The festive season has come to life in Lagos with the 2021 Zenith Bank Christmas Light-Up Ceremony, which held at the Ajose Adeogun Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, at the weekend.

With the theme, “Let There Be Light,” marks the 15th edition of the event in line with the organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability initiatives.

Following the onset of the Coronavirus, which prevented the programme from holding last year, the 2021 edition is, indeed, a “momentous and significant one,” as it signals the return of what could be described as a spectacle that has come to be recognised by not only Lagosians, but by other Nigerians as an iconic place and tourist attraction due to the beautiful decorations adorning the length and breadth of the street – home to the bank’s headquarters – during the Yuletide.

The official lighting, which was performed by the Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, with assistance from the executive management, saw thousands of the staff and customers joining virtually via the financial institution’s social media platforms.

Onyeagwu praised Quantum, the company responsible for the yearly decorations, for the “very outstanding, gorgeous and extremely beautiful work that they have done this year.”

He continued: “Each year when we come in, and we see the decorations, I keep asking myself what next? Would there be something better than what we have seen and I see that at the end of every season, they come up with innovations and creativity, and they make it even far better and take it to a higher level.”

The CEO expressed happiness that the programme bounced back after a one-year hiatus, observing: “Last year was a very unusual one. COVID-19 threw a curveball at humanity, and as a result, it changed the way we engage and the way we live. It transformed so many other things, and as a country, we had some unique challenges. As a result of those challenges, especially the #EndSARS protests, last year, we couldn’t light up, not because there was no money. It was because we had to grapple with COVID-19, and again, during the EndSARS protests, the fittings that we employed in having this light-up, were terribly vandalised, and it required time and resources for us to put it together. We didn’t want to have any undue exposure or create vulnerability.

Therefore, we had to allow time to put the fittings back, and as soon as we have put them back, here we are today.”

He said the bank was pleased to reconnect with activating the spirit of Christmas, with the return of the yearly turning on of the lighting and decoration of the Lagos street – an exercise, he argued, could favourably compete with any – in every part of the globe.