Nestle Nigeria Plc has awarded full scholarships to three university undergraduates and 20 senior secondary students in Abuja, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
The scholarships were announced to the students and undergraduates on Thursday by a delegation of Nestle Nigeria, led by Ms. Victoria Uwadoka, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager, at the Abaji Area Council Secretariat.
Uwadoka said the gesture was part of the company’s CSR in its area of operation, but most importantly was for the children of the host communities to get quality education.
She said the scholarship scheme in Abaji was a replica of what the company did a few days ago in Ogun State community where the company also has its factory.
“We are doing this because we established technical training centres and our desire was to distribute the benefit to the communities that are closest to our operations but we couldn’t find the right talent within the communities to take these opportunities.
“The plan was for only people from this community, but people are coming from everywhere to take advantage of it because we don’t have the right skills.
“However, we felt that we can’t just say there are no skills, so we decided to do something about it and what we found good to do was to help the children get quality education focusing on the science field.
“Our technical training centre was designed for sciences and that is why we have put this scholarship scheme in place focusing on children who are already interested in science subjects to encourage them to complete their education.
“Eventually, they will be a part of the technical training which opens all doors of opportunity to them and it is not just to say bye-bye, you have done the training, we prepare them for the city and guild global technical certification which qualifies them for work in any international organisation.
“Vocational, mechanical, electrical, structural and the children go through the training for 18 months that include theoretical, practical and five of the best students go to Switzerland for a further three months to intensify their studies.
“The end is not just to say bye-bye, you have done the training, we prepare them for the city and guild global technical certification which qualifies them for work in any international organisation,’’ Uwadoka said.
According to Uwadoka, the company absorbs some of the trainees, while the rest get jobs in other big organisations that are always waiting for them to come out.
“I can tell you that 100 per cent of them are gainfully employed and we want those within the community to be the first beneficiaries,” she added.
She, however, urged the beneficiaries to ensure they maintained the baseline and criteria for their selection in order not to lose the scholarships.
Uwadoka noted that the scholarship scheme would now be open to more beneficiaries annually.
The Chairman, Abaji Local Government Council, Abdulrahman Ajiya, who was represented by the Secretary, Kamal Suileman, appreciated Nestle for uplifting the rural people through the scholarship scheme.
He congratulated the beneficiaries and schools that their wards benefitted from the gesture and urged them to sustain the scholarships.
“The selection process was very open and as politicians, we didn’t have any input whatsoever.
“We only helped to sensitise parents to ensure their children participated in the exam and selection process; no influence attached to it, if not you would have seen my child there. The process was so transparent,” Suileman said.
One of the beneficiaries, Jeremiah Iganga, a first year undergraduate of Benue State University, said the scholarship would propel him to a greater height.
“Knowing that I could lose the opportunity if I lower the standard, I will have no option than to be more serious with my studies and with the scholarship; I will get my material and resources to achieve the success I desire.
“I am studying Biochemistry and I hope to specialise in toxicology or pharmacology.
“I encourage my peers to work hard to be selected in the next batch because this is an opportunity they have to excel in life and those in secondary school should start preparing for next year’s scheme,” he said.
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