217 Nigerians Get PTDF Overseas Masters, Doctorate Degree Scholarships

A total of 217 Nigerians have been inducted into the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 Masters of Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) scholarships under its Overseas Scholarship Scheme.

Speaking at a ceremony held on Monday in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the fund, Femi Ajayi, said the the inductees emerged from a total of 500 candidates after an examination.

“Today, we are inducting 217 scholars, including 170 fresh MSc scholars, four deferred as well as 43 fresh PhD scholars,” was quoted as saying in a report.

Ajayi revealed that the PTDF has since the year 2000 sponsored 2,412 MSc students in Petroleum Engineering, Gas Engineering, Geoscience, Offshore Engineering, Geology and other oil and gas-related courses.

He added that 488 PhD scholars have been trained in relevant fields overseas.

“The Fund has also trained 74 university lecturers under its University Lecturers Skills Enhancement Training Program, a train-the-trainer programme, in Newcastle, United Kingdom and Grenoble in France," he said.

According to Ajayi, "the Overseas Scholarship Scheme is to encourage and stimulate continuous learning and technology development in the petroleum industry.

“It also aims to expose Nigerians to the latest technological advancement in the global petroleum industry."

Ajayi noted that the awardees are sent abroad for training because of the non-availability of some core courses in Nigerian universities, adding that on completion of their studies, the beneficiaries would be expected to fill the skill gap in the petroleum industry.

This set of inducted awardees bring to 2,974, the total number of recipients of the 14-years-old scholarship programme.