Indorama Fertilizer Company Awards Scholarships to Two DELSU Students

In response to its corporate social responsibility obligation to the society, an Eleme-based company in Rivers State, Indorama Fertilizer and Chemical Company Limited has awarded scholarships to two undergraduate students in the Faculty of Agriculture at the Delta State University, Abraka (DELSU to reward academic excellence.

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Presenting a cheque of One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira only (N150,000. 00) to each of the recipients, Miss Victoria Israel and Miss Chioma Onoyovwi, a representative of the company Mr. Tunji Ajiboye, a Regional Manager, explained that the company was desirous of encouraging academic excellence at DELSU which he described as “one of the best Universities I have ever been to”. He praised the University for its policy of gender balancing which has given women a pride of place, by increasing the number of women in the commanding heights of the University administration, adding that there were about 75% of female students in the institution.

While explaining the company’s preference for female awardees, he noted that it was also taking a cue from the gender friendliness of the University administration. In addition to the scholarship scheme, the company has been in the practice of providing financial assistance to farmer students and also giving school bags and exercise books to selected primary and secondary schools.

Speaking at the occasion, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andy Egwunyenga, represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Professor (Mrs) Rosemary Okoh, expressed gratitude to Indorama Fertilizer and Chemicals Company Limited for its generous contributions towards the future of students. He observed that the choice of agriculture for the scholarship was instructive as it addressed the crucial issue of sustainable agricultural development in Nigeria.

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According to the Vice-Chancellor, the gesture was suggestive of the company’s recognition of the transformative power of education to encourage excellence, especially in a depressed economy where many indigent students were dropping out of school while others conveniently deferred admissions.

In his words, “this initiative is a laudable one considering the economic situation in our society and most especially, it will act as a morale booster to other students as they will also strive to do better in their academic pursuits”.

Professor Egwunyenga who is giving DELSU an enlightened and committed leadership, assured the company of the University’s determination to further collaborate with it in mutually beneficial areas.

In a welcome address, the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Professor (Mrs) Dicta Ogisi, expressed profuse appreciation to the scholarship awarding company for supporting the growth and survival of agriculture which is a desideratum for the survival of the nation. “Without agriculture, there is no nation”, she said.

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An elated Prof. Mrs. Ogisi told her audience, a full hall at the Arts Auditorium, that the Faculty was at the brink of extinction, with just 45 students, before the emergence of the current Vice-Chancellor, Professor Egwunyenga who had embarked on a massive campaign for the resuscitation of the Faculty on all fronts. According to the Professor of Agricultural Economics, the Faculty had grown to 560 in student population through “the deliberate effort of the Vice-Chancellor to make the Faculty take its rightful place in the University”.

In a vote of thanks presented by the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Dr. (Mrs) Nelly Uriegho of the Department of Forestry and Wild Life, she expressed deep gratitude to the company, adding that the awards would motivate students to work harder so that they would receive the scholarship in future. She also informed the awardees that they would have a favourable response if they applied for employment in Indorama Fertilizer and Chemicals Company Limited.

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The Scholarship award recipients, Miss Israel and Miss Onoyovwi expressed profound gratitude to the company, adding that it would motivate them to work harder.