Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc says it has, in partnership with the Sapele Okpe Community in Delta State, expanded access to equal and qualitative higher education with the inauguration of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Sapele Teaching Centre, in Delta State.
Seplat said in a statement that the project and the accreditation of the centre, which cost N126m, was funded from NPDC/Seplat JV fund allocation to the Sapele Okpe Community under its General Memorandum of Understanding to host oil and gas producing communities.
It said its civil engineering team supervised the project and ensured timely project delivery and value for money.
The Chief Executive Officer, Seplat, Roger Brown, commended and congratulated the community for cooperating with the company in the selection and execution of the project, describing education as key to economic, political and social dynamics of the society.
He said the teaching centre would make education available and close to the citizenry both in the rural or urban areas of Sapele, Ethiope West and Okpe Local Government Areas and the environs.
He added that access to quality open and distance education in Sapele would boost the local economy and significantly reduce the cost of access to quality education.
Brown said, “Seplat remains highly committed to providing opportunities for greater educational development for its host communities and Nigeria at large.
“With the commissioning of the centre, Seplat in partnership with its host community, Sapele, is helping the nation to achieve Goal 4 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which is focused on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting life-long learning opportunities for all.”
The Chairman, Sapele Okpe Community, Patrick Akamovba, was quoted as saying that access to education in its full and extensive sense meant free and unrestricted, unimpeded and opportunities for many people to attain knowledge, expertise, and abilities available at the university level to enable them to optimally participate and contribute to development of the society.
