No fewer than 20 persons have graduated from the fourth edition of First Bank of Nigeria Limited’s Senior Management Development Programme (SMDP) in Lagos State.

This was made known in a statement issued by the bank on Monday, August 7, 2023.

Before the 2023 graduation, the SMDP had produced 52 graduates. First Bank graduated 23 participants in its inaugural edition, held in 2018; 17 in 2019; and 12 in 2020.

The SMDP is FirstBank’s intensive modular programme for a select group of senior managers to principal managers who are proven leaders in their respective functions and identified as central to the bank’s succession plan.

The SMDP is an intensive skill development programme structured to enhance core leadership and business competencies of elite senior management staff within the bank.

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It consists of three instructor-led modular periods adopting a blend of classroom lectures, experiential activities, flipped learning strategies and peer-to-peer discussions to develop the desired talent pool.

Speaking on the programme, the CEO of FirstBank Group, Dr Adesola Adeduntan, said: “This programme is one of FirstBank’s key initiatives designed to create a dependable pool of highly skilled, favourably competitive, and globally minded Senior Managers.

“It is also aimed at accelerating their journey through the very demanding process of becoming outstanding leaders and management executives.

“FirstBank is widely acclaimed for sound corporate governance and this programme is further proof of our commitment to grooming and development.

“Through the Senior Management Development Programme, we emphasise sound leadership as the ethos and language of Bankwide conversations; this provides an empirical means of guaranteeing the Bank’s leadership bench strength both for now and the future.”

The Star