Business News
Why Social Media reacted to Keystone Bank’s N1 billion Coronavirus donation
Mixed social media reactions trailed the news about Keystone Bank’s donation of the sum of N1 billion towards facilitating Nigeria’s fight against COVID-19.
On Sunday, March 29, 2020, mixed social media reactions trailed the news about Keystone Bank’s donation of the sum of N1 billion towards facilitating Nigeria’s fight against COVID-19.
The bank had made the donation following a recent emergency meeting that was held by the CBN’s banker’s committee in a bid to rally support for the Nigerian economy, amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
The bank’s comment: According to Keystone Bank, the N1 billion will enable the Nigerian Government to buy essential relief materials and other important medical equipment which are needed by health professionals in the country to fight the virus.
Keystone Bank’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Olaniran Olayinka, noted that the Coronavirus pandemic requires concerted effort, hence the contribution. He said:
“What we have is a situation that calls for inclusive support for humanity. A time that all hands must be on deck to support the assiduous effort the government is making to manage the situation. The decision to support the government’s effort is consistent with our unshakable resolve to promote health initiatives which is very key pillar in our corporate social responsibility plans. It is also crucial in our role as a signatory to the principles of responsible banking by the United Nations Environment Finance Initiative working to achieve a sustainable future.”
[READ MORE: COVID-19: FG grants 3 months moratorium for repayment of all govt funded loans)
Nigerians reacted: As expected, many Nigerians were quick to react to the development on Twitter. Interestingly, a lot of people were wondering where Keystone Bank got the money from. One Twitter user even went as far as claiming that the bank is broke, even as she wondered about the safety of her savings.
Because this keystone is a broke bank so I dunno where they saw 1b to donate.
— Su (@osasuu_) March 29, 2020
Others simply wondered why the bank decided to donate the money to the Federal Government instead of simply crediting their customers’ bank accounts.
Instead of Keystone to credit Nigerians,they are busy sending money to Aboki wire. Funny country
— LONDON (@london_used) March 29, 2020
For the records, Keystone Bank is not broke. Agreed, the bank is not among the top ten most profitable banks in the country. Yet, it is doing fairly okay in its own lane.
In the meantime, other Twitter users were quick to defend the bank’s donation. One of those people is Ayo who went as far as reeling out the facts, as you can see below.
People legit think Keystone Bank cannot donate N1bn or are too small to donate N1bn?
A bank that has N25bn minimum share capital with CBN, has 2,130 employees and 4th among it's top 10 competitors with an estimated annual revenue of $400M (N147bn)?
Lmaooo who are these people?
— Ayo FBI (@PureMinD__) March 29, 2020
Other people also defended the donation by arguing that a N1 billion donation is not a big deal for a bank that has over N300 billion in assets. Apparently, Keystone Bank is so financially buoyant to the extent that it pays spousal allowances, another Twitter user claimed.
All of you dragging Keystone for the donation are utterly senseless.
Have you forgotten that Keystone bought Bank PHB and they have an asset of over 300bn.
Is 1B too big for them to give.
Sense is far from alot on this app.— Oga Web Designer (@isipvodka) March 29, 2020
#Keystone Bank is underrated bank. The bank that pays wife allowance, children allowance, 13th month salary etc. My cousin works in keystone bank & has a wife who is a full time housewife. She earns more than most ppl in civil service. Welldone keystone bank. We appreciate you.
— SPICEGUTS (@dearchisom) March 29, 2020
It should be noted that Keystone Bank Limited is not the only Nigerian bank that has recently made donations towards the fight against COVID-19. Earlier this week, United Bank for Africa Plc said it was donating as much as N5 billion in the fight against the virus. Other banks such as First Bank of Nigeria Ltd have also provided varied supports, including the provision of e-learning facilities to enable children learn online from their homes during this period.
BREAK DOWN OF COVID DONATIONS
UBA N2B
BUA Group N1B
Alakija N1B
Dangote Group N1B
Access Bank N1B
Keystone N1B
GTB N1B
Dangote N200m
Union Bank N180M
Atiku N50M
Tuface Idibia N10M
Total = 8.5 Billion
— PEACE OF MIND 🌏 (@Zubestmodric9) March 29, 2020
Energy
Agip shut oil facility in Bayelsa due to oil spillage, environmental pollution reported
Agip on Wednesday confirmed an oil leak, resulting in a shutdown.
The Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) has confirmed the shutdown of its Idu oilfields at Egbebiri settlement within Biseni in Yenagoa Local Government Area in Bayelsa, due to an oil spillage.
A Joint Investigative Visit (JIV) report on the incident said that the leakage at the facility could be traced to equipment failure due to a rupture at the wellhead.
According to a report from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Eni, the parent company of NAOC, in a response statement, said the facility was shut down to prevent further damage to the environment.
What Eni is saying
An Eni Spokesperson on behalf of the Italian Energy firm, in a statement said, “As soon as the incident was reported, we activated our oil spill response, shut in the well and notified government regulatory agencies.
“The Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) was carried out on 09/05/2021, with participation of community representatives and the government regulatory agencies.
“The event occurred within the Company’s well head location which is paved and walled round. There is no significant third party impact,” Eni stated.
Environmental Rights Group reports environmental degradation
An environmental rights group, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), however, said that the incident which discharged crude and associated gas had severely polluted the environment.
The Non-Governmental Organisation said that a visit to the spill site showed pictorial evidence of the crude spreading beyond NAOC’s right of way as nearby vegetation were affected as a result of the crude impact.
The Head of Field Operations at ERA/FoEN, Mr Alagoa Morris, in a field report on the spill said the Idu fields was notorious for frequent spills caused by equipment failure.
He said, “The people of Egbebiri in Biseni kingdom have experienced several oil spills over the years. And all the oil spill incidents documented by the Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) in this community environment have occurred as a result of equipment failure and on Wellheads.
“ERA/FoEN has had cause to visit the environment of Idu Well 5 and 11 located within the same place in the past and it has always been Idu Well 11 spewing crude oil into the environment.
“Available records from ERA/FoEN indicate that there have been previous oil spills from this particular Idu Well 11 operated by Agip. Before concluding this Field Report, ERA/FoEN confirmed that Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) was carried out on Sunday, 9th May 2021.
“This is why the official Spill Reference No 2021/LAR/028/058 is indicated in this report; sourced from the JIV report. Cause of spill was attributed to equipment failure,” ERA/FoEN stated.
The report quoted a resident of the community simply identified as Georgie as saying that the spill incident of May 7 spilled oil from around 10 p.m till about 8 a.m the next day before the leak was stopped adding that the level of damage was enormous.
What you should know
It can be recalled that in a similar circumstance, Shell Petroleum Development Company reported an oil pipeline spillage at its Okordia-Rumekpe 14-inch crude truck line, discharging about 213 barrels of crude oil into the Ikarama community in Bayelsa State and polluting about 1.34 hectares of land.
This new leakage is the latest in a series of oil spillages by the multinational oil exploration and production companies, which has put them in conflict with the host communities.
Energy
Nigeria records system collapse during holidays
Nigeria’s national electricity grid collapsed on Wednesday morning.
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