At last, Niger Delta scholars can now be sent to Nigerian universities on post-graduate scholarship.
This has created opportunity for up to 400 additional scholars into the scholarship net, other than the initial 200 that go abroad every year.
This is seen as what can happen in the oil region if there is stability, and if the youths continue to give peace a chance by shunning violent demonstrations.
Many say it is also what can happen if the management and board of the intervention agency are allowed to run their tenures out without the pressure of threat of sack of leaderships.
Details:
The much-awaited post-graduate scholarship scheme in Nigerian universities has opened with 400 slots. The foreign scholarships would go on with the usual 200 slots. This is as 30,000 candidates are chasing 600 slots in both foreign and local universities.
This was disclosed Tuesday, June 3, 2025, by a statement issued by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which said it will expand its Foreign Postgraduate Scholarship Programme to include training in Nigerian universities as part of its efforts to strengthen human capital development in the Niger Delta region.
Dr Samuel Ogbuku, NDDC Managing Director, stated this during an assessment visit to the venue of the foreign postgraduate scholarship interviews in Port Harcourt.
He observed that 600 indigenes from the NDDC mandate states would benefit from the expanded scheme, as opposed to the 200 who yearly benefit from foreign schemes.
Ogbuku commended the interview panelists for their excellent work so far and charged them to be impartial in their judgment, ensuring that only the best and most qualified candidates receive the scholarship.
He said, “The students who benefited from the scholarship scheme in the previous years had distinctions in their various fields of study, and we have not heard of criminal or any negative reports about them.”
Dr George Uzonwanne, NDDC Director of Education, Health, and Social Services, explained that the process of selecting scholarship recipients was transparent. He noted: “Over 30,000 persons applied, from which 6,000 candidates were invited for the Computer-Based Test (CBT).”
According to a statement issued by Seledi Thompson-Wakama, Director, Corporate Affairs, the director said that the 2,500 students who scored 70 per cent and above were invited to the next stage, which will be an oral test used to determine the cut-off point. He said the candidates were satisfied with the process due to its transparency, as they saw their scores as soon as they finished answering their questions.
Prof Beleudanyo Fente, chairman of the interview panel, lauded the NDDC for providing an educational platform to improve the lives of the region’s indigenes and for providing infrastructure, including roads, hospitals, solar lights, and piped water.
Fene promised that he and his team would ensure the process was transparent, fair, and free, and that the most suitable and qualified individuals would receive the scholarship.
One of the candidates, Benedict Chigozie, said the process was transparent and satisfactory, noting that they were well treated and taken good care of.
He thanked the NDDC for providing an avenue for the less privileged to further their academic pursuits.
Another candidate, Blessing Chinonso, who is physically challenged, thanked the NDDC for the scholarship programme. She appealed to the Commission to make provisions for physically challenged candidates.
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