The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited says it has awarded scholarships to the best and outstanding 400 university students, totalling N60million to enable them excel in their different fields of academic endeavours.
Speaking at the presentation of the awards for the 2015/2016 academic session at the Port Harcourt Literary Society Library, the SPDC General Manager, External Relations, Mr Igo Weli said: “SPDC does not segregate, the scholarship encompasses all fields of endeavours provided you are from the Niger Delta region and very brilliant.”
The Tide correspondent gathered that each student is given N150, 000 per annum, while the scholarship runs between four to six years depending on the course of study.
Weli stated that the SPDC JV university scholarship programme started since  1953 as one of its earliest Corporate Social Responsibility (CSO) initiatives, seven years before Nigeria gained her independence, adding that the initiative has continued to contribute to Nigeria’s human capital development.
The general manager said that SPDC was extremely proud of the success the initiative had recorded, having developed critical manpower for the development of modern Nigeria.
“From those early steps in 1953, what is now known as the NNPC/SPDC JV Scholarship programme has afforded many Nigerians the opportunity to acquire higher education, with many going on to become leaders in their chosen professions,” Weli said.
He stressed that this year’s award was very significant as it shows SPDC’s commitment to contribute to Nigeria’s human capital development despite the low oil price in the global market and the economic challenges in the country which have greatly impacted the funding of oil and gas operations.
Weli added that the company has launched the ‘Scholarship Meet Shell Programme,’ in which the beneficiaries meet and interact with Shell staff on their different chosen professions.
“Today, the SPDC JV runs four scholarship schemes as follows: The Secondary School, which supports over 1,000 students in SPDC’s operational areas in the Niger Delta annually, the Cradle-to-Career, which is an all-inclusive scholarship that provides opportunities and strong foundation for brilliant pupils in public primary schools to attend reputable secondary schools in Nigeria. The scholarship covers tuition and boarding awarded to 60 gifted young people from the Niger Delta annually,” he said.
He added that “the SPDC University Scholarship Scheme comprises two categories namely: the National Merit Award which is open to all Nigerians and the Operational Areas Award which is for undergraduates from our areas of operations in Abia, Bayelsa, Delta, Imo and Rivers States, and finally the Overseas Postgraduate scholarship programme which is awarded to 10 indigenes from Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Imo States annually for a Master’s programme in Oil and Gas-related disciplines at three top United Kingdom universities.”
Weli further stated that apart from helping to develop critical manpower, SPDC interventions in the educational sector over the years cover the building of science blocks, donation of science equipment, and establishment of the UNESCO ‘Education for All (EFA)’ goals, thereby ultimately contributing significantly to attaining the Millennium Development Goals on education in the Niger Delta and Nigeria.
Also speaking, Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Hon Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja, represented by the Head Unit, Ministry of Education, Mrs Nwamaka Joseph, urged the students to take the opportunity given them by SPDC seriously, and expressed the Rivers State Government’s gratitude to the tremendous contribution SPDC has made in ensuring education for all in the state.
In her remarks, a motivational speaker, Mrs Osasere Esekhaigbe enjoined the beneficiaries to take their academic pursuit seriously, adding that there was need for them to distinguish themselves by having good defendable grades in their courses of study.
Esekhaigbe charged the students not to settle for the SPDC required 2.5 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA), but thrive to score 4.5-5.0 CGPA as that was the only way they can compete favourably in the job markets.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, a student of the Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Amassoma, from Agbere Agbama Community in Bayelsa State, Miss Tonaria Irene Ebilade said she believed the reason why she was given the scholarship was God’s divine favour, even as she said that her academic performance in the West African School Certificate (WAEC), Post UTME and her high CGPA of 3.9 played significant roles in her success story.
Ebilade urged other students and youth to take their academic pursuit seriously, adding that a time would come when they least expected and success would shine in their way.
Also speaking, another beneficiary, John Kingsley said God’s grace, favour and SPDC’s love for academic excellence propelled him to hedge on, and thanked God for the opportunity to carve a niche for himself.
On her part, a mother of one of the beneficiaries, Mrs Chioma Ndah said she would ever remain grateful to SPDC for taking the burden of paying university tuition and other fees  off the family’s shoulders, as she and her husband were already finding it difficult to fend for their six children at the same time.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana