The Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC/Seplat Energy Joint Venture has adopted a value-chain approach to education by investing simultaneously in teachers, students, learning facilities, scholarships and entrepreneurship initiatives to deliver sustainable impact.
Manager of Corporate Communications, Communications and Media Relations at Seplat Energy, Mr. Stanley Opara, in a statement on Monday explained that the company’s education strategy is designed to strengthen the entire learning ecosystem rather than focusing on one-off interventions that generate goodwill but produce limited long-term results.
Opara therefore advocated a shift from traditional corporate philanthropy to a comprehensive education investment model that strengthens every stage of the learning process, arguing that Nigeria’s future economic growth depends on building a skilled and globally competitive workforce.
The company said corporate support for education should extend beyond isolated donations and scholarships to include teacher development, student empowerment, school infrastructure, entrepreneurship and other interventions capable of producing lasting improvements across the education ecosystem.
It lamented that Nigeria continues to face a daunting education challenge, with an estimated 10.5 million primary school-age children out of school and weak learning outcomes undermining the country’s capacity to produce the skilled manpower required for industrialisation, innovation and sustainable economic growth.
Statistics released by the company show that 34 per cent of the 780 undergraduate scholarships awarded under its scholarship programme have benefited students from host communities, reflecting its commitment to expanding educational opportunities in areas where it operates.
The Seplat JV PEARLs Quiz, which currently covers secondary schools in Delta, Edo and Imo states with plans for further expansion, has impacted 61,035 teachers and students since its inception in 2012.
The initiative has also provided more than N101 million in prize funding for educational projects, including classroom blocks, libraries and school buses.
Similarly, the Seplat Teachers Empowerment Programme, STEP, has trained 1,334 educators, comprising 1,232 secondary school teachers and 102 officials of state Ministries of Education, with the objective of improving teaching quality and learning outcomes.
The company maintained that strengthening teachers, motivating students through academic excellence, improving school infrastructure and widening access to tertiary education through scholarships are interconnected interventions that collectively produce a stronger education system.
It stressed that every major sector of the Nigerian economy, including energy, healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing and technology, depends on a steady pipeline of well-trained professionals, making sustained investment in education both an economic necessity and a strategic national priority.
The company called for stronger collaboration between governments and the private sector to mobilise greater investment in education, urging corporate organisations to adopt structured, measurable interventions capable of transforming learning outcomes rather than relying on isolated acts of philanthropy.
It also challenged the media to highlight initiatives that deliver measurable improvements in education and contribute to long-term national development.
According to the company, Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global economy will depend not only on increased investment in education but on adopting integrated interventions that connect quality teaching, improved learning environments, expanded access and workforce readiness.
