At quiz contest, Gowon, Abubakar urge support for education

Former Heads of State, Yakubu Gowon and Abdulsalam Abubakar and other stakeholders in the oil and gas sector yesterday in Abuja urged the country to promote initiatives that would foster unity in the country.

Speaking at the Grand Finale of the 2018 NNPC National Science Quiz Competition, Gowon, who chaired the event, said the initiative, which was designed in line with the objectives of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), would strengthen unity in the country.

He added that the programme would equally encourage the study of science education and improve quality of education in the country.

Also, Abubakar said promoting Nigeria’s content, particularly through the oil and gas industry, remained critical to the country.

He lauded the corporation and the NYSC scheme, stressing that the corporate social responsibility was in line with the Nigerian mission.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, who urged the corporation to look at the possibility of expanding the programme to other academic fields, said there was need to continue to track the progress of the initiative to determine the success of the programme.

In the same vein, Group Managing Director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru, said the initiative is in “continuation of Gowon’s laudable initiatives of National Youth Integration Programme such as the NYSC and unity schools.”

Meanwhile, Enugu State, represented by Okeke Tony Kabilan of Spring of Life International School, emerged as the winner of the 2018 competition with 75 points, while Igban Emmanuel of Ambassadors College, Ota in Ogun State and Edo, represented by Alika Ehiagwina of Bosco Science Academy came second and third with 70 and 65 marks respectively.