Awosika challenges graduates on good virtues, ethics

For Nigerian youths to thrive and attain lofty heights in life they must imbibe good virtues and fundamental principles of decent human conduct, says Chairman, First Bank Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika. She was addressing the class of 2016 graduate trainees of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos. Awosika warned that failure to give due attention to good virtues and ethics would adversely affect the nation as youths are an important part of the factors that would make the country great.

She shared her experiences and her journey to stardom, and reminded the trainees that life is a book, as every situation encountered opens a new page of life.

She said, “In life, good conduct and integrity is the greatest asset that stands you out among your peers. There would be pitfalls and challenges, but every encounter will reveal you to another page of life. In all, remember your values are not negotiable. You must also make sure that you do not compromise on your value systems. You must have a record of accomplishment and integrity.

“Learn how to handle people. Let people be at the centre of your life. Respect people, these is part of the seeds of life that you sow every day. Life is a journey and it turns people around every time and quickly. Never drop the good things for the things that are short term. Hold onto the promise of the future. Be kind, be fair and be firm for you are the hope of this nation”.

She further urged the graduates to make judicious use of the training received at NSE so as to return and transfer the virtues in due season.

In explaining the rationale behind the programme, Chief Executive Officer of NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, remarked that with the speed and complexity of change in financial markets today, “we can no longer rely solely on the education sector for manpower development. The global race for talent makes it imperative for corporates to foster within their organisations an environment in which young graduates can be equipped with skills necessary to build a robust professional foundation, a foundation that will propel them to go on and become captains of industry and thought leaders”.

He said NSE has recognized that without the right people, the vision of becoming Africa’s foremost securities exchange would forever remain beyond reach, thus its resolve through the programme to continue to raise new breed of professionals.

To the graduates, he said, “The programme has set the stage for you. So, you need to go out there and prove yourselves. This will require that you learn extensively to broaden your scope of knowledge and understanding of issues happening in the world today.”

Also, Head, Human Resources of the organisation, Pai Gamde, said the eight graduates being celebrated were selected from a pool of over 6,000 applicants who went through a rigorous screening exercise.