Friendship bond: the inspiring story of Leadership Culture in GTBANK

The story below, copied from the Whatsapp Group of a Training school class (THE UNBEATABLES ) of GTBANK, is inspirational, thought-provoking and worth sharing.

The main Characters in the story were :
(1) Kayode Adaramodu (popularly known as Sir Kay): he rose through the ranks to a level of GM and DMD of the bank’s subsidiary in Sierra Leone before quitting in 2011.
(2) Edward Onoja; the current Deputy Governor of Kogi state, moved across GTBANK’s branches in Jos, Makurdi, and Lokoja before joining another bank to complete his career in banking as a Manager.
(3)Victoria Omagbogu; a member of THE UNBEATABLES training school class, had her career terminated by assasins in 2008.

Sometime in the early 2000s , Kayode Adaramodu was the head of the operations team at GTBank Jos branch, with Victoria Omagbogu and Edward Onoja as team members.

When Edward resumed in Jos in November 2001 as an Executive Trainee after Tutu Sholeye’s rigorous Training and schooling, it was Victoria Omagbogu who taught him the nitty gritty of banking operations (TSG).

The Jos operations team used to have monthly training sessions, facilitated by Sir Kay. The trainings were usually on technical operations subjects, and sometimes on general life subjects. During one of those training sessions, Sir Kay asked each team member to state what their greatest Life aspirations were. Victoria’s major aspiration in Life was first to be in a position to be able to build a befitting home for her parents. She never lived to achieve this. Death cut her journey here short, and the aspiration died with her. Or so we thought .

Victoria’s sudden death was a shock to everyone who knew her, including Edward. But Edward carried a bigger additional pain in his heart unknown to anyone else. He remembered vividly Victoria’s contributions to his career growth and her unfulfilled dream, and was additionally pained that Victoria could not live to fulfil that dream . He genuinely wished he could help a senior colleague fulfil her unmet life dreams.

In 2019, Edward became the Deputy Governor of Kogi state, and 2 years later in November 2021, he completed a building project to fulfil Victoria’s dream. That was precisely 20 years after their paths crossed. Edward delivered a complete house to the parents of Victoria Omagbogu, in fulfillment of their daughter’s major Life aspiration. And guess who cut the commissioning tape for the house delivery event ?? Yes you are very correct ; Kayode Adaramodu.

Edward’s large heart and commitment to a former colleague did not end there . The writer recalled that Victoria was pregnant while they were in training school in 1999? A daughter named Favor emerged from that pregnancy and she is currently undergoing the mandatory NYSC program. Guess who supported her all through her University education ??? You are correct again.

“A friendship bond is a bond based on trust, honesty and sacrifice! A bond that makes us realize that in this world we need a pal by our side, a pal that completes us.”

Story written by:

Mr Wale Williams
(a member of the Unbeatable Class and currently a top Bank Executive).