By Osahon Osahon
Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc (SEPLAT) says it will continue to maintain and support quality education in the country particularly in its area operation in the states of the Niger Delta.
SEPLAT, a leading indigenous oil and gas exploration and production company, stated this during the SEPLAT Pearls Quiz competition for science students in secondary schools in Edo and Delta State on Friday held at Imaguero College, Benin City.
The company at the event rewarded three schools and several students at the 2019 edition of the SEPLAT Pearls Quiz as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme in their area operation.
Chief Executive Officer of SEPLAT, Mr Austin Avuru, stated that the company was desirous of promoting excellence in the nation’s education most especially in the area of science subjects in secondary schools.
Avuru, represented by Mr. Chima Njoku, General Manager Western Assets SEPLAT, said, “This programme is designed to rekindle the spirit of academic excellence and healthy competition in our youths by motivating, encouraging and rewarding the scholarship spirit in them as they inculcate the principles of team work.”
According to him, the PEARLs Quiz is a unique CSR initiative of SEPLAT aimed at promoting academic excellence, rewarding diligence and raising the quality of education in SEPLAT’s operational areas.
He added that since 2012, when the competition debuted, over 608 schools have participated in the programme while winning students and schools have received cash prizes and projects.
A total of eight schools from Delta – Federal Government College Warri, Deeper Life High School Opete, Peniel Academy Agbor, Divine Academy High School Sapel and Dsc Technical High Schools Aladja – made it to the knockout stage of the 2019 edition.
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Similarly, Don Bosco Science Academy, Ekpoma; Uniben Demonstration Secondary School, Benin; Pioneer Education Centre, Benin, were among the nine Edo State based schools that participated at the knockout stage this year.
After a rigorous and challenging competition, Don Bosco Science Academy Ekpoma emerged overall winner of the competition; while Peniel Academy Agbor and Deeper Life High School Opete emerged as second and third runners-up respectively.
Also speaking at the event, Dr Chioma Nwachuku, General Manager, External Affairs & Communications, noted that: “SEPLAT PEARLs Quiz addresses Sustainability Development Goal 4 by ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for both public and private schools in Edo and Delta States, thus promoting lifelong learning opportunities for the teeming youth population.”
Meanwhile, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and his Delta State counterpart, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa have hailed SEPLAT’s consistency in organizing the programme for schools in its area of operation.
Represented by the State Commissioner for Education, Hon. Jimoh Ijegbai, Obaseki thanked SEPLAT for instituting and sustaining the competition.
On his part, Governor Okowa, represented by the State Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Prince Emmanuel Amgbaduba, commended the initiative behind the programme, adding that the competition had help to promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and healthy competition among students.
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This year, the overall wining school received N7million. The first runner-up received N3million, while the second-runner received N1million.
Students and teachers were also rewarded with laptops, cash prizes, and learning materials, including stationary.
Projects that have been delivered to schools through the initiative over the years include a language laboratory, 3 roofing projects, decked block-of-classrooms, interlocking stones for an entire school premises designed to stave off erosion, 5 computer laboratories in different schools and 4 brand new school buses.
