NNPC/Seplat Energy Joint Venture (JV) has graduated 127 teachers and education evaluators in Imo State under the first cohort of its Seplat Teachers Empowerment Programme (STEP), equipping them with digital skills, STEAM-focused teaching techniques and alternative income-generating skills to enhance their professional development and economic empowerment.
The maiden Imo State edition brought together teachers from communities across the state for an intensive training programme over a three-month period, designed to go beyond conventional classroom instruction.
Participants received practical training in digital learning, communications, entrepreneurship and skills development, with a focus on empowering them to apply the knowledge gained in their classrooms and communities.
Speaking at the graduation, Director of External Affairs & Social Performance, Seplat Energy Plc, Chioma Afe, represented by the General Manager, Corporate Social Investment & Social Performance, Seplat Energy Plc, Esther Icha, said the Joint Venture’s investment in education was driven by its belief that empowering teachers was one of the most effective ways to create lasting impact in communities.
She said the STEP programme had previously been implemented in Edo and Delta states, where more than 2,000 teachers had been trained and empowered, adding that the Imo edition marked the programme’s first intervention in the state.
According to Afe, the programme was deliberately designed to extend beyond conventional teaching skills by equipping teachers with digital competencies to integrate technology into teaching and learning, improve productivity and better prepare students for an increasingly digital world.
She also highlighted the programme’s focus on alternative sources of income, noting that economic empowerment could strengthen teachers’ financial resilience, encourage entrepreneurship and provide opportunities for additional income beyond their primary profession.
Addressing the graduating teachers, Afe urged them to view their certificates not as the end of their journey, but as the beginning of a greater responsibility to apply their knowledge and share it with others.
“Take the digital skills you have acquired into your classrooms, share your knowledge with fellow teachers, encourage your students to learn, explore and innovate,” she said.
“Take the digital skills you have acquired into your classrooms, share your knowledge with fellow teachers, encourage your students to learn, explore and innovate,” she said.
She challenged the teachers to become examples of responsible entrepreneurship and financial empowerment in their communities, stressing that the true measure of the programme would be the impact created after the graduation.
“The true measure of this programme will be in the impact you create after today, the students you inspire, the colleagues you support and the communities you influence,” Afe said.
Speaking on behalf of the Chief Upstream Investment Officer, NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), Olanrewaju Igandan, the Subsurface Operations Advisor, NUIMS, Chizoba Onyike, said the graduation represented more than the completion of a teacher-training programme, describing it as an investment in the future of host communities.
He noted that teachers served as critical channels through which knowledge and opportunity were transferred to younger generations.
“Today is not just the graduation of trained teachers, it also means our impact in host communities. Because we very well know that if you educate the teachers, you empower the community,” Igandan said.
He thanked the partners, facilitators, government representatives and other stakeholders who contributed to the success of the programme and wished the graduating teachers success in their future endeavours.
Also speaking, the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, represented by the Commissioner for Education, Prof. B.T.O. Ikegwuoha, congratulated the participants and expressed joy at the JV’s teachers’ empowerment initiative coming to the state.
He advised teachers to embrace the changing nature of education by moving beyond memorisation and conventional teaching approaches towards practical, research-driven and skills-based learning.
The governor encouraged the teachers to become trainers, mentors and innovators, urging them to embody the STEP motto: ‘Teach. Inspire. Transform.’
“These products exhibited here are products you made by yourself. One, it gives you self-esteem that you are able to produce value. Secondly, it is a source of residual income,” he said.
He also urged the teachers to use the knowledge gained from the programme to positively influence their students, emphasising that meaningful transformation could begin with impacting one student at a time.
Commissioner for Niger Delta Affairs and Intelligence, Imo State, Dr Henry Okafor, commended the Seplat Energy JV for what he described as its strong commitment to community engagement and development in Imo State.
Okafor described education as the foundation of individual and societal development and hailed the Joint Venture for investing in teachers, particularly in communities within the state’s oil-producing areas.
He urged the beneficiaries to see their participation as an opportunity earned through hard work and encouraged them to use the knowledge acquired to create positive change in their schools and communities.
On the entrepreneurship and innovation challenge, a practical component of the programme, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Dr Benedicta Okorie, who chaired the panel of judges, disclosed that 23 entries were initially received, with 16 contestants advancing to the final presentation stage.
Nwachukwu Choice Oleji, who presented a concept around antiseptic production, emerged as the overall winner with 432 points and received a N500,000 cash prize to support the development of the business.
Obinna Nnele, who presented unripe plantain flour, emerged second with 425 points, while Golden Ezekwe, whose business concept focused on braiding, placed third with 421 points. They received grants of N300,000 and N200,000.
Other business concepts presented by participants included liquid soap production, fashion design and fish farming, demonstrating the programme’s emphasis on practical skills and alternative sources of income.
One of the two-joint best graduating teachers, Samuel Chijoke, a Mathematics teacher at Stella Maris Foundation School, Ohaji, said the programme had equipped participants with knowledge and ICT resources they could take back to their classrooms.
The co-best graduating teacher, Onuoha Success, expressed appreciation to the NEPL/Seplat JV and NNPC, saying the programme had impacted him both professionally and personally. He encouraged the Joint Venture to sustain the initiative in Imo State.
Source: The Nations
