It was my birthday yesterday – 14th of August.
But yesterday’s was like no other one in history. The video here carries the weight of its standout uniqueness.
From the early hours, the messages and calls began to pour in like monsoon rain, leaving me truly overwhelmed with emotions. My family, friends, and students from all over the world came to my DM and used their social media accounts to celebrate me. I received words of testimonies, appreciation, and felicitations that made the day a rewarding one.
I spent much of the day receiving phone calls until the wee hours.
But ….
One call stood out yesterday. And it came from unexpected quarters, leaving me flummoxed and incredibly joyous.
A beautiful voice called from my bank, United Bank for Africa, Owo Road, Akure, Ondo State to wish me happy birthday.
Well that was not strange because but just a few minutes earlier, someone from AXA Mansard had called to convey the insurance company’s best wishes to me.
However, UBA soon took it many notches higher. The caller asked for my house address to deliver a gift on behalf of the bank.
Honestly, I thought it was a joke until she insisted and I obliged.
A five-man team including the driver soon arrived at my doorstep around mid day carrying a big cake and bottle of fine wine.
From the gate, Olarenwaju, Sandra, Blessing, and Nofisat serenaded me with birthday songs and wishes as my children looked on in bewilderment.
I felt on top of the world as a customer of one of Africa’s largest banks.
Yes! UBA is one of Africa’s largest banks in continental spread because when I lived and worked in Uganda, precisely in the eastern town of Mbale, I used to pass in front of the UBA branch on Manafwa Street, Mbale -Totoro Road, on the way from the city centre to my house in Maluku.
Remarkably, the Owo Road branch of UBA is dear to me because I opened my first bank account as a resident of Akure in that branch in 2005, when it was known as Standard Trust Bank.
More remarkable is the incontrovertible fact that the account is hardly funded and it has low balance. I use it as my charity account. So, it only receives cash inflows on my birthday when I usually receive monetary gifts to care for the less privileged, which I do twice every year: August and December.
To be candid, the account’s low balance at the time makes UBA’s gesture so touching and prophetic.
Na tashere money dey the akant. I am just a village teacher, who funds that account from side hustle doing language editing jobs here and there.
How much tisha dey collect wey e dey put spit for finger to count?🤣
Walahi, I am still speechless.
UBA made my day yesterday and my heart is so grateful for the thoughtfulness and care that the uncommon gesture emblematizes.
It was a customer relationship coup by every standard and it has endeared the bank to me forever.
My heart is grateful.
To UBA and everyone who celebrated me on my birthday, I feel loved, honored, and truly humbled.
Thank you so much for the kind words, wishes, and prayers. God bless you all.
Postscript: Do me the favour of tagging or sharing this piece everywhere and with anyone that you know in the United Bank for Africa as an expression of my profound gratitude.
Yours truly,
Olumide Olugbemi-Gabriel
MBHS 95 Alumni Association 