Sterling Bank Plc has apologised to Nigerians over its controversial Easter message where it likens the resurrection of Jesus Christ to Agege Bread.
Gatekeepers News had reported that the bank sent a proactive Easter message on social media platforms and to its customers via email. The message contained a picture of a golden-brown bread divided into two with the caption “Like Agege Bread, He Rose!”. Agege bread is a popular Nigerian bread known for its soft, stretchy and chewy texture.
The post sparked public criticism and the Advertising Practitioner Council of Nigeria (APCON) has said it will ensure that the bank is sanctioned for such an offensive advertisement.
Sterling bank’s Chief Executive, Abubakar Sulaiman, in his reaction, admitted that the “insensitive” advert failed to capture the sober nature of the event.
The statement reads: “On behalf of the management and staff of Sterling Bank PLC, I write to tender our unreserved apology to you and members of our nation’s Christian community for our Easter message email of 17 April 2022.
“The content of the infographic and the message it contained was insensitive and failed to consider the very sober nature of the event being commemorated, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“While the message had no malicious intent, there is no place for content that fails to fully account for the feelings of billions of people all over the world. Our honest intent was to join our millions of customers in Nigeria and worldwide in celebrating this solemn event but our execution fell short on this occasion.
“Our policies are clear on what constitutes acceptable customer communication and this message should not have been released to our customers. On this occasion, our editorial processes fell short of our policy standards.
“As a responsible institution, we immediately withdrew the offensive material and initiated a review of the circumstances that led to this failure. We will further sensitise our workforce to ensure the unfortunate lapse in judgment never repeats itself.
“We thank you for your continued trust in us and apologise again for this unfortunate incident.”
