No fewer than 104 youth across Nigeria have been awarded full-board secondary school scholarship by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company and its venture partner, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Shell’s Media Relations Manager, Banidele Odugbesan, in a statement, Sunday, said the latest awards bring to 267, the total number of scholarships offered by the organization.
Mr. Odugbesan said the scholarship is a part of the National Cradle-to-Career programme designed to give top quality education to bright but indigent youth across the country.
The latest beneficiaries are said to have joined the other recipients who were enrolled in six leading private schools in the country.
The schools include the Lead Forte Gate College, Lagos; Premiere Academy, Abuja; Nigerian Tulip International College, Kaduna and St. Francis Catholic Secondary School, Lagos.
Others are Top Faith International Secondary School, Akwa Ibom State; and Grundtvig International Secondary School, Anambra State.
During the award ceremony held at Lead Fort Gate College, Lekki in Lagos, the state Deputy Governor, Idiat Adebule, commended Shell for the success of the NC2C which she said had achieved its purpose by helping to bridge educational inequalities resulting from socio-economic differences.
Mrs. Adebule, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Adesina Odeyemi, said the oil giant has been committed to educating indigent youth in the country.
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“SNEPCo has kept faith with the commitment of supporting indigent Nigerian youths to attend some of the best secondary schools in the country and helping to reduce the number of school dropout before completion of basic education,” she said.
The Managing Director of SNEPCo, Bayo Ojulari, who was represented at the award ceremony by the General Manager Exploration, Dayo Adewuyi, said the educational initiative contributes towards the actualisation of the UNESCO ‘Education for All’ goal.
“We also do this because, to us in SNEPCo, education is key to national development. In the three years of the programme, we are already seeing signs of success,” he said.
“Last year, for instance, one of the scholars was awarded a scholarship by the implementing school because of her exceptional academic performance. So, I expect that this set will settle for no less.”
The recipients emerged through a competitive process starting with an aptitude test which was open to graduating pupils in public primary schools in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
They then underwent a two-week orientation programme with introductory courses in academics, character and psychology to prepare them for a seamless integration into their new learning environment.
The NC2C scholarships are just one of the many programmes in SNEPCo’s social investment portfolio in Nigeria.
Other programmes include the equipping and donation of information technology and communication centres in many primary, secondary and tertiary institutions and hosting of health outreaches in different parts of the country.
The company recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of a multi-million naira eLibrary for the Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State.
The firm has also signed another MoU for the construction of a centre of excellence in Geoscience at the University of Lagos.
