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The former Secretary General of The Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and the Minister of Interior, Comrade Patrick Abba-Moro have commended the philanthropic gesture of Diamond Bank Plc in donating two new office buildings to the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
The new office buildings built at the NIS Passport Office, Ikoyi, Lagos, were donated as part of the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme.
Speaking at the commissioning of the complex, Anyaoku applauded the bank’s gesture, adding that this has further cemented the reputation of the bank as a leading socially responsible corporate citizen.
He said, “I am not surprised at the wonderful work that Diamond Bank is doing, particularly in the area of community intervention. The quality of leadership being provided by Dr. Alex Otti is inspiring and worthy of emulation by other corporate bodies.”
The Minister of Interior, Comrade Patrick Abba-Moro, said the commissioned projects are the proofs of the present administration’s successful partnership with the private sector. He noted further that the Goodluck Jonathan government believes so much in the contribution of the private sector to the realization of the government’s Transformation Agenda.
“Diamond Bank has clearly demonstrated that the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) Initiative, which is part of the transformation agenda of the Federal Government is succeeding. PPP is at the core of our economic policies and we are pursuing it with vigour. We are collaborating with the private sector and we are recording giant strides. Diamond Bank has been a great partner in this regards,” he added.
Giving a background to the project, Dr. Alex Otti, the GMD/CEO of Diamond Bank Plc, said that being socially responsible was part of the business model of the bank.
He said: “I paid a visit to this Passport Office some months ago and I was not impressed with the state of the buildings here. Mrs. Dupe Anyalechi, the Passport Control Officer approached me and pleaded that Diamond Bank should lend a helping hand in the reconstruction of the old buildings. As a socially responsible organization, we took up the challenge and we are here today to commissioning the two state-of the-art facilities.
“In Diamond Bank, we invest in people through our support for the MSMEs. We have instituted a programme called Building Entrepreneurs Today (BET) where people with ideas are trained to become business owners and employers of labour. We also believe in helping government to make lives meaningful for the citizens.”
In his welcome address, David Shikfu Parradang, NIS Comptroller-General , who was represented by Mr. Ayotunde Oredipe, Assistant Comptroller-General, lauded the bank for the good gesture. He noted that the new complex will greatly improve the quality of service delivery by NIS.
