As a testament of its commitment to the development of the youth and support for creative arts, First Bank of Nigeria has officially launched Bluu TV, a dynamic hub for African entertainment, on YouTube, and premiered the first series – “A Heart on the Line”.
The event which took on Friday, December 6, 2024 at EbonyLife Cinemas, Victoria Island, Lagos, was a gathering of some of the best stars in the country’s creative art ecosystem.
Speaking at the launch and premiere, the managing director and chief executive of First Bank, Mr. Olusegun Alebiosu, said Bluu TV is a dynamic hub for African entertainment, lifestyle content drama and everything in-between creativity and innovation and called all and sundry to experience the power of storytelling and its impact on society.
Represented by Mr. Idowu Thompson, the Group Executive of Private Banking and Wealth Management, First Bank, the bank CEO revealed that over the years First Bank had been deliberate in
support for the creative art, a developing sector with great potential to provide solutions and economic growth, noting that the foremost financial institution treasures the use of creative art to shapen “our culture, promoting our values as a people and inspiring positive change.”
“Through First@Arts Initiative, we have consistently supported initiatives that preserve the legacy of arts culture and we also promote several activities that engender unity, education and entertainment which are major dividends of the creative industry,” he said.
Noting that First Bank cherishes good lifestyle and entertainment as much as her customers do, the foremost banker explained that the bank also understands the magic of storytelling in relieving everyday stress and as such A heart on the Line is a testament of this culture and its believe in the creativity that exists among the Nigerian youth.
He expressed his joy at the feat and appreciated to the talents involved in series. “We are really proud of this feat and I thank the cast, crew and production team for bringing their creativity to deliver this masterpiece. I am certain thousands of people all over the world are about to lock to another level of creativity as we always do, this time empowering talents and major creators and reinforcing First Banker as a brand that people will always respect."
Commenting on the series, an actress, Toluwale Kinsalu, observed that it is intriguing, exciting and full of suspense. “It is very intriguing. Of course there’s a lot of suspense. You will want to find out what happened to the doctor; you’ll want to find out what happened to Yomi, the younger son. It’s exciting. It’s something that I’m looking forward to watching. I think that’s the whole idea so that we’ll go and watch,” she said.
The series explores the themes of love, romance, betrayal, resilience and family dynamics. It reflects everyday reality and shared human experiences including the complexities of the modern world.
Established in 1894, First Bank of Nigeria Limited is the premier bank in West Africa, a leading financial inclusion services provider in Africa, and a digital banking giant.
The bank’s international footprints cut across three continents - Africa, Europe and Asia - with FirstBank UK Limited in London and Paris; FirstBank in The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea and Sierra Leone; FBNBank in Senegal; and a FirstBank Representative Office in Beijing, China. All the subsidiary banks are fully registered by their respective Central Banks to provide full banking services.
Besides providing domestic banking services, the subsidiaries also engage in international cross-border transactions with FirstBank’s non-Nigerian subsidiaries, and the representative offices in Paris and China facilitate trade flows from Asia and Europe into Nigeria and other African countries.
For over 130 years, FirstBank has built an outstanding reputation for solid relationships, good corporate governance, and a strong liquidity position, and has been at the forefront of promoting digital payment in the country with over 13 million cards issued to customers (the first bank to achieve such a milestone in Nigeria). FirstBank has continued to make significant investments in technology, innovation and transformation, and its cashless transaction drive has been steadily accentuated with virtually 23 million active FirstBank customers signed up on digital channels including the USSD Quick Banking service through the nationally renowned *894# Banking code.
FirstBank continued to gain wide acclaim on the global stage with several international awards and recognitions. Some of these include Nigeria’s Best Bank for ESG 2024 and Nigeria’s Best Bank for Corporates 2024 both awarded by Euromoney Awards for Excellence; Best SME Bank in Africa and in Nigeria by The Asian Banker Global Awards; Best Private Bank in Nigeria and Best Private Bank for Sustainable Investing in Africa by Global Finance Awards; Best Corporate Bank in Nigeria 2024, Best CSR Bank in Nigeria 2024, Best Retail Bank in Nigeria 2024, Best SME Bank in Nigeria 2024 and Best Private Bank in Nigeria 2024 all awarded by the Global Banking and Finance Awards.