Shell Awards N26m Scholarship To Nurses

The Shell Petroleum De
velopment Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has presented a cheque of N25.9m scholarship and 50 laptops to the students of Midwifery School in Oron, Akwa Ibom State.
The company’s manager, Government and community Relations, Mr Edesiri Akpomudjere said the gesture was the company’s efforts towards enhancing the capacity development of the healthcare personnel in the Niger Delta region.
The manager stated that SPDC in partnership with the midwifery training programme had sponsored 300 nurses on midwifery in the region.
He said each of the six states of Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta and Edo had 50 nurses benefiting from the programme.
According to him, under the programme, each beneficiary was entitled to full upkeep including basic expenditure and school fees, remarking that the company spends on the average, the sum of N660,000 on each student for the training.
Akpomudjere said the effort was aimed at meeting the Millennium Development Goals four and five in the Niger Delta region.
SPDC Regional Community Health Manager, Dr Edet Edet,said the sponsorship was for the duration of 18 months on midwifery programme.
He noted that the company was aware that the rate of maternal mortality was high in Nigeria and was determined to support capacity development to increase the number of skilled healthcare personnel in Akwa Ibom State.
The Akwa Ibom State Director of Nursing Services, Mrs Patricia Ekanem, described SPDC as a dependable partner to the Akwa Ibom State Government.
The Director who represented the state commissioner for health, Dr Emem Bassey, noted that the company had made indelible marks on health programmes in the state.