By Emmanuel Iheaka

Owerri – The NNPC/Seplat Energy Joint Venture (JV) has graduated its first cohort of teachers in Imo State under the Seplat Teachers Empowerment Programme (STEP), equipping 127 teachers and education evaluators with digital skills.

They also acquired STEAM-focused teaching techniques/approaches and alternative income-generation skills to strengthen their professional development and make them resourceful economically.

The maiden Imo State edition brought together teachers from communities across the state for an intensive training programme over a three-month-period, designed to go beyond conventional classroom instruction.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony in Owerri, Director of External Affairs & Social Performance, Seplat Energy Plc, Chioma Afe, represented by the General Manager, Corporate Social Investment & Social Performance, Seplat Energy Plc, Esther Icha, said that the Joint Venture’s investment in education was driven by its belief that empowering teachers was one of the most effective ways to create lasting impact in communities.

She noted that the STEP programme had previously been implemented in Edo and Delta States, where more than 2,000 teachers had been trained and empowered, adding that the Imo edition marked the programme’s first intervention in the state.

According to Afe, the programme was deliberately designed to extend beyond conventional teaching skills by equipping teachers with digital competencies to integrate technology into teaching and learning, improve productivity and better prepare students for an increasingly digital world.

“Take the digital skills you have acquired into your classrooms, share your knowledge with fellow teachers, encourage your students to learn, explore and innovate,” she said.

She challenged the teachers to become examples of responsible entrepreneurship and financial empowerment in their communities, stressing that the true measure of the programme would be the impact created after the graduation.

Speaking on behalf of the Chief Upstream Investment Officer, NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), Olanrewaju Igandan, the Subsurface Operations Advisor, NUIMS, Chizoba Onyike said the graduation represented more than the completion of a teacher-training programme, describing it as an investment in the future of host communities.

He noted that teachers serve as critical channels through which knowledge and opportunity are transferred to younger generations.

In his speech, the state Commissioner for Education, Prof. Bernard Ikegwuoha, commended the participants and expressed joy at the JV’s teachers’ empowerment initiative coming to the state.

He charged the teachers to embrace the changing nature of education by moving beyond memorisation and conventional teaching approaches towards practical, research-driven and skills-based learning.

Ikegwuoha encouraged the teachers to become trainers, mentors and innovators, urging them to embody the STEP motto: “Teach. Inspire. Transform.”

He also urged the teachers to use the knowledge gained from the programme to positively influence their students, emphasising that meaningful transformation could begin with impacting one student at a time.

In the same vein, the state Commissioner for Niger Delta Affairs and Intelligence, Dr Henry Okafor, commended the Seplat Energy JV for what he described as its strong commitment to community engagement and development in Imo State.

Okafor described education as the foundation of individual and societal development and commended the Joint Venture for investing in teachers, particularly in communities within the state’s oil-producing areas.

He urged the beneficiaries to see their participation as an opportunity earned through hard work and encouraged them to use the knowledge acquired to create positive change in their schools and communities.