No fewer than 5,000 applicants on Monday, May 20, 2024, commenced the interview for the 2024/2025 Postgraduate Overseas Scholarship Scheme (OSS) by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) across the country.

The Overseas Scholarship Scheme is one of the flagship programmes of the Fund. Successful candidates would have the opportunity to undergo either their masters or doctorate programmes in oil and gas-related courses at universities in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Malaysia.

Speaking, the Head of the PTDF scholarship scheme, Bolanle Agboola, disclosed that over 20,000 applications were received, adding that the scholarships would be awarded to the three best applicants from each state with an additional slot for oil and gas-producing states.

Agboola noted that over 3,000 candidates were shortlisted for MSc programmes and over 2,000 candidates for PhD programmes.

She said the purpose of the scholarship was to provide Nigerian students an opportunity to get the intellectual foundation and skills required to participate actively in the nation’s oil and gas industry.

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According to her, overseas training was also essential because the high-level equipment needed for the training for the oil and gas industry which was a high-tech industry was not available in Nigeria.

“The target is to give the necessary skills or provide opportunities for Nigerians to acquire the knowledge, the skills and the competencies that are needed for the oil and gas industry,” Agboola added.

Agboola however, noted that apart from the overseas scholarship, the Fund also has an in-country scholarship through which Nigerians are trained locally.

Reacting to fears of some students absconding after their studies, the PTDF official said besides the students signing a bond with the Fund, the countries where they would be trained would not allow them to stay even if they wanted to.

One of the interviewees, Amira Bello from Niger State, said: “The process has been smooth. Everything has been done in an orderly manner. The staff here are nice and courteous. The interview process was fair.

“We had people, some from the same field. It was just a very nice experience. The questions asked will determine whether you are capable or not.”

The Star