Encomium
It was a night of glamour and glitz on Saturday, March 14, 2015 as United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc rolled out the red carpet to celebrate staff that have shown excellence, dedication and outstanding performance in their assigned duties in the 2014 financial year.
Tagged the “CEO Awards”, and now in its seventh year, it brings together board members, executive and senior management, shareholders, staff and the esteemed customers of the bank in celebration of individuals and business units that have excelled in realizing the bank’s business targets.
The highlight of the event was the handing over of 23 awards broadly grouped into two major categories namely; “Customer Service” awards and “Deposit / Income” Awards.
“This is a night to celebrate publicly our people who have demonstrated very high performance. It is also to show the public that performance is the only language the bank understands. We are here to celebrate hard work, dedication and innovation in our staff” said Phillips Oduoza, Group Managing Director/CEO of the UBA Group in a chat with the media at prestigious Eko Hotel and Suites where the event took place.
The UBA Group Lions FC, the bank’s football club which lifted the Banker’s Cup for the fifth time in 2014 were also celebrated on the night as they formally presented the cup to the GMD/CEO of the UBA Group, Mr. Phillips Oduoza.
“The winners are great examples of what we expect of all staff, departments and business units. They are the touch bearers of business excellence that every staff should seek to emulate.” Mr. Oduoza said.
Also speaking at the awards night, Tony O. Elumelu, Chairman, UBA Group and under whose tenure seven years ago as the GMD/CEO of the UBA Group, the awards were instituted said “CEO Awards, presents an opportunity to appreciate staff from the 19 African countries where the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc is present, while showcasing the achievements, culture and vibrancy of our business.”
He said the CEO awards night has become the flagship event of the UBA Group.
The awards attracted captains of industry and friends of the bank from different walks of life.
Professor Sylvester Monye, Chairman, Governing Council of the African Institute of Public Policy (AIPP), who was one the guests at the awards night, commended UBA for staging such an elaborate show to celebrate their staff. He also commended the bank for making banking accessible across Africa.
The night, which was full of entertainment from major Nigeria acts including Flavour, Wande Cole and P2, was full fun and camaraderie as staff, management and customers let down the formality of the work environment and mixed freely, discussing non-work related issues, dancing to their favourite music tunes, or laughing to rib cracking jokes and getting to meet family members of each other.
On stage was popular comedian, Basket Mouth, who entertained guests with rib cracking jokes. There was also a unique performance from Muson Centre Ochestra that kept guests thrilled.
Guests were also left pleasantly surprised by a unique performance of the night when a visual artist started an artwork puzzle, working on different sides of the artwork in on three different canvasses, making it difficult to guess what he was putting together until the artwork was assembled.
It revealed the face of a beautiful African Child with a map of Africa showing all the countries in which UBA has operations superimposed on it. The reveal drew a huge applause from guests.
The CEO awards celebration went deep into the early hours of Sunday as staff danced and mingled in a great atmosphere of music, food and drinks. It was the one night when the formality of the banking environment was dumped for the free spirit of the party because it was a night to just celebrate outstanding achievement of the staff, customers and friends of one of the most dominant financial institutions in Africa.
