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SPDC awards full scholarships to new batch of 60 Niger Delta students

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PORTHARCOURT-A new batch of 60 children from the Niger Delta has been awarded the special secondary school scholarship of The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Joint Venture, Cradle to Career covering tuition and all other bills for six years in four of the topmost private secondary schools in Port Harcourt.

Brookstone Secondary School, Jephthah Comprehensive College, Archdeacon Brown Educational Centre (ABEC) and Bloombreed High School in Port Harcourt receive 60 beneficiaries each year from difficult to reach parts of the Niger Delta on full scholarship for their secondary education, after a two-week orientation programme with introductory courses in academics, character and psychology.

L-R: General Manager, External Relations of SPDC, Mr. Igo Weli; Master Anioki Godfirst (Bayelsa State Beneficiary); Master Ibojoh Godwin (Delta state beneficiary); Miss Blessing Chioma Eric (Rivers State beneficiary); Mrs. Elizabeth E. Alagoa, Director for Secondary Education – Bayelsa State Ministry of Education and Dr. Moses Bragiwa, Director for Basic and Secondary Education – Delta State Ministry of Education, In Port Harcourt.

L-R: General Manager, External Relations of SPDC, Mr. Igo Weli; Master Anioki Godfirst (Bayelsa State Beneficiary); Master Ibojoh Godwin (Delta state beneficiary); Miss Blessing Chioma Eric (Rivers State beneficiary); Mrs. Elizabeth E. Alagoa, Director for Secondary Education – Bayelsa State Ministry of Education and Dr. Moses Bragiwa, Director for Basic and Secondary Education – Delta State Ministry of Education, In Port Harcourt.

The 60 students are the seventh set of beneficiaries and they bring the total number of beneficiaries since inception of the Cradle to Career programme to 410. The Managing Director of SPDC and Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, said, “This year, the first set of beneficiaries completed their secondary education and the report we have is that about all of them recorded excellent performance in the school certificate and unified tertiary matriculation examinations. It means the aims of the programme are being achieved.”

Represented by the General Manager External Relations at the award ceremony in Port Harcourt on Friday, the MD said SPDC and its joint venture partners have sustained the scholarship initiative despite the current economic challenges because they see education as a right for every child and not a privilege.

 Dr Patricia Ogbonnaya, Mrs Elizabeth Alagoa and Dr Moses Onoriode Bragiwa, representatives of the Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states Commissioners for Education respectively, extolled the Cradle to Career scholarship scheme for complementing their governments’ investments in education. They praised the transparent selection process and the human capital development benefits of the programme to the region.

“SPDC has a passion for investing in people and we are happy to report that students in the programme have over the years been on the top of their classes in their respective schools. We thank Shell and their joint venture partners for helping to ameliorate the problems of the Niger Delta,” said Dame Christie Toby, the proprietress of one of the implementing schools.

The SPDC JV launched the Cradle to Career initiative in 2010 to provide for bright indigent students and improve on the positive results of its other portfolio of scholarship schemes for local and international undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

Shell Companies in Nigeria have a long history of supporting education through scholarships and other initiatives. In 2015, a total of $10.1 million was invested in scholarships by the SPDC Joint Venture and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo.) Grants were awarded to 930 secondary school students and 638 university undergraduates in 2015, with a total of 10,401 (secondary) and 3,532 (university) grants given over the last five years.

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Music Icon Quincy Jones Passes Away At 91

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Quincy Jones, the legendary music producer, composer, and cultural icon whose career spanned over seven decades, has passed away at the age of 91.

Jones died peacefully on Sunday night at his Bel Air home, surrounded by family, according to his publicist, Arnold Robinson.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” his family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

Renowned for his unmatched versatility, Jones collaborated with some of the greatest musical talents of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, and Will Smith. He played an integral role in producing Jackson’s groundbreaking albums Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad, which catapulted the pop star to global superstardom and earned Jones worldwide acclaim.

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Born in Chicago in 1933, Jones’ journey into music began early. His childhood introduction came from a neighbor’s piano playing and his mother’s singing. After moving to Washington state following his parents’ divorce, he honed his skills in his high school band and began playing with a young Ray Charles in Seattle’s vibrant club scene.

Jones’ career took off in New York, where he played trumpet in Elvis Presley’s early TV performances and worked with bebop legends like Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. By 1958, he was working with Frank Sinatra, arranging for the singer’s band at the request of Princess Grace Kelly. Their partnership flourished, spanning several projects including Sinatra’s final album LA Is My Lady in 1984.

Throughout the 1960s and 70s, Jones’ talents extended into film and television scores, composing music for films such as The Italian Job, In the Heat of the Night, and the acclaimed The Color Purple, for which he earned three Oscar nominations. He also scored hit TV shows including The Bill Cosby Show and Roots.

In 1985, Jones produced and co-conducted the charity anthem “We Are the World” alongside Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, raising millions for Ethiopian famine relief. Despite personal and professional challenges—including surviving a near-fatal brain aneurysm in 1974—Jones’s career continued to thrive.

Jones’ influence wasn’t limited to music. In 1990, he founded Quincy Jones Entertainment, the company behind the popular sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which launched the career of Will Smith. His media ventures also included the creation of Qwest TV, an on-demand music streaming service, and the magazine Vibe, which celebrated Black music and culture.

Over his career, Jones earned 80 Grammy nominations, winning 28—making him one of the most decorated artists in the award’s history. Tributes poured in following news of his death. Actor Michael Caine, who shared Jones’ birthdate, called him “a wonderful and unique human being.” Music artists such as LL Cool J expressed gratitude, saying, “You were a father and example at a time when I truly needed one. Music would not be music without you.”

Jones is survived by his seven children, leaving behind an indelible legacy that will resonate through generations to come. His life’s work transformed music, television, and culture, proving that there truly was no limit to what Quincy Jones could accomplish.

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Prayers Won’t Build Roads, Fund Children’s Education – Jesse Jagz To Nigerians

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Singer and rapper Jesse Jagz has called on Nigerians to rethink their approach to religion.

Jagz suggested that African traditional religious gods have become ineffective, attributing this to the excessive alcohol given to them during rituals, which, according to him, has made them obese, diabetic, and unable to aid their worshipers.

Speaking on the ‘Big Talk’ podcast, the rapper also criticized followers of foreign religions for relying solely on prayer and expecting miracles without putting in the necessary effort. He stressed that prayers alone cannot provide essential social services or infrastructure.

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“When you go to a shrine and you see the priest pouring gin on the gods, Google how much a bottle of gin was in slavery. 40 slaves.

“Our gods are drunk on alcohol and meat. They are obese and diabetic.

“They can’t help us do anything. Prayers do not build roads or buy books for children. We have forgotten humanity,” he said.

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Presidents Invite Me To Dinner Wherever I Go – Davido Boasts

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Renowned Nigerian singer, David Adeleke, known by his stage name Davido, has stated that he receives special treatment globally due to his celebrity status.

The Afrobeats sensation mentioned that he is frequently invited to presidential dinners in nearly every country he visits, with the exception of the United States and the United Kingdom.

In a recent interview with Kiss Fresh London, Davido confidently shared that his fanbase includes influential figures such as the World Bank president, presidents of powerful nations, and other notable personalities.

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“Every country we go to, the President invites us for dinner except London [United Kingdom] and the United States of America.

“It’s beautiful to see. I mean, leaving my country, Nigeria, and people welcoming me like the president in other countries, shows how well Nigeria is doing around the world in terms of music and cultural impacts,” he said.

Davido has expressed that he feels most respected in Africa, which is why he cherishes his African tours more than those in Europe and America, even though the latter bring him greater financial rewards.

He shared that his Jamaican collaborator, YG Marley, was astonished by the immense admiration from fans when he visited Nigeria for the video shoot of their joint hit, ‘Awuke.’

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