WAEC Partners NNPC on Quiz Competition

As details of results of the state leg of NNPC yearly quiz competition conducted on July 22 in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) began to emerge, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, has expressed satisfaction with the innovation introduced in the conduct of this year’s competition.

Receiving briefs on the status of the 15th edition of the competition in Abuja, Baru said the engagement of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS), as well as the Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN) for the exercise promised to enhance the integrity of the competition.

He described as catalytic, the one-off grant of N100,000 for state winners and the scholarship of N300,000 per session for the overall winner at the grand finale, redeemable upon presentation of evidence of admission into tertiary institutions, saying that it would enhance the competitiveness of the yearly event.

“As a corporate entity, we are passionate about impacting lives positively through our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects.

The annual quiz competition is a flagship project for NNPC that was designed to encourage science and technology education among the youth for the purpose of lending a hand in building future manpower for the Oil and Gas Industry.”

Emerging details of the just concluded state level event indicated that of the 36 states and FCT winners, 15 came from public schools, while 22 were from private colleges.

The data from the yearly competition which started exclusively for participants from the Niger Delta in 2000, but morphed into a nationwide exercise in 2001, also indicated a gender mix among the winners, with eight and 29 female and male state winners respectively

The NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, who spoke at the briefing, described the overall performance of the exercise as excellent.

Explaining the details of the results, Ughamadu said 19 winners scored 80 per cent and above in the exercise, adding that 13 of them had scores that ranged between 60 per cent and 79 per cent, with the five others emerging with marks below 60 per cent.

The Group Public Affairs Division, which coordinates the yearly event sent its personnel who are members of the quiz committee to observe the exercise in some selected states, including Kogi, Plateau, Enugu, Rivers, Oyo, Zamfara and the FCT.

Designed mainly for students in secondary schools, the competition has impacted positively on the intellectual attainment of young Nigerians. It has provided financial succour for successful contestants who have been placed on bursary throughout their university education. Many of the awardees have moved on to achieve academic laurels in tertiary institutions locally and internationally.