Contrary to the assumption that Nigeria’s public schools’ system is dead and buried, Shell says it has often picked some of Nigeria’s most ‘exceptional brains’ in the public schools, saying there is no doubt that Nigeria has quality human capital, even at levels many Nigerians cannot believe.
This is as the general manager, external relations, Igo Weli, said in Port Harcourt last week that the $2 billion (about N600bn) the company had so far remitted to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) should have made justifiable impact by now so people could leave Shell alone to focus on oil exploration.
Weli made the down-to-earth statement when he declared open the 2019 Shell Secondary School Quiz in Port Harcourt where four finalist-schools challenged one another before Community Secondary School in Aleto, Eleme LGA of Rivers State, pushed Community Secondary School Rumueprikon and Community Secondary School Asa, Imo State, to the second and third positions, respectively.
The general manager said: “The focus is on public schools because we believe that that is where the attention is needed. So, we don’t go to private schools; we go to public schools. We do some assessments to select the finalists and then we come and test them.
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“The student from Community Secondary, Owaza, Abia State, was exceptional last year. Today, the student from Community Secondary School, Aleto, is also exceptional. So, the future is bright when you look at quality human capital, but the enabling environment is also key.”
He queried: “Why is it that when people leave here and go to other countries, their performance is exceptional? When they go outside, their delivery is exceptional. What are the things that we do that discourage people to grow? We need to ask ourselves questions.”
He made it clear that Shell cannot do everything, arguing that already, 80 percent of Nigeria’s annual budgets come from the oil industry. “I am not saying that we are not going to make efforts to make improvements; we do already. About 80 percent of the budget of this country is funded by the oil and gas industry and we are right at the front in contributing to that.
“We have always talked about an agency like NDDC, which is actually set up to drive sustainable development in Niger Delta and also to manage the impact of oil and gas operations. From 2002 to 2018, SPDC, SNEPCo and her partners have put in $2 billion into NDDC. That is huge.”
Shell gave laptops, resourceful books, and other learning aids to the four schools and much more to the winners.
Some of the students interviewed said they had found the courage to fight for the environment, which is the theme for the year, according to Ojikutu Mukaila, who stood in for the GM of the environment unit of Shell, Nnene-Anochie Chidube.
