As part of efforts to contain the spread of the COVID-19, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and First Bank PLC have entered into a partnership that would see the Bank installing an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) at the National Headquarters of the Board, Bwari, Abuja.
This was disclosed at a Staff Briefing on Security, Online Meeting Etiquette recently, according to a JAMBulletin report.
The installation of the ATM at the Board’s National Headquarters is part of a series of containment efforts of the Management of the Board that would minimise the exposure of its staff and clients to the virus.
Having an ATM on the premises would, without doubt, reduce the traffic to the public ATM galleries dotting the landscape of Bwari community more so that reports have shown that these money dispensing platforms are veritable channels for contracting the virus.
The advent of the COVID-19 Pandemic has induced the Board to come up with series of innovations to curtail the spread of the virus. For instance, just before the partial resumption of selected staff as directed by the Head of Service of the Federation, the premises of the Board had been decontaminated and Disinfectant Sprayers and Pedal-Operated Hand-Washing Machines installed to ensure the safety of staff.
The Registrar, while giving his remarks at the briefing, said the interaction became necessary to keep staff abreast of the importance of having an ATM on the premises coupled with the decision of Management to train staff on etiquettes of participating in virtual meetings in line with global best practices.
In the presentation by the representative of First Bank, Mrs. Tobechi Enyioko highlighted the critical role that JAMB has been playing in the conduct of matriculation examination and the admission of suitably-qualified candidates into the nation’s tertiary institutions. She pointed out that First Bank is well positioned to leverage on its suite of fit-for-purpose and bespoke offerings and value propositions to satisfy the financial service needs of JAMB employees.
Other packages beside the ATM, according to Mrs. Enyioko, included Salary Accounts Services, First Advance, Consumer/Personal Loan facility, Mortgage facility, Auto Loans, among other freebies with reasonable interest rates and conditions.
On security and the need to be safety conscious, the Deputy Director, Department of State Security (DSS), Mr Babangida Aliyu in a paper titled: “Personal and Family Security” underscored the need to pay priority attention to our individual and collective security.
He said the presentation was aimed at raising the level of security consciousness of staff so as to enable them take appropriate security measures to protect themselves, their families and critical national assets from all forms of security threats.
Mr. Babangida defined threats as anything that could hinder an individual from achieving his or her desired legitimate objectives.
He said threats have two major components, natural and human, stating that human threats include but are not limited to: corruption, pride, greed, materialism, envy, jealousy, weaknesses and self-centeredness while the natural components include global warming, climate change, flood, drought, famine, volcanic eruption, earthquake, hurricane and other factors.
He said, “The development and evolution of these threats offer criminals the opportunity to develop new capabilities to further destabilize the peace and security of the nation.”
In the same vein, he said, “In Nigeria, the threats posed by Boko Haram insurgents, kidnappers, armed robbers, sea pirates, illegal oil bunkerers coupled with the fallout of the recent outbreak of COVID-19 virus, have served to engage the nation’s security agencies on many fronts with attendant economic consequence.
The crime buster, while proffering solutions to the myriads of threats bedeviling the nation, advised all to be conscious, alert and vigilant at all times and report anything unusual or suspicious. He equally enjoined participants to avoid discussing travel plans with total strangers, keep close eye on any documents or literature that could indicate their future movement, use alternative routes and promptly report to security agencies when security infractions or threats are noticed.
The training also educated participants on basic virtual meeting etiquettes especially the do’s and don’ts of participating in meetings of that nature. These include: avoiding unnecessary distractions, not eating in a meeting, timeliness, dress code, focus, having sufficient data and sticking to time limit when making contributions, among others.
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