One evening in 2010, dinner was served. On dinner table were 10 young men and women brimming from ear to ear, so privileged in the entire Niger Delta region. They sat on same dining table and in the very home of the first Nigerian managing director of Shell Petroleum Development Company SPDC at Shell RA in Port Harcourt.
Also feeling privileged were some five Nigerian journalists there to cover the departure of the first set of beneficiaries of the international postgraduate scheme just introduced by the company.
SPDC leaders were upbeat because these were some of the fast feats to signpost the Nigerian leadership after many years of outcry for Nigerianisation of the company. The other was the relocation of front-end-engineering design unit from Aberdeen to IA in Port Harcourt. This is the sensitive unit that designs a Shell project to make it ready for bidding by contractors. It also serves as supervision tool during construction.
Also of reckoning was the introduction of the Nigerian Content drive in Shell that culminated in the law of 2012, the Nigerian Fund set up to give access to Nigerian contractors to execute big jobs in Shell, and the ceding of 95 per cent of all contracts to Nigerian companies. This ranges above $1.5Bn worth of jobs in one year. All these were parts of steps to hand over the oil industry to Nigerians.
And so, the 10 scholars sat happily to eat without being any hungry, because the excitement was huge. They had come through a rigorous screening exercise full of tests and essays. Only the best were needed, not just to qualify for the endless opportunities that stood waiting ahead but the arduous tasks that they never knew was to come; a task that has been described as one year of slavery. So, only the best brains, the fittest, and the most diligent in hard work would pass through the one year of pulsating task in another man’s land, the UK.
The dinner may have ceased but the yearly scheme is on, and bigger, now 13 per year. This has emerged as the icing on the cake of various scholarship schemes operated by Shell for decades. It is said to be a response to the existence of gaps in the way technologists are produced in Nigerian universities and a way to produce industry-ready graduates.
History of education endeavours:
From the file, it was revealed thus: Shell Companies in Nigeria have a long history of supporting education through scholarships and other initiatives. Since inception in the 1950s, the Shell scholarship scheme has supported several thousands of “Shell Scholars” many of whom are among today’s captains of industry, thought leaders, traditional rulers, and officials of various arms of government.
In 2018, approximately $5.9 million (N1.78 billion) was invested in scholarships by The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited operated Joint Venture (SPDC JV) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).
Grants were awarded to 532 secondary school students and 430 university undergraduates in 2018. Shell companies in Nigeria have awarded 8,758 secondary and 5,165 university educational grants between 2011 and 2018. This includes 287 secondary school scholarships to people with special needs and physical challenges.
Support for education is just one aspect of SPDC’S social investments in the Niger Delta, other communitydriven development programmes and initiatives, which focus on various themes as determined by benefiting communities, include community health, enterprise development, and infrastructure development.
Igo Weli: 13 Niger Delta indigenes win SPDC JV scholarship to UK varsities
The 13 indigenes of Niger Delta states of Bayelsa, Delta, Imo and Rivers that won the 2019 SPDC Joint Venture scholarship for a one-year master’s degree in three top-ranked universities in the United Kingdom gathered at a hall in PH. Officials said the latest awards bring the total number of beneficiaries to 92 since the inception of the scheme in 2010.
“A lack of world-class research institutions and limited access to technology are key challenges in enabling Nigerians and Nigerian companies to play an even greater role in the oil and gas value chain. Therefore, the SPDC Joint Venture has, over the years, developed many scholarship programmes and other initiatives as part of our continuing efforts to develop indigenous manpower for the oil and gas industry,” SPDC’S General Manager External Relations, Igo Weli, said at the award ceremony in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
Represented by SPDC’S Social Investment Manager, Gloria Udoh, Weli explained that the scheme was targeted at host communities. “We have the national scholarship which caters for the entire country in addition to the scholarships offered by our deepwater business, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company.”
According to him, the fully-funded scholarship covers “all the direct and indirect activities leading up to the award of the postgraduate degree including visa fees, tuition, living expenses, other allowances and return flight tickets for a one-year Master’s degree in top-ranked partner universities.
The partner universities are: Imperial College London; University of Leeds; and University of Aberdeen.
SPDC’S General Manager, Nigerian Content Development (NCD), Olanrewaju Olawuyi, said the company was committed to country value-addition not just through scholarships but also through in-country manufacturing, supplier development, asset ownership and infrastructure development.
Olawuyi said, “Our approach to developing local human capacity has evolved over the years as the challenges facing the industry and our businesses have changed. We look forward to their returning home and contributing to the development of the oil and gas industry and their communities.”
One of the awardees, Ahante Promise, described the scholarship as “a life-time opportunity to further improve myself and compete equally with my peers all over the world. Shell is doing a great job and I am extremely grateful.” Another beneficiary, Woyinpreye Cliff-ekubo, expressed appreciation to SPDC “for the opportunity and continuous support in ensuring human capacity development in Nigeria.”
Gloria Udoh: The advice you can’t overlook
Gloria Udoh is not only a manager (Social Investment) in SPDC but a pastor, mother and sister to all Niger Delta youths. Her passion is so much that she often sponsors awards to best performers in some of the company’s schemes aimed at helping the youths of the region out of poverty into prosperity. Her biggest gift however is her piercing words of live advice to those who wish to break through faster. On this day, Udoh seemed in her usual best with words that create life in lives. She said:
It is a huge privilege to study on scholarship, its a huge responsibility too. You may be one of the best in town but it is God that smiled on you. So, make yourself proud and then make the nation, Nigeria, proud.
Henceforth, you alone will decide where the road leads you. If you must succeed, you must apply due diligence in your actions. Work as hard as you can but look up to Heaven from where success comes. People have different seasons of success but each man/ woman must keet working hard. Some start smart but may falter toward the end but some others come strong toward the end. Society may influence some; friuends can also influence you.
Your goal must be in front of you, despite everything around. Leadership is about influencing people. So, you influence others, not others influencing you. Dangote is a household name in African today and a sign of success but he operates by some principles. For instance, he never forgot his beginning, his mother’s counsel. So, dont forget your parents while there. Keep touch with him. Do not forget your parents counsel, whether they are educated or not. Do not be carried away.
Must : Must come back with MSC ; Must attend classes ; Must study ; If anyhing goes wrong, must reach Shell ; Must beware of plagyarism ; Must not waste the huge sums invested in you ; Must do your homework, submit, and crosscheck for playgyarism.
Great insight from an almunus :
He stood unassumingly like the lecturer he has become but his words turned the hall into huge excitement. Everybody wanted to hear every word that proceeded frm his mouth. He has been there, he saw it all, he has great tips for the Best 13, for all Nigerians going to study in the UK at that level ;
Dont carry may books or clothes, you wont need them, you will end up throwing them away. Dont carry anything for anybody as you go. Make concrete arrangement to pick you up at the airport in London ; else you may suffer your first shock as I did.
Be ready for one year of slavery ; there will be no breathing space, else, you return empty-handed. Assume you do not know anything and start afresh. You are meeting with people from all over the world from different educational backgrounds. The people you meet are on the fast lane.
Form a group for reading. In your group tasks, work for everyone’s success because you succeeed or fail together. Do not miss any opportunity to earn a mark. Do every assignment and ensure you submitted.
Promise Eke makes a promise : I will make Imo State proud in the UK
I am Promise Eke from Ehime Mbano in Imo State. I am heading to Imperial College in the UK to pursue a Master’s Degree in Petroleum GeoSciences. I bagged my first degree in Geology at the Federal University of Petroleum Studies in Efurun, Warri, Delta State. I did my secondary school in the same Warri, at the Standard Model College.
The tips they gave us today are a bit scary because of the realisation that any little thing can make someone return without a certificate. On the other hand, it helps to motivate someone, to serve as a cautionary measure and keep one on his/her toes to strive from one task to another. We have been told to regard it as one year of slavery and I am prepared for it.
Weight : Yes, I can feel the weight of responsibility since I arrived here to find that I am the only beneficiary from Imo State. I promise, I will represent Imo well. I will show that Igbo is not about fraud.
I will equallymake my parents proud ; and the only way I will do this is to strive to always come tops in my class and above all to bring back that certificate.
My advice to young ladies everywhere in Nigeria is to explore what is in them and not allow limitations to stop them. I tell them, there is a lot in you. Do not recline to the thought that after school it is only marriage and ‘the other room’. No, bring out the best in you. A lot is locked up in you. Ladies are being exploited here, but I want you to know that you can do it. Do not feel inferior. Explore and be the best you can be.
Ihedioha: To the Imo State Governor, I say, please help the youths of Imo State by creating funds for entrepreneurs and those with exceptional project ideas. Give scholarships and financial support. I know a lot of my colleagues out there needing funds to start something from their brilliant ideas.
When I return : I intend to explore my professional field (Geo-sciences) to help Nigeria unlock the numerous resources still locked inside the earth. Nigeria’s assets are in oil and gas and much needs to be unlocked still. It is Nigeria’s area of strenght and we must increase the reserves.
