Total E&P is one multinational oil and gas company that is committed to the mental development of the child. Little wonder therefore that education or mental development of Nigerian children is given a pride of place in the corporate social responsibility programmes of the company.
Besides the Annual Book Reading which is geared towards the
promotion of reading culture among students, another programme
designed by the company to develop the youths, especially students,
is what it is known as, “Open Day Forum.’’ This year’s Open Day
Forum for Secondary School Students from Rivers and Akwa Ibom States
with the theme: “Honesty; My Best Policy”, had fifteen (15) secondary
schools in attendance.
At the Forum, professionals from different fields, and speaking from diverse perspectives, took their turns to lecture or educate the students on the gains or advantages of honesty as well as the consequences of dishonesty. What’s more, the participating students, who might have lacked knowledge of the operations of oil and gas company, left the venue of the event better educated and informed. The Public Relations Manager, of Total E&P, Port Harcourt, Mr. Norbert Ikwuazom, kick-started the programme by giving the audience an overview of what the company stands for and thereby educating them on the reasons for the company’s presence and operations in Nigeria, its operational orientation and its core values.
Presenting a paper on “Honesty: My Best Policy”, Prof. Elizabeth Okeke, who is also the Director, Patience Jonathan Centre for Gender & Women Development Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, advocated character education for youths in the country. According to Okeke, character education would help in inculcating in them, obedience, justice, respect, courage, honesty, hard work, orderliness, integrity, compassion and spirit of maintaining attained qualities in ones’ life. She explained that character education would enable individuals to develop recommended human qualities for successful living, both for the individual and the society at large. “There is need to educate the youths on the importance of developing and maintaining the right attitude in life for full identification, development and utilization of their potentials,” she said.
Honesty, Prof. Okeke further said, aims at inculcating in any individual, positive attitude such as sincerity, integrity, truthfulness, openness, obedience and trust at all times and, in all situations. She also tutored the enthusiastic students on how honesty could bring about good character formation, trust and reputation, unlimited relationship, easy and safe life, among others. ‘’Every individual group or institution, including school, is supposed to have policies for his /her objective,” she opined. “Adopting honesty as a policy provides an important avenue in the process of character education, through which one must experience to achieve sincerity, integrity, preparation, truthfulness, love and joy of oneself and of being in partnership with others in development. The price of achieving honesty (more than the price of gold) cannot be quantified as it leads to unlimited successful living in society.”
She, however, did not hesitate to let her audience know how some factors such as friends, relatives, strangers, greed, poverty, disobedience, pride, among others, could stand in the way of, ‘honesty as a best policy’. But she added that in spite of the obvious challenges, honesty remains as good as gold. She therefore advised the students to always do their homework without copying others, to always tell the truth, clean up their rooms, explain the real reason for not submitting their home works as required, among others.“Accept responsibility for your own action: don’t blame others,” she counseled. “Be honest about your feeling on any issue. Face issues as they arise. If you are considering lying, try to think of the consequences. When confronted with a situation, think of others. Admit a mistake or error in judgment you have made, and apologize to anyone it might have affected.”
In his address at the occasion, the Deputy Managing Director, Total E&P, Port Harcourt District, Mr. Nicolas Brunet, disclosed that the company had held Open Day Forum for Nigerian students for the past eleven years. According to him, it was a demonstration of the company’s commitment to human capital development, especially that of the youths. He explained that this year’s theme: “Honesty, My Best Policy” is relevant, especially this time that the drive towards rebranding and re-orientation of values system is the main concern of governments all over the world.
“This effort is to make integrity and dignity of life, a common style and standard in our daily dealing,” he noted. “The Total Group encourages youths all over the world to adopt a lifestyle of honesty as the best policy in life.”
On the remarkable contributions, made towards the sustainable development of youths in its host communities/operational areas, Brunet added that “as part of our core values, the group places youth empowerment and development on a higher pedestal on our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) schedules. Infrastructural development, scholarship schemes, agricultural development schemes, improved health campaigns and orientation, small scale business entrepreneurship scheme, etc. have continued to define the scope of our CRS agenda.”
At the Forum, professionals from different fields, and speaking from diverse perspectives, took their turns to lecture or educate the students on the gains or advantages of honesty as well as the consequences of dishonesty. What’s more, the participating students, who might have lacked knowledge of the operations of oil and gas company, left the venue of the event better educated and informed. The Public Relations Manager, of Total E&P, Port Harcourt, Mr. Norbert Ikwuazom, kick-started the programme by giving the audience an overview of what the company stands for and thereby educating them on the reasons for the company’s presence and operations in Nigeria, its operational orientation and its core values.
Presenting a paper on “Honesty: My Best Policy”, Prof. Elizabeth Okeke, who is also the Director, Patience Jonathan Centre for Gender & Women Development Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, advocated character education for youths in the country. According to Okeke, character education would help in inculcating in them, obedience, justice, respect, courage, honesty, hard work, orderliness, integrity, compassion and spirit of maintaining attained qualities in ones’ life. She explained that character education would enable individuals to develop recommended human qualities for successful living, both for the individual and the society at large. “There is need to educate the youths on the importance of developing and maintaining the right attitude in life for full identification, development and utilization of their potentials,” she said.
Honesty, Prof. Okeke further said, aims at inculcating in any individual, positive attitude such as sincerity, integrity, truthfulness, openness, obedience and trust at all times and, in all situations. She also tutored the enthusiastic students on how honesty could bring about good character formation, trust and reputation, unlimited relationship, easy and safe life, among others. ‘’Every individual group or institution, including school, is supposed to have policies for his /her objective,” she opined. “Adopting honesty as a policy provides an important avenue in the process of character education, through which one must experience to achieve sincerity, integrity, preparation, truthfulness, love and joy of oneself and of being in partnership with others in development. The price of achieving honesty (more than the price of gold) cannot be quantified as it leads to unlimited successful living in society.”
She, however, did not hesitate to let her audience know how some factors such as friends, relatives, strangers, greed, poverty, disobedience, pride, among others, could stand in the way of, ‘honesty as a best policy’. But she added that in spite of the obvious challenges, honesty remains as good as gold. She therefore advised the students to always do their homework without copying others, to always tell the truth, clean up their rooms, explain the real reason for not submitting their home works as required, among others.“Accept responsibility for your own action: don’t blame others,” she counseled. “Be honest about your feeling on any issue. Face issues as they arise. If you are considering lying, try to think of the consequences. When confronted with a situation, think of others. Admit a mistake or error in judgment you have made, and apologize to anyone it might have affected.”
In his address at the occasion, the Deputy Managing Director, Total E&P, Port Harcourt District, Mr. Nicolas Brunet, disclosed that the company had held Open Day Forum for Nigerian students for the past eleven years. According to him, it was a demonstration of the company’s commitment to human capital development, especially that of the youths. He explained that this year’s theme: “Honesty, My Best Policy” is relevant, especially this time that the drive towards rebranding and re-orientation of values system is the main concern of governments all over the world.
“This effort is to make integrity and dignity of life, a common style and standard in our daily dealing,” he noted. “The Total Group encourages youths all over the world to adopt a lifestyle of honesty as the best policy in life.”
On the remarkable contributions, made towards the sustainable development of youths in its host communities/operational areas, Brunet added that “as part of our core values, the group places youth empowerment and development on a higher pedestal on our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) schedules. Infrastructural development, scholarship schemes, agricultural development schemes, improved health campaigns and orientation, small scale business entrepreneurship scheme, etc. have continued to define the scope of our CRS agenda.”
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A Prof.’s candid advice to students |
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