Excitement as winners emerge in bank’s youth empowerment initiative

For Tochukwu Egesi, Olayemi Oladosu, Rebecca Olowojoba, Titilayo Ogunbiyi and Obioma Ezeoka, it was a dream come true and excitement all the way, as they emerged the lucky winners in the maiden #FCMBFlexxtern contest.

This means they each get a 3-month internship with either leading Nigerian lender First City Monument Bank (FCMB) or one of the organizations partnering with the bank on this initiative.

The #FCMBFlexxtern was designed by FCMB as part of its 2016 Customer Service Week to give vibrant smart and young Nigerians between the ages of 16-25 years an opportunity to gain first-hand experience in the business world.

The online contest was held on the Flexxzone, the exclusive microsite built around FCMB’s Flexx proposition and which provides relevant content to the Flexx target audience on a wide range of areas, including fashion, lifestyle, entrepreneurship and much more.

To qualify, candidates were advised to upload a 45-second video to YouTube with the hashtag #FCMBFlexxtern, explaining why they were the best person for the job and invite their friends to vote for them.

After the public voting stage, a panel of judges had the task of independently rating the contestants, which led to the emergence of the winners.

On Wednesday, November 08, 2016, a reception was held in honour of the winners.

The event which held at the FCMB Head Office was an opportunity to get to know the winners and introduce them to the organisations they would be working with respectively.

In attendance were the new Flexxterns, representatives of the partner organisations (Dangote Group, Smooth FM, House of Tara and IrokoTV), as well as members of First City Monument Bank.

Speaking at the event, FCMB’s Divisional Head of Human Resources and Strategy, Felicia Obozuwa expressed delight at the quality of entries received from contestants and the passion that Nigerian youths demonstrate when given the right opportunity to positively express themselves.

According to her, "It’s very fulfilling to see so many young Nigerians embrace and heartily participate in the various FCMB Flexx youth empowerment programs.

"The #FCMBFlexxtern initiative is especially important, because it gives students and young graduates an opportunity to gain hands-on workplace and business experience.

"We are honoured that through our Flexx product, we are in the position to contribute to the improving the lives of the youth in Nigeria. Certainly, there is more to come from Flexx and FCMB.”

This is a feature by First City Monument Bank.