World Savings Day: Abia Commissioner Tasks Students To Cultivate Saving Culture

Young people have been charged to cultivate saving culture as a way of building financial discipline in order to help them later in life.

The Honourable Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education in Abia State, Elder Goodluck Ubochi gave the charge in Umuahia on Wednesday during a programme to mark the 2025 World Savings Day, organized by the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).

The event, which took place at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, brought together students drawn from public secondary schools in the state.

Elder Ubochi commended NDIC for the event which according to him targets young people to teach them how to develop the habit of saving money, no matter how little.

“Most people may not really understand. Sometimes people find it difficult to save money. Sometimes they tend to think that the tendency or the capacity to save money depends on how much you earn. But you find out that it’s not really true. It is an attitude”.

“When you don’t have the attitude, when you don’t have the habits, even if you earn one million naira in one week, you may still find it difficult to save. That’s why I so much appreciate the organizers of this program because you are targeting our own people”.

“The essence of this program is to help you develop the attitude of saving and focus on the habits at this very level. And any habit you imbibe at this level stays with you.That’s why I consider this very programme very, very important.”

“So I want to urge you, be attentive, participate fully and then you can reap the benefits of being participants in this programme, because you are going to develop a habit that will help you out in your life”.

“Even as a student, the little pocket money you are given, if you have a habit of saving, you can serve little by little, over a time, you find out that you have a very, very large pool of resources that can be used for meaningful activities.”

Also speaking, the Honourable Commissioner for Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Dr. Matthew Ekwuribe, encouraged the students to share the financial knowledge they acquired from the event with their peers in order to spread the information, stressing that others may have the opportunity they had in attending the function some other time.

“I’m sure that you will be taught a lot today about savings. So you should ensure that you listen properly and then grab whatever you can grab”.

“You should also not stop here. When you also get to your different schools, you can also teach your friends and your classmates whatever you’ve learned today”.

“Just see yourselves as those who are opportune to be here today. Others might be opportune to be here another day.”

“So as you are opportune today, always share whatever experience or whatever knowledge you acquire with your mates”.

On her part, a Senior Manager at the National Deposit Insurance Corporation, Mrs Chinenye Chimezie Amadi took time to teach the students on how to earn and save money. Beginning with the evolution of money, she simplified various avenues young people can explore and earn money including skills acquisition, rendering services, baking, selling of snacks among others.

Mrs Amadi explained that financial resilience is the ability of one to manage money and recover quickly from any challenge. She posited that it is the ability to withstand any financial shock.

According to her, the theme of the event, “This is Not a Savings Account”, encourages the students to look beyond the traditional understanding of financial management.

Dr Matthew Femi Adegoje, another staffer of Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation explained to the students, the core mandate of the NDIC, to include protection of deposits, to restore confidence in the system.

He said that the NDIC, which was established in 1988 but began operation in 1989 was established to administer the deposit insurance system in Nigeria.

World Savings Day is celebrated on 31st October every year, but due to the disruptions in academic activities in the last quarter of 2025, the event was moved to 2026.