The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) Joint Venture, has said that it is committed to improving quality of education in Nigeria.
The Chairman/Managing Director, CNL, Mr Jeffrey Ewing, said this in his goodwill message at the Award Presentation Ceremony for the 2018 Awokoya Memorial Chemistry Competition held at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) Conference Centre, Effurun, Delta state.
The competition was organized by NNPC/CNL Joint Venture in partnership with the Chemical Society of Nigeria (CSN) and the Delta State Ministry is Education.
Ewing, who was represented by Mr Tony Emegere, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, PGPA Superintendent, CNL, said that over the years, the NNPC/CNL Joint Venture has shown commitment to supporting quality education through investments in education infrastructure, sponsorship of manpower development programmes and provision of scholarships.
“We are committed to improving the quality of education in Nigeria because education is important for the development of the country.
“Our corporate believe is that education remains a veritable tool for personal and societal growth and sustainable development,” Ewing said.
The CNL Chairman/MD, added that the NNPC/CNL JV was pleased that their contribution to education were helping to improve the ability of Nigeria to develop quality manpower in various fields including, but not limited to oil and gas industry.
Ewing noted that, apart from the fact the Awokoya Memorial Chemistry Competition was helping in immortalising the persons they are named after, the competition also helped the students to develop their mental attitude for personal development and thus add more value to the society.
He said they are assured that with the support and commitment of the Delta State Ministry of Education and the Chemical Society of Nigeria, the competition will continue to stimulate students interest in the study of Chemistry and other Science and technology subjects for a long time to come.
Ewing said he was very happy that the competition is achieving its intended objectives, adding that the competition can only grow bigger, better and stronger.
The Awokoya Memo Memorial Chemistry Competition, according to Ewing, was initiated to promote the study of the subject among secondary school students of Delta State and in memory of Professor Stephen Awokoya, a great Chemist, who died on March 15, 1985.
On his party, the President, Chemical Society of Nigeria (CSN), Professor Sunday Okeniyi, who was represented by Dr Ebitimi Perezi commended NNPC/CNL JV and the Delta State government for their support, saying the competition was in tandem with their core value of rewarding individuals who have performed excellently well in academics.
Chairman, CSN, Delta State Chapter, Dr (Mrs) Tina Isichei, lamented that over the years, the offer of the CSN to sponsor the overall best winners who choose Chemistry as a field of study through the Universities of their choice, both at the state and the National levels, has remained fallow.
“In these days when there is a cry for diversifying our economy we need the principles and knowledge of chemistry to make this a reality and I want to challenge our awardees and other students present to strive towards academic excellence as we cannot truly develop as a nation until we embrace Science and Technology.”
She said the competition had shown that they were indeed making progress as they were achieving the aims for which the competition was institutionalized.
She said the competition is achieving its aim because over 600 students participated in this year’s competition, adding that very high scores were also observed in the second stage of the competition both at the state and national levels.
“This goes further to show that there is hope for the educational sector and indeed the future of this nation, as the examination leading to today’s award ceremony at both state and national levels are standardized with zero tolerance for examination malpractice.
While appreciating Chevron for sponsoring the competition, Isichei appealed for more funds to enable them reach more students for the competition and more teachers for their “Train the Trainer” workshop.
High point of the ceremony was the presentation of awards to the overall best students both at the state and national levels.
Ate Ovie Great of Nepa Staff Secondary School, Sapele, was awarded with the first prize, while Jack Gogo Ataisikup of Government College, Ughelli, took the second prize and Oyawiri of Our Saviour Secondary School, Sapele, took home the third prize.
Winner of the 2018 Awokoya Memorial Chemistry Competition, Ate Ovie Great, who spoke to our correspondent, said winning the first prize was not easy as he had to burn the midnight oil day and night.
#
