DIAMOND BANK BOOSTS ART, LITERARY GENIUS AT 2015 VISION OF THE CHILD

Diamond Bank PLC, a leading retail bank in Nigeria has ignited a huge wave of enthusiasm among school children who now see a rewarding career and a future in art and literary studies after winners of outstanding paintings and literary works were celebrated and rewarded with gifts and cash prizes at the just concluded ‘Vision of the Child’ (VOTC) competition.

Most of the school children who won prizes and those aspiring to come tops in the next edition say that they would love to pursue a career in art and literary studies because of the enormous opportunities it holds for them.

The Vision of the Child is an artistic and literary competition for school children and forms part of activities to celebrate the Lagos Black Heritage Festival.

According to Ayona Trimnell, Head, Corporate Communications, Diamond Bank has supported the competition since inception in 2011.

“We are proud to be a part of these future art and literary geniuses whose paintings and literary works transcend their age and time. As part of our strategic focus, we see a lot of potential in these youth and will continue to support the growth and development of these young minds.”

Ashaka Victory Thona who emerged the first prize winner went home with N250, 000 while Ololade Shittu who came second was rewarded with N200,000. Anthony Blessing who came third was given N180, 000. Anjola Olanrewaju, Amosun Abraham and Okwuchukwu  Ivy who were adjudged fourth, fifth and sixth place winners won N150,000, N120,000 and N100,000 respectively.

Benson Oraelosi, Regional Manager, Ikeja Region of the Bank, stated that the bank's involvement in the competition was driven by its commitment to support the development of the country's future leaders. 

“Diamond Bank is wholly committed to supporting initiatives aimed at grooming the Nigerian child for global relevance. Since the inception of this competition, the children have always been challenged to engage their creativity in interpreting topical social issues, and the results have been very insightful. We are particularly pleased at the outcomes of these competitions because it is only through creativity that we can develop ideas to change the world."  

Speaking further, Benson noted that Diamond Bank understand the value of helping these children to attain their individual desires in art and literary works.

"Diamond Bank has further demonstrated its commitment to the future of the Nigerian child with Diamond Future, a children-friendly proposition designed to secure their educational ambitions. We are assured that the future of the country is indeed brighter with the level of creativity the children have showcased”.

Erelu Dosunmu Abiola, who represented Prof. Wole Soyinka, the Lagos Black Heritage Festival consultant, noted that many children are denied the opportunity to express themselves because society assumes that they do not understand social events.

“We do not need to limit the horizon of our children as they have their own unique interpretations to issues that adults may consider to be socially complex. Our contestants have shown that they have great thoughts demonstrated through impressive output. We hope to see great writers like Prof Wole Soyinka and celebrated painters like Prof Bruce Onobrakpeya emerge from platforms such as these," Erelu stated. 

At this fourth competition of the Vision of the Child competition, over 30 finalists participated in this 2015 edition themed "The Road to Sambisa."

DIAMOND BANK CELEBRATES EASTER WITH WIN-A-GIFT PROMO

Diamond Bank PLC, a leading financial bank in Nigerian Retail space is set to reward its customers this Easter season with fabulous prizes through the ‘’Diamond WIN-A-GIFT promo’’.

The WIN-A-GIFT promo is designed to reward customers for their patronage and loyalty to the brand over the years. The promo which kicked off on 1 April and will last till 31 April 2015 seeks to reward the first 1,000 customers that use their Diamond VISA debit card for online shopping or for making payments at any POS terminal anywhere in the world.

According to the Head, Corporate Communications, Mrs. Ayona Trimnell, the ongoing WIN-A-GIFT promo is designed to reward the Bank’s loyal customers during the festive season. “Diamond Bank will be making this Easter season as special one for our loyal customers by giving away various gift items to our customers through the WIN-A- GIFT promo”, she added.

To qualify for a free gift in the promo, all a Diamond Bank customer has to do is use his Diamond VISA debit card to make three foreign currency transactions such as online purchase of airline tickets, shopping for gift items at reputable websites like www.amazon.com, www.hawesandcurtis.co.uk, www.asos.com, www.aliexpress.com etc, or by simply paying hotel bills for foreign based hotels.

Customers can also visit www.hotelclub.com for the best hotel offers worldwide.

Winners of in the promo will be contacted in May 2015.

DIAMOND BANK PROMOTES OVER 450 STAFF

Diamond Bank PLC recently announced the promotion of more than 450 of its staff across various grade levels. According to the bank’s Head of Corporate Communications Division, Mrs. Ayona Trimnell, “this recent promotion exercise is part of the bank’s annual performance review exercise as the bank seeks to continuously recognize and reward members of staff who have excelled in the workplace. At Diamond, we have always maintained that the Bank’s performance is linked to the quality of the staff it retains. As such, in the last few days, more than 450members of staff who have excelled have been promoted.

This recent promotion exercise marks a double celebration for staff of the Bank as the Bank recently declared an unprecedented profit after tax of N28.5billion for the last financial year ended. This signifies an impressive 29% growth in the Bank’s profit in an industry that showed largely dwindling financial performance in the last financial year as a result of stifling regulations and negative global economic outcomes.

“For us to continue to perform excellently like we did in 2013, we have to recruit and retain the best people in the industry. That is why, every year, we recruit the best talent in the industry, and also assess our staff on the basis of key performance indicators (KPIs) and deliverables”,said Mrs. Trimnell.

Diamond Bank has consistently emerged as one of the largest employer of talent in the Nigerian Banking industry with well over 2,224 new recruits in the last financial year, of which 1,181 are fresh graduates from reputable Universities around the country. The Bank boasts of a robust personnel engagement strategy that helps it to continually attract and retain the best talent in the industry. This is in fulfillment of its corporate vision of becoming a leading financial institution, with the best people, providing unequalled customer experience and delivering superior shareholder value.