January 31, 2025
By Idris Buba
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, has presented 300 postgraduate scholarship to recipients, under the aegis of Ogoni Postgraduate Students Scholarship Scheme in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Speaking at the cheque handover ceremony for beneficiaries, Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey, urged 300 postgraduate scholarship recipients to prioritize peacebuilding in Ogoniland, for the attainment of sustainable development .
While congratulating the awardees, Zabbey, maintained that the selection process was fair, transparent and inclusive, he encouraged the scholars to be ambassadors of peaceful coexistence.
“I want to emphasize the importance of continuous civic responsibility and constructive engagement in Ogoni communities. Protecting HYPREP’s image, facilities, and sites from negative tendencies is the civic duty of all Ogonis.”
He said HYPREP would soon launch civic education and engagement initiatives to address misinformation and other challenges bedeviling the region.
“As a people, we cannot afford continuous division or discord; instead, we must focus on unity and collaboration. I urge all of you, especially the scholarship recipients, to form clusters that facilitate peace-building initiatives. Let these clusters become platforms for dialogue, reconciliation, innovation, and solutions to address the Ogoni community’s challenges.”
The scholarship scheme is facilitated by Pa-Ed Multilinks Consulting, Managing Director of the firm, Edward Baa, who provided insights into the selection process, stated that over 1,200 participants attended the initial sensitization program, with 837 registering for the scholarship, out of which 766 sat for the aptitude test and 474 advanced to the verification stage.
“The selection of the 300 recipients was deemed successful, as it reflected a good spread across the four LGAs. The scholarship scheme is targeted at 300 candidates, comprising 100 PhD students and 200 Master’s students,” he said.
Mr. Baa disclosed that at the end of the exercise by the four local government areas that make up Ogoni land, Khana, had the highest number of successful persons with 45%, while Gokana had 29%, Eleme 15% and Tai 10% respectively.
