skoool Nigeria would not be possible without the invaluable assistance and generosity of our sponsors.

Here, we are pleased to present some information about our founder and sponsors and their commitment to and belief in skoool Nigeria as a valuable educational proposition.

Intel® skoool Nigeria is the latest in a series of worldwide initiatives by Intel in the educational sector. The Intel® Education initiative is a global, multi-million dollar programme focusing on preparing today's students for tomorrow's challenges. In 2000, Intel Corporation contributed more than $107 million worldwide to primary, secondary and third level education programmes. Education is a major focus area for Intel Ireland. Building on Intel’s mission of being a major force in improving science, maths and technology education, Intel has implemented a number of programmes at both local and national level, including Intel® Teach To The Future. You can find out more about the Intel® Education Initiative by clicking here.

• Providing funding for educational facilities and infrastructural developments;
• Promoting creative and innovative approaches to educational learning and services;
• Stimulating, supporting and enhancing improvement activities in educational foundation areas like Teacher Education, Teaching Practice, Library Development, etc; and
• Championing new literacy-enhancing areas such as scientific, information and technological literacy.

In addition to its normal operations, the ETF intervenes in critical areas in the education sector thereby leading to improvements in academic infrastructure nationwide including:

• The provision of ETF-Intel Classmate PCs in 12 States nationwide comprising of interactive, online classrooms using skoool™ Learning and Teaching Technology.
• The provision of take-off grant to the National Open University of Nigeria.
• The establishment of an Interactive Learning Network nationwide with pilot in six (6) states.
• Creating and championing awareness programmes in information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the delivery of education in Nigeria.
• Establishment of ICT Centres in each of the Colleges of Medicine in Nigerian Universities and Nigerian Post Graduate Medical College to improve learning and teaching of modern techniques/technology in Medicine worldwide.
• Provision and improvement of equipment and infrastructure in the areas of education for the physically challenged

You can find out more about ETF at http://www.etf-nigeria.org

SHELL

Shell pioneered oil and gas exploration and production in Nigeria. Operating as Shell D’Arcy, it drilled the first exploration well in Nigeria in 1951. Five years later, in January 1956, it also drilled the first successful well, following two years later, with the first shipment of crude from the country on February 17, 1958.

Today, there are four Shell Companies in Nigeria namely:

• The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC)
• Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo)
• Shell Nigeria Gas Limited (SNG)
• Shell Nigeria Oil Products Limited (SNOP)

In addition, Shell has a 25.6 percent shareholding in the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG), and is also its technical adviser. Its partners in this company are the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) – 49 percent; Total – 15 percent; and Agip – 10.4 percent.

One of the Shell Companies, SPDC, is the largest oil and gas company in Nigeria. It is the operator of the Joint Venture in which the NNPC holds 55% , Shell 30%, Elf 10% and Agip 5% equity .

Shell Nigeria has a robust Corporate Social Responsibility programme, spanning such diverse areas as infrastructure, education, health, and economic empowerment.

Our education intervention programme, which began in the 1950s, was initially in the area of scholarships, and the construction of classroom blocks. This has however expanded over the years in both scope and approach.

Today, Shell is helping to boost qualitative education in the Niger Delta, through the provision of school blocks, furniture, schools libraries and laboratories. We also assist primary and secondary school teachers to upgrade their competences and skills.

Other initiatives:  

Scholarship scheme - Every year, the NNPC/Shell/EPNL/Agip Joint Venture awards an average of 2,730 post-primary scholarships to beneficiaries in the nine Niger Delta states. At any one time, the scholarship programme supports 13,000 secondary and 2,000 university students. The university scholarship scheme has two categories – the National Merit award (NM), which is open to all Nigerian undergraduates, and the Areas of Operation Merit award (AOM), which is restricted to undergraduates from communities in which Shell operates. The secondary school scholarship scheme is for students from the oil producing communities only. The two scholarship schemes also make specific provisions for physically challenged students.

Endowment of professorial chairs/Academic sabbaticals – Shell Nigeria has since 1994, sponsored one year sabbaticals for Nigerian lecturers, as part of efforts to boost academic standards and promote research in the country. In addition, we have endowed a number of professorial chairs beginning in 1992 in some Nigerian universities. These were established to help advance five academic disciplines through research and teaching, enhance the quality of graduates in the selected disciplines, and ultimately boost technological development in Nigeria.

The institutions and disciplines are:

• Environmental Science at the University of Port-Harcourt, and the Rivers State University of Science and Technology in Port- Harcourt;
• Geology at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka;
• Geophysics at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife;
• Mechanical Engineering at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; and
• Petroleum Engineering at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan and the University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt.

Shell Nigeria ’s involvement in the skoool initiative is therefore a further demonstration of its contribution to enhancement of qualitative education and academic excellence in the Niger Delta.

You can find out more about Shell at http://www.shellnigeria.com/.