1. A SPEECH BY MR. BISI ONASANYA, GMD/CEO, FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC, AT
THE LAUNCH OF FBN LIFE ASSURANCE LIMITED, MARCH 14, 2011.
PROTOCOL:
It gives me great joy to be part of the launch of FBN Life Assurance Limited, the newest
strategic business window in the FirstBank Group. FBN Life Assurance Limited was
incorporated as part of FirstBank’s commitment to a process of integrating and
consolidating its customer service systems and improving the service process itself. The
key deliverable was to combine FirstBank’s strong brand equity with the insurance
business’ ability to offer the right product or combination of products to the right customer
through the right channel at the right time.
We had initiated the process of incorporating a life assurance business long before the
new regulatory changes to the banking space. Persuaded by the strength of our vision
we would comply with the new regulations on the Bank’s relationship with its non-core
banking business by transferring ownership and control of FBN Life Assurance Limited to
the holding company that will now manage all assets in the old FirstBank Group.
We are proud of our association with the Sanlam Group, one of Africa’s foremost
insurance providers, with over nine decades of operation and offices across Africa,
Europe, Asia and the United States. The Sanlam and FirstBank representatives were
professional as we worked together to create FBN Life. I trust that our two groups,
working together, will bring our heritage, experience and expertise to bear on this new
union. The FirstBank and Sanlam implementation teams, therefore, deserve our
applause.
I have confidence in the values and organisational culture of FBN Life, which are
naturally offshoots of the values and culture which have brought FirstBank through one
hundred and seventeen years of dynamic leadership in the financial services industry.
Some of you here can attest to the upswing of FBN Life operations in the past six months
and its reverberating influence on the insurance sub sector. We appreciate your
invaluable support now and always.

2. At FirstBank, First Life comes through in the midst of the inroads we have forged in other
dynamic areas of business operations, which include investment banking, trusteeship,
assets management services, registrarship services, pension custodial services, private
equity/venture capital, insurance brokerage, currency trading and micro financing. We
are particularly excited to add life insurance to our growing chain of businesses. Our
brand pillars, which we hold dearly, include enterprise and service excellence. You can
rest assured that we would continue to provide innovative and life enriching solutions to
the business needs of our customers and the world at large.
I congratulate the Board, Management and staff of FBN Life Assurance on this
auspicious occasion. Like good parents, FirstBank will always be there to support you
and we are confident that like our other subsidiaries, you will become Nigeria’s first
choice in wealth creation and financial security.
Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you all for your inspiring presence here tonight. We are
especially honoured that you could take out time from your very busy Monday schedule
to grace this occasion. You also deserve a round of applause for your invaluable support.
May God bless and prosper FBN Life.
Bisi Onasanya
Group Managing Director/CEO
First Bank of Nigeria Plc.