The NEPL/Seplat Energy Joint Venture has onboarded 650 teachers and chief inspectors of education (CIE) in Edo and Delta States as part of its 2025 Seplat Teachers Empowerment Programme (STEP).
It began with a two-day workshop in Benin City. The sessions were marked with upskilling and professional development with 325 participants from the two states.
The 650 participants were drawn from over 4,666 applicants participating in an online selection process.
The onboarding workshop is the critical foundation phase where collaborative dynamics, programme orientation, and Android tablets are seeded ahead of the four-month virtual training and mentorship programme, which leads to Microsoft certification.
The Seplat JV provides the participants with data throughout the training for seamless internet access.
At the first leg of the workshop held in Benin City, the Edo State capital, Chioma Afe, director of external affairs & social performance at Seplat Energy, welcomed the new cohort, encouraged them to take the training seriously and outlined the strategic significance of both phases of the training.
Afe, who presented a paper on ‘Communication for Change: Teachers as Agents of Change,’ delighted the participants with her background and shared a strategic communication code, “the 7-c’s of communication,” including clarity, conciseness, consideration, completeness, courtesy, concreteness, and correctness.
The code was vital as she asserted that, “A teacher is a professional who facilitates learning, guiding students to acquire knowledge, develop competencies, and grow intellectually and emotionally.”
She inspired the participants to embrace their roles as agents of change, grab the opportunity with both hands, and improve themselves continuously for personal benefits, the good of the students, and society.
For his part, the representative of Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, and Edo State commissioner for education, Dr Paddy Iyamu, commended the Seplat JV for the initiative and stimulated the participants, whom he described as privileged, as “these are the kinds of lecture packages people go to Dubai and pay top dollar for.”
He urged them to keep faith with the programme to the finish line because “In Edo State, we want to make sure that our teachers are packed with excellence, because the quality of the teachers impacts the quality of the students”.
He added that the state government would contact the Seplat JV to verify who completed the online course.
“We are going to take your names and cross-check with the Seplat JV for completion. Have it at the back of your minds that you play a very fundamental role in the lives of Nigerian students and the nation’s future,” he stated.
Okpebholo further charged the participants to not just teach, but strive to be good role models to stem the wave of moral decadence and end the poverty cycle ravaging the society. “I want you to consciously commit to changing the lives of the students entrusted to you positively,” he added.
In the same vein, Dr Steve Ojeh, director of corporate services at Seplat Energy Plc, charged the participants to propel their careers from within with determination, increased curiosity, and a willingness to learn and embrace new ideas so as to impact society strongly.
Dr Ojeh, who presented a well-researched paper on ‘Leadership and Self Development’, impressed upon the participants the importance of being passionate, intentional, and ambitious in their career pursuits.
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