By Onoja Baba
What was once sold as a life-changing aviation scholarship for Bayelsa youths is now mired in allegations of deception, abandoned promises and quiet damage control. Fresh testimonies, court filings and online claims have turned the programme of billionaire industrialist Dr. Eruani Azibapu Godbless into a widening controversy, with former participants alleging they were misled about overseas training and instead pushed into unrelated work, accusations the Azikel Group has rejected.
The promise that drew attention
In 2024, the aviation scholarship programme drew admiration across Bayelsa and beyond after it was announced that 155 young people had been shortlisted to compete for overseas aviation training in the United States. The project was presented as a bold private-sector intervention that would produce commercial pilots, helicopter pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers from the state.
But the glowing public image has since been overshadowed by claims that the scholarship did not unfold as promised. At the centre of the storm is Ezekiel Kariyai Daukoru, one of the candidates who says the entire process was built on representations that were never honoured.
Court action and denied promises
Daukoru claims that after passing what was described as a highly competitive examination, he and another successful candidate were never truly taken into the aviation training pipeline as expected. Instead, he alleges, they were placed in an arrangement that repeatedly shifted away from the promised overseas training, even as assurances were made that the United States programme would still happen.
Azikel Group has denied that account. The company insists the scholarship was genuine, says the beneficiaries received support and training-related opportunities, and maintains that the two candidates abandoned the programme voluntarily. It has also accused the claimants of attempting to malign the company through public campaigns.
Old pattern, fresh allegations
The controversy widened when another Bayelsa youth, Marcus Mavie Mavis, gave a separate testimony describing an earlier experience that he says followed a similar script. According to him, he and three others were promised jobs with Nigerian Agip Oil Company, only to end up in Port Harcourt working on a poultry farm.
He alleged that they were later moved to Emadike in Ogbia Local Government Area, where they performed farm labour, including clearing vegetation on plantain farms. He said the work was far removed from the prestigious employment they believed they had been recruited for.
Mavis further claimed that promises of refinery jobs, oil company placements and other attractive opportunities were used to lure Bayelsa youths into arrangements that later turned into manual labour. Those claims have not been independently verified, but they are now feeding the wider public suspicion around the scholarship row.
Wikipedia edit raises eyebrows
The controversy took another turn after a social media commentator alleged that Dr. Eruani’s Wikipedia biography had been edited to remove references claiming he trained 155 Bayelsans through the aviation initiative. Critics say the timing of the edit appears suspicious, especially as the scholarship dispute was already gathering momentum.
Archived versions of the biography reportedly contained language suggesting that Dr. Eruani worked with an aviation institute to train 155 participants. More recent versions no longer contain that wording. No public explanation has been given for the change, and the matter remains part of the broader online fight over the programme’s credibility.
What Azikel says happened
Azikel Group, through its communications officer Austin Ebipade, says the narrative being pushed by critics is false and defamatory. The company insists that only two candidates passed the scholarship examination, that both received monthly stipends totalling about ₦3.2 million each, and that they later quit after showing conduct inconsistent with the programme’s goals.
The company also says the trainees allegedly wanted to abandon the programme after arriving in the United States and accuses them of trying to sabotage its reputation through social media. Its position is that the initiative was designed as a genuine philanthropic effort for Bayelsa youths interested in aviation careers.
The case now in public view
Court documents reviewed by several media outlets show that Daukoru has taken legal steps over the alleged scholarship promises and is also pursuing claims related to his arrest, detention and alleged violations of his fundamental rights. Those claims remain contested, and no court has ruled on the substance of the dispute.
The scandal has created a sharp contrast with the public image of Dr. Eruani, who is widely known as a billionaire industrialist with interests in petroleum refining, aviation, power, construction and dredging. His rise from medical doctor to corporate magnate has long been held up as one of Bayelsa’s biggest private-sector success stories.
What remains unanswered
For now, the key questions remain unanswered: Were the youths truly promised overseas aviation training? Were they diverted into other forms of work? Did the company fully deliver on the public promises attached to the scheme? And why has the controversy only deepened as more testimonies emerge?
Until the courts resolve the competing claims and documentary evidence is fully tested, the Bayelsa aviation scholarship programme will remain under a cloud one that now stretches far beyond a single scholarship and into questions of trust, accountability and the exploitation of young people’s hopes.
