In the last 20 years, the Corporation had been actively involved in voluntary actions executed outside the statutory mandate, and which were basically intended to positively impact on its various stakeholders. Apart from being a public institution, which should ordinarily partake in courses of action that serve public interest, the Corporation had a stake in promoting social responsibility. Firstly, substantial size of the members of the public especially bank depositors, were its stakeholders, and the Corporation would want them to feel the impact of its existence through its contributions to socio-economic development.

Secondly, even members of the public that were not direct stakeholders in the Corporation were potential users of banking services.

Among the objectives of the Corporation was to promote banking culture and to preserve public confidence in the banking system. Thus, any social programme or project in the name of the Corporation would serve to raise its public image.
This in turn was likely to facilitate the patronage of what it stood for, such as inculcating banking habit. It was against that background that the Corporation pursued its social responsibility programmes in the following areas:

Endowment of Chairs in Tertiary Institutions:

In its effort to promote educational excellence and fulfill part of its social responsibility, the Corporation instituted, in 1994, an endowment fund and prize awards for institutions of higher learning in the country. Under the scheme, grants were made to several Universities. A total of 9 Universities benefited from the endowment of Professorial Chairs in different academic fields by 1995. Similarly, in 1996, thirty one (31) Universities benefited from cash award prizes ranging with some Universities getting 2 prize awards.

Financing Projects in Tertiary Institutions:

This represents a response to the challenge thrown by the Federal Government in 2003 to the Bankers’ Committee on the deplorable state of the infrastructural facilities in the higher institutions of learning in the country. Thus, in 2003, the Board of the Corporation approved a grant of ₦130 million to be disbursed at the rate of ₦10 million each to 13 selected Federal Universities. Two Universities each from the six geopolitical zones of the Country and one from Abuja were selected for the grant. The projects executed included lecture halls, academic offices, hostels, theatre, provision of laboratory equipment, internet facilities and cybercafé/ computer centres that were considered essential for effective learning.