TotalEnergies tasks students on reading culture to improve mental capacity

TotalEnergies E&P Nigeria on Saturday urged students to cultivate the habit of reading to enhance their mental capability. Its Deputy Managing Director, Mr Victor Bandele, made the call during the company’s “2023 DW Book Reading and Open Day”, with the theme, “A Chapter A Day Keeps The Brain Alert”. Bandele, who was represented by Mr Adeyemi Akinlalu, Executive General Manager, Deep Water Field Operations at TotalEnergies, said the company was committed to educational development of the country. He educated the students on the benefits of reading,  saying that reading helps individuals acquire life improvement skills, gain more vocabularies as well as acquire new information and knowledge. He said that former U.S. President, Barrack Obama, would usually say “Reading is the gateway key that makes all other learning possible”. He said this was outrightly true as all learnig from complex word problem, history, scientific discoveries and technological proficiency could all be made possible through reading. “Our main aim of organising this is to promote reading among students and encourage them to develop the habit as a way of increasing their knowledge. “Also, the open day is to share career trajectories and explore career requirements and opportunities to guide these students to make early career decisions. “Reading involves a considerable level of concentration, discipline, patience, deeper thinking and all these virtues will help the reader to acquire good character and values needed to live a successful life,” he said. According to him, the book read, “Gulliver’s Travels”, written by Jonathan Swift, is designed to heighten their appetite for books  and enhance their  reading capacity. “Please do not allow social media and all electronic gadgets sabotage your dreams of becoming a success story; hardwork pays,” he said. Earlier, Mrs Adesua Adewole, General Manager, Total Country Service, TotalEnergies, counseled  the students on the need to take deliberate steps to develop themselves as they grow older. “This is our way of giving back to the society and I’m particularly excited with this because it is capable of transforming your lives for the better. “I want you all to understand that this is an important part of your lives, it is capable of changing the direction of what you want to do in terms of career. “Reading makes you gain knowledge and this helps in improving your capabilities. Know that every experience you have, defines your values,” she said. Also, the Lagos state Commissioner for Education, Mr Jamiu Ali-Balogun, appreciated TotalEnergies for the annual reading initiative. Ali-Balogun, who advised the students to take conscious efforts to read,  said, “reading helps to boost your sense of mental alertness, pls read, when you read, you rule the world.” Yetunde Asekun, Head, Corrosion Deepwater Operations, TotalEnergies, explained her career trajectories as a way to encourage the students to live responsibly. Asekun urged the students to always watch out for their passion which would guide them on their choice of career. “Passion gives you the fuel to continue in your career, you cannot escape reading and learning. Learning puts you ahead of other people,” she said. Felicity Nwoko-Omere, who guided the students on the book reading exercise, advised them to take cognisance of the morals embedded in the book. “Always cultivate good morals, great abilities. Be humble and always considerate,” he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the schools in attendance for the exercise include: Apapa Senior High School; Birrel Avenue Senior Secondary School, Yaba; Eti  Moore Senior High School, Surulere and Mainland Senior High School. Also, Sanya Senior High School, Ijeshatedo; Wesley Girls Senior Secondary School, Yaba; Ansa-ur-deen Senior High School, Isolo,  and Tolyfun Kay College, Ijora Badia.