

 

She also directed that the defendants must submit their international passports with the registrar of the court.

 

Justice Dada adjourned the matter till March 17, 18, and 19, 2025 for commencement of trial.

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Absence Of Oba Otudeko, Bisi Onasanya, Others Stalls Arraignment Over N12.3Billion Fraud As Otudeko’s Lawyer Protests In Court

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6 hours ago

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January 20, 2025

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The counsel for Oba Otudeko, Chairman of Honeywell Group, who is facing charges of a N12.3 billion fraud, appeared before a Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday to protest the charge.

Mr. Bode Olanipekun (SAN) informed the court that he was protesting because the charge had not been served on Otudeko or the two other individuals charged alongside him, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

Olanipekun informed the court that, despite not being served with the charge, the defendants were shocked to learn about the planned arraignment through the media when the story broke last Thursday.

The 13-count charge was filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Oba Otudeko, former Managing Director of FirstBank Plc. Olabisi Onasanya, and former Honeywell board member Soji Akintayo.

Olanipekun is the counsel for the three defendants.

They were charged alongside the company, Anchorage Leisure Ltd.

 

The EFCC alleges that the defendants obtained the sum under false pretenses.

 

According to the EFCC, the four committed the fraud in tranches of N5.2billion, N6.2billion, N6.150billion, N1.5billion and N500million, between 2013 and 2014 in Lagos.

 

The 13-count charge, filed by EFCC counsel, Bilikisu Buhari, on January 16, 2025, further claimed that the defendants used forged documents to deceive the bank.

Specifically, count 1 accused the defendants of conspiring “to obtain the sum of N12.3Billion from First Bank Limited on the pretence that the said sum represented credit facilities applied for by V-TECH DYNAMIC LINKS LIMITED and Stallion Nigeria Limited, which representation you know to be false.”

 

In Count 2, it was alleged that the defendants, on or about 26th day of November, 2013 in Lagos, “obtained the sum of N5.2 billion from First Bank Limited on the pretence that the said sum represented credit facilities applied for by V TECH DYNAMIC LINKS LIMITED which representation you know to be false.”

 

The 3rd count alleged that the defendants, between 2013 and 2014 in Lagos, obtained N6.2billion from First Bank Limited on the pretence that the said sum represented credit facilities applied for and disbursed to Stallion Nigeria Limited, which representation you know to be false.”

 

In the 4th count, they were accused of conspiring to spend the N6.15billion, out of the monies.

According to the Commission, the offences contravened Section 8(a) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and was punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.

Counts 5 reads: “That you, Chief Oba Otudeko, Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, Soji Akintayo and Anchorage Leisure Limited on or about 11th day of December, 2013 in Lagos, procured Honeywell Flour Mills Plc to retain the sum of N1.5 billion, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of your unlawful activities to wit: Obtaining by False Pretense and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(c), 15 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.”

Meanwhile, Otudeko had reportedly fled Nigeria ahead of his scheduled arraignment on fraud charges.

 

According to TheCable Newspaper, Otudeko’s exit from the country is linked to the mounting legal pressures and financial disputes he is facing.

The newspaper reported that the businessman left the country via one of the land borders.

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Loan controversy: Bisi Onasanya’s lawyer condemns media trial….Judge adjourns case to February 13

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6 hours ago

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January 20, 2025

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In line with his resolve to defend himself and clear his name, Dr. Bisi Onasanya through his lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, at a session at the Federal High Court Lagos on Monday, January 20, 2025, demanded the service of proof of evidence and summons.

Onasanya, a chartered accountant and a former Group Managing Director of First Bank is defending himself against a controversial loan that allegedly occurred at First Bank 12 years ago. The retired banker is refuting the allegations alongside three others namely former Chairman of the bank, Chief Oba Otudeko, a former board member of Honeywell, Soji Akintayo, and a firm, Anchorage Leisure Ltd.

At a hearing at the Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday, Fusika condemned the media trial his client had been subjected to, saying he was not formally invited by the EFCC or served a notice of the charge.

He expressed surprise at seeing news stories in major newspapers linking Dr Onasanya to a trial on loan controversy during his time as First Bank Group Managing Director without prior notification.

“My Lord, it is concerning that my client has been unduly exposed to media trial without being formally served. This is a procedural anomaly that undermines his right to a fair hearing and personal dignity,” Olumide-Fusika said.

The prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, denied any involvement by the EFCC in the media coverage of the case.

He stated that the commission had not issued a press statement and suggested that journalists may have obtained information through other means.

“My Lord, we disassociate ourselves from any media reports,” Oyedepo said.

The EFCC also applied for an ex parte motion to issue a bench warrant for the defenders’ arrest and sought permission to serve them through substituted means, alleging they had evaded service.

Olumide-Fusika opposed the motion, arguing that his client had always been available and had not evaded service. Demonstrating his determination to clear his name, the senior lawyer prayed to the court to have the EFCC serve the charge and the proof of evidence in the open court.

“This application is unwarranted and speculative. My client has neither avoided service nor absented himself from this matter. The claims of the prosecution are baseless. Since I am here and my client is ready to go ahead with this case, I ask to be served the charge and the proof of evidence here in the court,” Olumide-Fusika argued.

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, who presided over the case, dismissed the EFCC’s motion for substituted service on Onasanya since he has accepted to be served in the open court.

The judge consequently ordered that the EFCC serve Olumide-Fusika the charge and proof of evidence in open court.

The EFCC complied with the directive, and Olumide-Fusika who confirmed the receipt of the document extracted a confirmation from the prosecution counsel that the proof of evidence submitted is exhaustive and there wouldn’t be an addendum. The defence counsel said EFCC’s confirmation should be on record, insisting that his client was ready to defend himself and clear his name.

Justice Aneke adjourned the case to February 13, 2025.

It will be recalled that Onasanya, through his Communication Advisor, Mr Michael Osunnuyi, had earlier dismissed allegations, describing the claims as baseless and an attempt to tarnish Onasanya’s stellar reputation for professionalism, integrity and humaneness.

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