Humanity is essentially the same; we all face challenges; we all face uncertainties, and we all face issues to deal with. How we face our daily life ends up exposing our sense of character, our ability to understand the issues on the table, and our ability to appreciate the humanness of the person across the table. IFIE SEKIBO
Globally, men and institutions have always emerged at different fora to show support to humanity in the absence of their immediate government’s intervention. They were pushed to the occasion due to their human nature.
From early as the third millennium BCE (Before the Common Era), evidence from law codes shows that Babylonian kings decreed special punishments for the strong who abused the weak; to Egyptian sacred writings – such as The Book of the Dead, around the same time, that makes it clear that successful passage to the afterlife depended on a lifetime record of benevolent acts towards the suffering; and to George Peabody (1795 -1869), the father of modern philanthropy, who endowed libraries and museums in the United States, it is obvious that helping others is a sine qua non of life.
Though American billionaires, Warren Buffet, and Bill and Melinda Gates can be cited as the modern-day philanthropists, coming to Nigeria, we have various individuals who live by the code of helping others and have devoted much of their resources to see others smile.
The ability to render a helping hand to others in the society, especially to those encumbered by the unpredictable hands of nature is an attribute those familiar with Ifiesimama Sekibo have come to know him for. He perceived philanthropy, not only as a temporary aid to mitigate the need, but something that the recipients can use to build and live a meaningful life.
Sekibo reckoned that lending a helping hand to further better the society is similar to giving hope to those who need it and it will be a crime not to offer any form of assistance, especially when he lives by the saying that whoever one has the power to offer assistance to, the person is one’s companion, hence the need to help the person.
He summed this up in his book, ‘Leadership Turnaround’, where he stated that, “When there is no hope, the human spirit dies. The only reason why we go back to vote in another election, or we believe the society will change, is because we have one strand of hope. Just one more try and we can make it better”.
Though there are some philanthropic gestures made as a private citizen, the bulk of his societal interventions are done by Heritage Bank, Nigeria’s most innovative bank, where he is the honcho.
His passion for education philanthropy made him sponsored the launch of a book titled “Let Us Speak Ikwerre”, (A KWU IWNUROHHNA), in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The book originally written in the English Language was authored by Mrs. Oyintarela Umeri and translated to the Ikwerre language by Dr. Tony Enyia, an indigene of Rumuor-Ogbakari, Emohua Local Government of Rivers State.
Though he stumbled on the idea to translate the English language to Niger Delta languages when he was invited by his friend Timi Alaibe to the launch of ‘Izon fie’, a book written in Izon language, he immediately took action and sponsored the Niger Delta Books Limited to launch an audio CD in the Kirike language, (Okrika dialect) titled: ‘Speak Kirike’, which was successfully launched in 2017.
He hasn’t looked back since then and has sponsored other languages which include Ikwerre, Kalabari, Ekpeye, Nembe, and Ogoni language, with others coming in earnest. He asserted that his support for writing books in all Niger-Delta languages was inspired by the desire not to allow Nigerian local dialects to go into extinction.
Now 56 years old, one of the cardinal points of his life is mentorship, and he is involved in mentoring the youths over the years, as despite his busy schedules, he still mentors and gives direction to them. He believes that by developing their emotional intelligence, his influence can outlive him in their minds. This is what a leader will be remembered, loved, and celebrated for, according to him.
As a leader, who believes that the youths are the leaders of tomorrow, Sekibo has gotten involved in various youth empowerment programmes through Heritage Bank, and as such, the bank has received different accolades and laurels from non-governmental organisations and different states governments.
Job creation is not left out as Heritage Bank, through the establishment of a full-fledged learning and development institute, accredited by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), dubbed, “The Refinery” successfully trained and employed about 300 new intakes.
Always looking for ways to be of impact to the society, to mark World Water Day 2021, Heritage Bank came with plans to assist communities in dire need of clean water by installing boreholes for them, while it presses for sustainable management of water resources.
In continuation of his gestures and as part of efforts to cushion the effects of the novel COVID-19 on the education sector, Heritage Bank partnered with Honourable Fatima Mohammed (FAMO) foundation to provide succor to over 300 affected private school teachers and small-medium enterprises (SMEs).
The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic led to the shutdown of schools for months leaving the private school teachers without any means of livelihood and no source of income.
To this effect, and in alleviating the challenges, Heritage Bank and its partner supported over 300 Private School Teachers and small businesses, as palliatives were given in 15 local governments; including five major markets in Ojokoro Local Council Development Area of Ifako Ijaiye, in Lagos State.
Revered for his knowledge-based leadership approach, Sekibo realized that to effect a change in the society through philanthropy, support has to be given to areas that will have a direct impact on the overall interest of the citizenry.
This came to the fore at season 7 of Heritage Bank sponsored reality TV show, ‘The Next Titan’, themed “The Unstoppable”. It was designed to search for business ideas that are immune to any pandemic; innovations that break boundaries and technologies that can survive any lockdown, and occasioned by the shock caused by COVID-19.
This was why an entrepreneur, a graduate of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science, and the Chief Executive Officer of Josult Oil Processing Company, a palm oil processing company in Akwa Ibom State, Joshua Idiong, emerged the winner of the show and went home with N10million.
Through Heritage Bank, he doled out $40, 000 grants to winners of the inaugural edition of the Heritage Bank Innovation Lab Accelerator programme (HB-LAB) as part of its efforts to support Nigeria’s aspiration, and roadmap to becoming a leading Information Communication Technology (ICT) Hub in Africa.
The HB-LAB called, ‘Demo Day,’ is a 12-week programme, expected to provide technology start-ups seeking additional investments to progress and accelerate market introduction/adoption of their solutions with co-working and internet resources, guidance, and mentorship with fintech start-ups founder and seed funding.
The bank intended to create an enabling environment, resources, and support required to innovate and accelerate impactful solutions with the potential to radically improve financial inclusion/intermediation, health, automobile, agriculture, and other related problems affecting critical sectors of the economy.
He sees philanthropy as a way of life and wants others in the society to see it too, especially the younger generation where the concept of self seems more prevalent in everything they do. He said ‘’the culture of mindset of self that is prevalent in the youth of today must be changed to a mentality of us and we. We must deliberately begin to eliminate the l and replace it with we if we are to see the economic, political and social transformation we so desire”.
Sekibo is still touching lives across various communities in Nigeria with his sincere commitment towards their progress and he is always attending to the needs and desires of the less privileged in the society, and this has set him apart as a true champion of equality and an outstanding beacon of hope for the now and coming generations.
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