AS part of its efforts to promote Nigerian virtues to global limelight, Diamond Bank, in conjunction with Inspire Africa, has launched the season two of Naija Diamonds, a TV documentary series showcasing the heroic exploits of 36 Nigerians who continue to impact positively on society through their exemplary behaviours.The documentary series, which will be airing for 13 weeks on AIT network on Fridays at 9:30pm and African Magic at 7:00pm on Saturdays, was created by Inspire Africa and it is sponsored by Diamond Bank.Season one of Naija Diamonds, also sponsored by Diamond Bank, was aired for six weeks from October 2010 as part of activities to mark the 50th Independence Anniversary of Nigeria.According to the producer, Mo Abudu: 'Naija Diamonds aims to showcase unsung heroes and world class Nigerians whose lifestyles and values serve as a standard for generations to come. It is a celebration of Nigeria's everyday people who have done something to change and positively challenge their situations. No one notices them, the media or the majority never celebrates them, but they existed. They are the people who stand up and take a positive stand. They are our unsung heroes (Naija Diamonds).'According to Nkechi Nwosu, Company Secretary of Diamond Bank: 'Naija Diamonds is one of our Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives as a bank and just like we did in the initial season of the programme, we would be showcasing 36 Nigerians whose lifestyle and qualities are worthy of emulation. These qualities mirror Diamond Bank's core values of leadership, integrity, passion, accountability and competence, and it is for this reason we have decided to partner with Inspire Africa once again.'It will be recalled that season one of the programme featured 36 amazing people drawn from various parts of the country and who had made heroes of themselves as they impact the lives of others positively.In preparation for season two, a fresh list of 36 personalities was produced from the thousands of nominations received during a one month period in September 2011.According to Mo Abudu: 'It was indeed an uphill task shortlisting only 36 names from the large number of entries we received from across the country. This is a further pointer to the fact that the average Nigerian possesses qualities that should be encouraged. That is what we have set out to do with the programme as these are people who ordinarily affect other people positively.'Diamond Bank has a long list of CSR initiatives generally focused on the theme 'empowerment'. Some of the initiatives include a monthly enterprise seminar tagged, Diamond BusinessXpress seminars targeted at Micro Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs where facilitators take them through the intricacies of running successful businesses. This is in addition to loans and other benefits the bank offers its MSME costumers.Diamond Bank also sponsors the Building Entrepreneurs Today (BET) programme in partnership with the Enterprise and Development Centre of the Pan African University. Currently in its second season, the programme continuously increases the capacity and growth potentials of Nigerian entrepreneurs. At the end of the programme, five outstanding entrepreneurs will qualify for the Next Level Award, which is the sum of N3 million each as a capital boost in support of their respective businesses. So far, 100 entrepreneurs have benefited from the programme.AIT network is available on both terrestrial and DSTV, while African Magic airs on DSTV alone.
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