34 FUO Students Presented with PTDF Scholarship Award and HP Laptop Computers

The Faculty of Science of the Federal University Otuoke was turned into a theatre of celebration and encomium on Wednesday, June 19, 2013, as 34 exceptional students drawn from various disciplines in the Faculty were presented with HP laptop computers and scholarship awards by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).
 
Having emerged successful in a highly competitive examination conducted by the PTDF on Saturday January 19, 2013 , the scholars, consisting of 6 females and 28 males, became the first-ever set of scholarship inductees in the history of the University in a brief ceremony witnessed by members of staff and students of the institution.
 
The delegates of the PTDF arrived on the campus of the institution at about noon from Abuja and were received by the Vice-Chancellor’s representative, Professor Bio Nyanayo who is also the Dean of Faculty of Science; the Dean of Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Professor Philomena Ejele; the Registrar, Mr. David Suowari, and other notable officials of the University.
 
Speaking at the award ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor commended the scholars for making history and doing the University proud in the examination and congratulated them for the personal achievements in bagging the award. He then charged other students to emulate the scholars by working hard and strive toward academic excellence in order for them to be partakers of such scholarship opportunities in the future.
 
The Registrar, Mr. David Suowari, commended the recipients for their achievements while stressing on the need for students to abstain from cultism and other vices which can make them lose focus and deprive them of scholarship opportunities.
Also speaking, Dean of Student Life, Professor Steve Nwabuzor, represented by his Assistant, Dr. Marcelina Offoha, lauded the PTDF for the scholarship awarded to the science students. While urging the scholars to continue to live up to the school’s high academic standards, she thanked the Lecturers whose teachings assisted the students to winning the scholarship award.
 
Prof. Philomena Ejele, who is the Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, while rejoicing with the Faculty of Science scholars, seized the opportunity of the occasion to request that such opportunities be extended to non-science students by PTDF in the future.
 
Presenting the scholarship award letters and laptops to the 34 awardees, leader of the PTDF delegation, Mr Bako, who thanked the University for making his task easy in the conduct of the examination, describing the institution’s organization as “excellent and the best” he had witnessed so far since spear-heading the body’s examination team in all Nigerian Universities nationwide.  After reading the terms and conditions of the scholarship to the students, he pledged the continued support of PTDF to the students as long as they continue to uphold good academic performance and shun cultism. He revealed that the scholarship subsists throughout the students’ undergraduate study and beyond if they can maintain an average CGPA of 3 points on the scale of 5. The scholarship package includes an HP laptop computer, annual sum of N150,000  for upkeep, recurrent payment of tuition every academic session, N50,000 for ICT tools and N50,000 for their final year project.
 
Speaking on behalf of the awardees, Mr. Owo Gogo James commended the management of the school for creating enabling good learning environment and facilitating the scholarship on behalf of the students. He specially thanked the management of PTDF for giving them the opportunity to showcase their talents and described the initiative as “taking financial burden off their parents and guardians” and promised that the scholars would not rest on their oars in striving for academic excellence. He vowed that the pioneer inductees would continue to live up to high academic expectation to preserve their PTDF scholarship even up to post-graduate level.
 
In his closing remarks, Head of Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Prof Nworuh, congratulated the students and appreciated all present including efforts of the compere of the event and Public Relations Officer of the University, Miss Mercy Ekott, and her team, as well the Personal Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Yinka Leo Ogundiran, whom he said had been running up and down to ensure that the event went on smoothly.