Vera Wisdom-Bassey

An orphan, Anita Etifia, a JSSI pupil of Okerenkoko Secondary School, Debama, Warri, Delta State, and four other female students were recently awarded scholarships from secondary school to university level to study engineering.

Mother luck smiled on Etifia, who lost her parents seven years ago during a programme organised by the Association of Professional Women Engineers in Nigeria (APWEN).

Etifia and four other female students from different schools emerged lucky winners among eleven students that took part in a selection experiment administered by the officials of APWEN.

The 15-years-old, who Etifia stays with her grandmother in Oporozgweiware after the death of her parent, picks periwinkle (Isam) from the riverside to eke a living to fend for herself and also support her grandmother.

Oporozaweiware, a village in Warri, came alive as APWEN members visited some schools in the community as part of their campaign to promote girl-child education, especially in science and in particular engineering.

The schools visited include Okerenkoko Secondary School, Debama, Kokodiagbene Secondary School, Gbaraum Grammar School, Oporoza, Ogidigben Grammar School among others.

While flagging off the scholarship scheme for girls in Asaba, Delta State during the 2019 conference/AGM, the president of APWEN, Mrs. Felicia Agubuta, said the reason for the award is to encourage girls to study science subjects in secondary schools and engineering at the university level.

Related News

According to her, the event is also to honour one of their daughters in the state and a member of APWEN. Agubuta said the association will monitor the five lucky girls until they are through with their education and will also assist them to secure employment in any organisation or NNPC.

To bag the scholarship, the eleven girls from different secondary schools participated in the bridge building task, an engineering experiment.  Five of the winners are Diena Samson, Jessica Jonathan, and Anita Etifia, from Okerenkoko Secondary School, while Favour Ebiyernitu attends Gbaraum Secondary School and Destiny Brakolu are pupils of Ogborun Grammar School.

Agubuta disclosed that the five girls will enjoy the scholarship from secondary school to university level courtesy of the Depute Governor of Delta State, Mr. Kingsley Otuaro and his wife, Mrs. Ebirein Otuaro.

Earlier, members of APWEN including the wife of the deputy governor paid a courtesy visit to Oboro Gbara II, Aketekpe Agadagba, the Pere of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Oporozaweiware, Delta State.

Wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Otuaro intimated the monarch of the reason for their visit, which is to award scholarship to five girls in the community and to encourage girls to study engineering in the university.

On her part, the APWEN president, Mrs. Agubuta informed the monarch that the association is in the state to honour the deputy governor’s wife and empower five girls from the community with scholarship to study engineering at the university.

The monarch appreciated APWEN’s gesture and urged them to boost education in the community, adding “education is far from the people but with APWEN, we can see that education is coming  closer to us.’’