CSR: Sterling Bank cleans up 23 states in Nigeria

As part of its commitment to creating a cleaner and safer environment for the citizenry and aquatic life, Sterling Bank Plc has recently carried out environmental cleaning exercises in 23 states across Nigeria, under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative known as Sterling Bank Environmental Makeover (STEM).

The cleaning up exercises involved cleaning of markets, roads and beaches to commemorate World Recycling Day, which was held recently in every country in the world.

The exercises were simultaneously held in Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Ondo, Ekiti, Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna, Abuja, Delta, Anambra, Edo, Abia, Imo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa-Ibom, Gombe, Bauchi, Plateau, Katsina and Lagos.

More than 1,000 participated in the clean-up exercises; including staff of Sterling Bank and volunteers. In Lagos, it was executed in partnership with the Oniru Kingdom, Rite Foods, First Exploration and Petroleum Development Company, Bonnie Bio, Sterling One Foundation, Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), African Clean-Up Initiative and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA).

Speaking at the beach cleaning exercise at Oniru Beach, Lagos, Mr Abubakar Suleiman, Managing Director and CEO of Sterling Bank, said the bank embarked on cleaning exercises in 21 states out of the 24 states it is partnering with across the country.

The CEO who was represented by Mr Tunde Adeola, Executive Director of Commercial and Institutional Banking at Sterling Bank remarked that “We have been on this journey for more than 10 years. Every time, this happens, we have a cleaner and healthier environment.”

Also speaking, Mrs Mojisola Bakare, General Manager, Corporate and Investment Banking with Sterling Bank said, “Sterling Bank is about impactful banking”, noting they believe that there is no way they will live on this earth without impacting on the environment, adding that for that reason, they have what is called the HEART of Sterling because they have strategically decided that they are going to impact specific areas of growth in the economy.

“It is very important that we take responsibility for our actions on the environment and preserve its beauty to boost the local economy and attract foreign tourists, and by extension, foreign exchange into the country,” Mrs Bakare said.

Commissioner for Ministry of Tourism in Lagos State, Mrs Uzamat Yussuf said, “We are aware that Lagos is a place of aquatic splendour.”

“If we have water that is not well protected and sustained, we shouldn’t have any of it at all and that is why we need to sensitise the citizens of Lagos on the proper way to dispose of wastes properly”, she said.

Abia State Commissioner of Transport, Mr Godswill Uwanoruo, commended the management and staff of Sterling Bank for the cleaning exercise which started in the state in 2015.

He said, “I started this programme with them in 2015 when I introduced the bank’s team led by the incumbent CEO, Mr Suleiman, who was the then Executive Director of Finance to the governor of the state, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu.

The Commissioner of Environment in Bayelsa State, Mr Iselema Gbaranbiri, who graced the STEM event in the state noted that “The state government is here with Sterling Bank to show the world that they are synergising and keeping Bayelsa clean.”
World Recycling Day is celebrated across the globe every year on March 18th even as recycling is recognised as an important component of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030. It is estimated that the world generates over two billion metric tonnes of municipal solid waste and reusable items annually.