About 150 university students from the Niger Delta region are set to benefit from a scholarship scheme awarded by the Nigeria Exploration Production Limited (NEPL) and NDWestern Asset Management Team (AMT), under the OML 34 Joint Venture (JV).
The selection followed an aptitude test held on Saturday, April 26, 2025, in Warri, Delta State, where 280 students participated. The test, conducted at the College of Education, was supervised by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to ensure credibility and fairness.
According to the JV’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Oghenekaro Ovraiti—represented by Community Liaison Officer Mr. James Ekeanyanwu—the goal was to promote education and equal opportunity across 35 host communities.
“We sent messages to our host communities and based on the facilities in the area, we selected the students, say three, four students in some communities. We gave the community chairmen the free hand to select the students, so ours is to conduct the examination.
WAEC is doing the conduct of the examination, our is just the administrative work. It is WAEC that will release the results so there will be no issues of manipulation. We think WAEC is more established to conduct the examination,” the COO said.
Ekeanyanwu noted that the scholarship is a delayed edition for the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 academic sessions, postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He expressed confidence that WAEC would release the results within a month, assuring that the process remains transparent. He also encouraged the students to take their academics seriously, stressing that the scholarship was introduced to ease the financial burden on students and their families.
The NEPL/NDWestern JV has consistently invested in community development across its host communities, a move that has fostered peace and cooperation in its areas of operation.
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