By Princewill Ekwujuru&Esther Onyegbula

First City Monument Bank Plc in collaboration with the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF), has boosted Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), as it  drives creativity in children .

Mr. Kenny Aliyu, Group Corporate Affairs Manager, FCMB, at the reward ceremony of the painting competition tagged; “The Nigeria that I see,”said the competition was part of the bank’s  CSR initiative  to give children a platform to show case their creative ability and talent, while the fund realised from the sales of the children’s painting would be used to fund and provide books and a bright future for the less privilege children in our society; in line with fulfilling it’s CSR drive, as well giving back to the society.

Aliyu stated that the uniqueness of the competition is  that each painting represented what the children observed in Nigeria, their motherland without being biased.

His words, “some see Nigeria as a great nation, while others see it as a nation inhabiting the most terrible creations from the almighty God. Some view Nigeria as a 419 nation, while some see it as one of the most corrupt nation ever created by God.”

Speaking, Oladele Ajayi_Lad, Curator/Cultural Administration, Lagos State Council for Art and Culture, noted that, “about four hundred artworks exhibited before the adjudicators were critically scrutinised before  taking into consideration the mental capacity of the children, fifty were selected and exhibited and three out of these fifty came out tops, as first, second and third respectively. The use of colours, creativity and originality were the factors considered by the jurist when the best three were considered he said.

The first position went to eleven years old Uranta Jesse king from D_IVY College Ogba; he illustrated the map of Nigeria with green and white showing hands of fellowship from the three ethnic groups in Nigeria.

Mercy Osabo from TUNKEM International School, Gbagada, came second with her painting illustrating the map of Nigeria showing all the expectations of the federal government to the good people of Nigeria, such as power, water, health, agriculture and communication facilities.