The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has entered into a strategic partnership with Lagos Business School of the Pan Atlantic University, with a view to producing a new breed of bankers with international benchmarked professional knowledge and skills to drive the banking and finance industry.

A statement by the CIBN said the development came on the heels of the signing of an affiliation agreement between the Centre for Financial Studies, a subsidiary of the CIBN and Lagos Business School of Pan African University in Lagos, recently.

The affiliation will, among other things, enable the CFS and LBS/PAU to strategically engage in a number of activities to achieve the objectives of the CFS.

The statement listed the objectives of the CFS as researching on topical emerging and contemporary issues in the banking and finance industry with a view to advancing the frontiers of knowledge; engaging in policy advocacy by generating position papers on relevant and topical issues in banking and finance; and serving as a game changer and best-in-class-institution in the quest for upgrading the competencies of banking and finance executives in the country and beyond.

The CFC also aims to collaborate with universities and other institutions towards the achievement of the objectives of the centre.

As a result, the statement said the advisory board of the CFS, which comprised top professionals from the financial and other sectors of the economy, had been inaugurated by the President/Chairman of Council, CIBN, Dr. Segun Aina, to enable the centre to commence activities that would lead to the realisation of the objectives for which it was set up.

According to the statement, members of the board are the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Sarah Alade; Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Professor Abdullahi Mustapha; and  Director-General, Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research  (NISER), Prof. Olufemi Taiwo.

Others are Managing Director, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mr. Bisi Onasanya; Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri, Dr. Mrs. Cele Njoku; and Registrar/Chief Executive, CIBN, Dr. ’Uju Ogubunka.

The Administrator of the CFS, Mr. Habila Amos, would serve as the secretary of the board, it stated.

Aina noted that the CFS was set up to address the identified gaps in the banking and finance industry.

He said, “After identifying the gaps, we saw the need to improve the skills and competencies of future executives in Nigerian banking and financial services industry and that was what prompted the institute to set up the CFS which is aimed at being a game changer in education and learning in the banking and finance industry.”

Dean, Lagos Business School, Dr. Enase Okonedo, explained that the development would enable the two affiliating institutions to focus more on research and seminars that would further enhance the development of professionalism in the industry and indeed, the economy.

“The collaboration would help prepare bankers to adequately deal with the challenges posed by the peculiarities in the Nigerian banking and finance industry,” she said.

Alade, who is the chairman of the board, applauded the development, noting that it would further revolutionalise research in the industry and provide financial institutions the opportunity to have access to enough skilled workforce.

“I am happy that this is happening at this time when the banking industry has put together a competency framework that defines the competency standards for people that want to occupy top positions in the industry”, Aina added.