Seplat PEARLs Quiz: A Decade of Boosting Education in Edo, Delta

Uchechukwu Nnaike

With the goal of enhancing academic performance in its host states and the country in general, Seplat Energy Plc. has for the past 10 years, been organising the PEARLs quiz for secondary school students in Edo and Delta States.

The competition is among other annual programmes and projects that usually gulp millions of naira and also meet Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) and best practice.

The company began the PEARLs quiz empowerment initiative involving all secondary schools in its host states in an all-round curriculum quiz competition in 2012 after it made major debut in the oil and gas industry.

It has since targeted rural and urban schools in its host communities as a way of improving the educational standards of students in both states.

Participation for the programme is open to all secondary schools in Edo and Delta States and the competition holds at the school level along the line of the senatorial zones and ends at the states level to determine the winners. The quiz contest comprises selected questions in various subjects following approved school curricula. At the end of the final stage, the three top performing schools and the winning students are rewarded with various prizes.

The PEARLs Quiz programme which is implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Education in the respective states is expected to stimulate healthy competition among schools in the designated area; encourage learning and reward outstanding academic performance.

The initiative by Seplat Energy has been described as a step in the right direction, considering the role of youths in the development of the country. The company has taken a deliberate decision to target the youths with the programme because young people represent the future of any community and the nation, as youths are active and need to be assisted to channel their energies towards the right direction.

They also need to be encouraged to embrace the spirit of scholarship and supported to understand and appreciate the fact that there is good reward for scholastic excellence.

The company has committed significant resources to meticulously craft the programme to rekindle the spirit of academic excellence and healthy competition in private and public schools in both states.

Apart from cash prizes to the winning schools, it has delivered various projects to schools through the PEARLs quiz initiative over the years, which include language laboratory, roofing projects, decked block of classrooms, interlocking stones for an entire school premises to prevent erosion, computer laboratories in different schools, among others.

The company recently concluded the 10th edition of the Seplat Energy Pearls Quiz, at the Government House Asaba, Delta State with Peniel Academy, Boji Boji Owa, Agbor, Delta State emerging the winner.

Two Edo schools, Pioneer Education Centre and Igbinedion Education Centre, also came second and third positions respectively.

Peniel Academy smiled home with the star prize of N7 million, as well as a trophy; and the three students that represented the school got N100,000 each. Pioneer Education Centre got N3 million, a trophy, and its three students got N75,000 each; just as Igbinedion Education Centre got N1 million and a trophy, while its three students got N50,000 each.

At the end of the keenly contested quiz competition, every teacher from all the participating schools got a tablet, while the teachers of the four finalists received a laptop each.

The students’ performance was applauded by Edo and Delta State functionaries and management of Seplat Energy that witnessed the ceremony.
Goodwill messages from Delta State government and NPDC were mixed with commendations for Seplat Energy, as other corporate bodies were urged to replicate the initiatives to develop their host communities.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, represented by the Commissioner for Secondary Education, Mrs. Rose Ezewu, commended Seplat and its joint venture partner, the NPDC for sustaining the CSR programme in the last 10 years.

“It is no gainsaying that NPDC/Seplat Energy JV has made a remarkable impression in the education industry in both Delta and Edo States. It is a milestone that has left a lasting impression in the minds of students, teachers and the schools through interventions in education,” the governor said.

He called on other cooperate organisations to emulate the Seplat Energy initiative, insisting that the mantra of the Universal Basic Education (UBE’s) ‘Education For All’ is the responsibility of all.

In her remarks, the Director, External Affairs and Sustainability, Seplat Energy, Dr. Chioma Nwachuku, represented by the Western Assets Base Manager, Mr. Emmanuel Otokhine, explained that the Seplat Pearls Quiz as an educational initiative, is targeted at boosting the quality of education in the states where the company operates.

She reiterated that the programme is also aimed at providing facilities in schools in the states.

While thanking Okowa for his support, she also congratulated the winning schools and urged others to improve on their performances, stressing that the Pearls Quiz is very transparent.

“In line with the Sustainable Development Goals 4 (SDG4), the Seplat Pearls Quiz ensures inclusive, equitable quality education and promotion of life-long learning opportunities for public and private secondary school students in our host states of Edo and Delta,” Nwachuku added.

Also, the CSR Manager of Seplat Energy, Esther Icha disclosed that the oil company has introduced several new awards for participating schools, including best behaved school and most promising school, among others.

Basking in their euphoria of winning prizes, students of Peniel Academy, Pioneer Education Centre and Igbinedion Education Centre thanked the company for the opportunity given to them to showcase their talents.

This year’s competition also featured chronographic and cultural dance performances by students of different schools.

Other notable dignitaries who attended the ceremony were: the Deputy Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ochor Christopher Ochor, represented by Mr. Emmanuel Enebeli; Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Speaker; the Secretary to the Delta State Government (SSG), Chief Patrick Ukah, represented by Mr. Felix Ideh; Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the SSG; Commissioner for Higher Education, Delta State, Professor Patrick Muoboghare, represented by Mrs. Stella Agbeyeke; Director, Inspectorate Department, Delta State Ministry of Higher Education; Mr.
Augustine Ede Oghoro; Permanent Secretary Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education; and the Permanent Secretary, Edo State Ministry of Education, Mrs. Stella-Marris Imasuen, represented by Mr. Bernard Aghomon of the Science, Technical and Vocational Education Directorate, Edo State Ministry of Education.

Seplat Energy has continually demonstrated the firm commitment to a long-term infrastructural development of her host communities, as well as, to growing the human capital and intellectual aptitude of the people in these states.

Apart from the PEARLS quiz, the organisation also organises several other CSR initiatives like teachers’ empowerment programme known as STEP, which second edition started earlier in the year. The STEP initiative is an educational programme through which teachers are equipped with all it takes to continue to impart knowledge in their students with modern techniques.