Wema Bank has announced 10-year-old Chimamanda Diamond Ozoakpata, as the 2026 winner of the Wema Bank One-Day MD/CEO Children’s Day initiative. Introduced in 2025, the bank’s One-Day MD/CEO challenge is an industry first initiative to give children across Nigeria a platform to express their ambitions, tap into their unique potential and get hands-on insight into the responsibility and success that their future careers hold. The maiden edition saw 12-year-old Chiderije Mbah emerge as the bank’s first-ever One-Day MD/CEO and this year, 10-year-old Ozoakpata, Head Girl of Redeemers’ Foundation Nursery and Primary School, has broken a new record, becoming the first-ever female One-Day MD/CEO of Wema Bank after her one minute video entry gained over 50,000 views. Handing over the insignia of office to her, the MD/CEO of Wema Bank, Moruf Oseni, shed light on the bank’s inspiration behind the launch of the One-Day MD/CEO initiative. According to him, “At our core is a deep-seated drive for inspiring children and showing them that they have what it takes to fulfil their ambition. For this reason, we launched the One-Day MD/CEO initiative in 2025, giving children the opportunity to step into the demanding yet inspiring role of MD/CEO at one of Nigeria’s longest standing institutions. The impact has been phenomenal and this year, we decided to open up that opportunity to another child. “It is with great pleasure that I have with me here, 10-year-old Chimamanda Diamond Ozoakpata, this year’s record-breaking leader. Today, I am handing over the reins of leadership to Ozoakpata who will become the MD/CEO of Wema Bank for today, in celebration of Children’s Day. On behalf of the Board and Management of Wema Bank, I, Moruf Oseni, by the power vested in me as MD/CEO of Wema Bank, do hereby hand over the role of one-day MD/CEO to our star, Diamond Chimamanda, for today, Monday, May 25. Congratulations, I trust you will make us proud.” Accepting the mantle of leadership, Ozoakpata extended her gratitude to the bank for believing in her and giving her the opportunity. Promising to make the Bank proud, she said: “Thank you, Sir, for trusting me with this great opportunity, for always looking out for the children and for making our success a priority at Wema Bank. I am proud to be a part of the Wema Bank family, not just because of the honour bestowed on me today but also because Wema Bank has shown how committed it is to supporting our parents and empowering children like me with the tools and guidance that we need to become financially smart. Today, I have the honour of being the one-day MD/CEO of Nigeria’s oldest indigenous, Wema Bank Plc. This is just one of the many ways that the bank celebrates Children’s Day and I am truly grateful.” As her first act in office, she signed off on three new rewards for children and teens. These rewards include birthday cash gifts of N5,000 and N10,000 each for children turning five and 10 years, respectively, between May 25, 2026 and May 2027; N100,000 reward for the top 100 students in the National Common Entrance Exam starting next month and the launch of the evolve school tour-STEM challenge for children and teens. All these are available to active Wema Bank customers who have Royal Kiddies Accounts for their children. Other highlights of Wema Bank’s 2026 Children’s Day celebration were the grand event which took place in the Bank’s Head Office on May 25, the allocation of N500,000 in cash rewards to three children at the event and the official launch of the Wema Bank Money Adventures financial literacy book for children from six years and above.