Leading financial intitution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc. has presented N1 billion cheque to the Lagos State Government as part of its commitment to help curb the devastating effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the State.
Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Kenneth Uzoka who presented the cheque to the State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the State House, Marina on Sunday, March 29th, 2020, said; “The one billion naira donation is in fulfilment of the five billion naira commitment made by the UBA Group Chairman, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, early last week.”
“As a socially responsible institution, UBA cares for its communities and for Lagos State, which has recorded the highest number of positive cases thus far, needing special attention.”
“Given the population of Lagos State and that it is the business nerve centre, we at UBA are committed to lending our support to the state government. So today, we are giving you and the state one billion naira to support your endeavour in fighting the Coronavirus disease.”
“I will not fail to mention that this wasn’t an easy decision for us because Lagos is just one of the many states in Nigeria. However, we looked at the importance of Lagos to Nigeria, but more importantly, we looked at the fact that Lagos has set up the right structure to administer whatever it is that we are giving to the state. So, we are rest assured, because we believe without an iota of doubt that the state will use these funds effectively and efficiently.”
However, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu who expressed his appreciation to the financial institution for the support, said;
“We appreciate UBA. This is not the kind of money that we would want to take for granted. This is really an important intervention and this fund will go a long way to meet all of our needs both now and in the future, to ensure that Lagos continues to remain safe for business.”
“And so, we are indeed happy that you decided to make this very bold move to support the health facility infrastructure in Lagos. You can be rest assured that once the structures have been developed, we will call you again to see what we have put these resources to.”
It is interesting to know that, the previous week, UBA announced a donation of over 5 billion Naira (USD14 million), through the UBA Foundation, to catalyse a comprehensive pan-African response to the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic.
