Diamond Bank Plc has announced its sponsorship of the Vision of a Child Painting Competition, a component of the Lagos Black Heritage Festival (LBHF) for the third year running.
The competition will hold from April 14 through 21 at Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos Island.
Speaking at a press conference to announce the continuation of the partnership, Victor Ezenwoko, Executive Director, Lagos Businesses, Diamond Bank Plc, disclosed that the bank has maintained a strong relationship with the competition as proof of its commitment to developing the future of the Nigerian child.
He said: “Diamond Bank is pleased to partner with the Lagos Black Heritage Festival on the Vision of the Child Competition. As a corporate organization that believes in investing in human capital, we realize that we need well groomed people to take up leadership positions in the future. This partnership is part of our efforts at building the capacity of the Nigerian child so they are well positioned for success in the 21st century. From history we know that when children are not engaged creatively, they are more readily drawn into other activities with negative consequences for both their future and the society.”
Explaining the rationale for sponsoring the project, Ayona Trimnell, Head, Corporate Communications, said that Diamond Bank believes that the future of the country depends on the youths and so they need to be properly trained. “We believe that the Vision of the Child Competition offers us a credible platform to harness and nurture the potentials of the youth for the overall benefit of the country. Diamond Bank will continually explore avenues to add value to the future by investing in the youths,” she said.
Coordinator of the project, Foluke Michael, disclosed that, “A total of 620 schools in Lagos were invited for the project. Out of this number, 420 students emerged as winners from 102 schools. The winners were invited to meet with a panel for further screening after which 32 finalists from 26 schools emerged.”
Targeted at school children, the 2014 edition of the contest is themed ‘The Rule of Law, The Law of Impunity’. Participants were required to interpret the theme through literary writing in the form of a poem, essay or short story. Selected entries then advanced to the next stage where they were provided with brushes, paint and easel to illustrate their written work.
