Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), has launched its Cradle-to-Career Academic Excellence Recognition and Educational Advancement Programme, a flagship of educational intervention under the Board’s Back-to-School Initiative, with 500 outstanding secondary school students from underserved communities of Delta State honoured and rewarded in the first batch of beneficiaries.
The Back-to-School Initiative was conceived as a strategic intervention to improve educational outcomes and expand opportunities by recognising and celebrating secondary students from oil-producing communities who have demonstrated exceptional academic performance in key national examinations and educational transition stages, such as Junior Secondary School (JSS) to Senior Secondary School (SSS).
In a welcome address at the well-attended launch of the Initiative at Nana Model Secondary School, Warri, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, represented by the Manager, Institutional Relations and Entrepreneurship Development (IRED), Engr. James Eyetigha, said the Board is convinced that “when bright minds are nurtured, encouraged and supported, communities prosper, industry thrives and nations advance.”
“Through this initiative,” he declared, “NCDMB is reaffirming its commitment to ensuring that talent and excellence are recognised irrespective of geography, socio-economic background or circumstance.” He stated that the scholarships offered as well as educational support packages, certificates of excellence and commendation letters presented to the beneficiaries, were means of rewarding outstanding achievement, encouraging sustained academic excellence, and inspiring other young learners to pursue educational success.
Engr. Ogbe emphasised that the Cradle-to-Career Programme of its Back-to-School Initiative is fully aligned with the Board’s human capital development mandate as enshrined in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010, and that its chief objective is “to create pathways that enable gifted children from our host communities to progress confidently from the classroom to professional careers, from aspiration to achievement….”
According to him, “The programme goes beyond scholarship support. It encompasses community mobilisation, stakeholder engagement, educational advancement assistance, welfare support, and robust monitoring mechanisms to ensure transparency, accountability and impact.” He said the Initiative would promote youth empowerment, and charged the beneficiaries to appreciate the recognition by the Board as motivation to pursue their dreams unrelentingly.
In an address of appreciation, the Chief Inspector of Education, Warri South, Delta State, Dr. Ugbejeh O. Samson, thanked the NCDMB and its contractor, Albatech Services Limited, for their contributions to educational development in the country, noting that their advocacy for Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and consistent investment in teacher capacity and student welfare have made them true partners in nation building.
“The Award of Excellence you have given is a challenge and a motivation for us to do even more for the children of this nation,” he declared, adding, “We look forward to deepening this partnership for greater impact in the years ahead.”
Speaking on behalf of heads of 11 secondary schools in Warri South, whose students received the Awards and support packages, the Principal, Hussey College, Warri, Mrs. Juliet Ingo, expressed profound appreciation to the NCDMB for the support and motivation to students and teachers, and assured that they would live up to expectation in educational attainments. A total of 300 students benefitted from Warri South.
At Urhiapele Mixed Secondary School, Sapele, where 200 students received the Awards and educational support packages, the Principal, Mrs. Flourish Esiri Izibili, was profusely thankful to the NCDMB Management for its thoughtfulness and gestures. She prayed for divine blessings on the Management.
The Cradle-to-Career Programme is expected to be launched in secondary schools in other underserved communities in all oil- and gas-producing states of the Niger Delta in subsequent weeks