Seven years after the
launch of the Cradle-To-Career (C2C) scholarship scheme in 2010 for brilliant indigent pupils in public primary schools in hard-to-reach communities in the Niger Delta, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), has now increased the number of beneficiaries of the special education development programme in the three core pilot States of Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers to 410.
Inducting 60 new beneficiaries into the fully-funded secondary school scholarship scheme at Jephthah Comprehensive College, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, SPDC said the pupils were painstakingly selected through a transparent and rigorous examination process by a Non-Governmental Organisation, and enrolled into four of the best secondary schools in the country for quality education.
Speaking at the induction ceremony, last Friday, SPDC General Manager, External Relations, Mr Igo Weli, said that “in spite of the low oil price in the global market and the economic challenges in the country, we have kept faith with our commitment to support Nigerian youth, especially the less-privileged, by offering them scholarship, not just to be educated, but also to attend some of the best schools in the country.”
Weli said that the students have been admitted to undertake rigorous secondary education at Jephthah Comprehensive Secondary School, Brookstone Secondary School, Bloombreed High School, and Archdeacon Brown Education Centre, all in Port Harcourt, urging the 60 scholars to turn their special privilege into vast opportunities by working hard to excel at all times.
Advising the students to always maintain top-of-the-class academic records, the general manager, assured that SPDC would continue to fund their educational career in line with existing education support initiatives.
“The C2C approach marks a significant improvement in our portfolio of scholarship schemes,” he said, pointing out that, “It is designed to bridge educational gaps resulting from geographic and social-economic differences as well as help enhance high quality literacy levels in the Niger Delta and Nigeria while meeting UNESCO’s ‘Education for All’ goal.”
In his remarks, Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Prof Kaniye Ebeku, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Patricia Wudhiga Ogbonnaya, commended SPDC for keying into one of the visions of Governor Nyesom Wike’s administration to revive and inspire excellence in education in the state, and charged other corporate organisations to emulate the bold initiative.
The Director of Basic Education, Bayelsa State Ministry of Education, Dr Elizabeth Alagoa, who also represented the Commissioner, Deacon Markson Fefegha, expressed the government’s appreciation to SPDC for always stepping in to support the state’s education programmes, and challenged the new scholars to work hard by utilising every available resources to turn around their lives to enable them contribute to the development of their communities, states and the nation.
In his goodwill message, Director, Basic Education, Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Moses Onoriode Bragiwa, who represented the Commissioner, Chiedu Ebie, while lauding SPDC for sharing the burden of educating the youth of the region, solicited for greater intervention by corporate bodies in critical sectors to assist the government fast-track the development process, especially at this austere period of economic crisis.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana