Sunday Ehigiator
LAPO Microfinance Bank (MfB), over the weekend, commissioned its new multi-billion naira head office building located at the heart of Maryland, in Lagos State.
Speaking at the commissioning, the Chairman, of LAPO Mfb, Mrs Osaretin Demuren, said the occasion represents a significant milestone in the institutional journey of LAPO MfB, “and indeed Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO), the non-governmental community development organisation.”
According to her, LAPO as a development finance organisation has come a long way adding, “Its legacy organisation, Lift Above Poverty Organisation, a pro-poor organisation, was initiated in the late 1980s by Dr Godwin Ehigiamosoe. This building is the first building to be owned by LAPO MfB in its 13 years of existence. It provides accommodation for the various units of the bank as well as facilities that enhance staff welfare and productivity. These include a well-equipped crèche for nursing mothers, a library, gym and a learning centre.”
She said LAPO started a non-governmental response to the spike in the level of poverty as a result of the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP).
“It was to address the three dimensions of poverty namely; material deprivation with credit, poor health with health awareness, and social exclusion with social empowerment programmes.
“The organisation has grown from three clients in the founder’s church in Ogwashi-Uka, now in Delta State, into several mutually reinforcing institutions providing credit, micro-insurance, micro-leasing and healthcare in Nigeria and Sierra Leone with total staff strength of 10,329, excluding cleaners and drivers, “she said.
