NDDC will now sponsor students to Nigerian universities, instead of abroad – Official

It has been a norm in the education sector for students to be granted scholarships to study abroad in foreign countries.

Many Nigerian students have enjoys this privilege and have schooled in different countries of the world, from the US to UK, India, Malaysia, Egypt etc.

Many platforms and agency have always undertaken the duty of catering for these scholarships from both the private and public sectors.

But one common challenge such students face is the delayed or non-release of their scholarship stipend causing them to be stranded at their various places of scholarship.

One of such agencies that grant such scholarships is the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Recently the NDDC foreign scholarship program has been blighted by reports of Nigerian students stranded abroad because of the non-release of funds for the programme.

Thus, the commission is reviewing its scholarship scheme which it had suspended in order to conduct a forensic audit of its activities.

The commission has declared that henceforth, it would rather prefer to sponsor people to universities in Nigeria rather than send them abroad.

READ ALSO: Meet Restaurant Waitress who Received over N8m University Scholarship For Her Kind Act

Speaking on the issue, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, a special assistant to the NDDC managing director, Effiong Akwa said:

“We cannot be sending people to study accountancy or law in foreign universities; rather we can send someone to read forensic law as a specialty that is not so available in Nigeria.

“We will plunge those monies in our universities in the Niger Delta to develop them and affiliate them with foreign universities,”

Mr Udengs said this on Thursday at an event organised to commemorate World Youth Day in Calabar, Cross River State.

He added that the gesture is to improve the status of tertiary institutions in the nation and further affiliate them with their foreign institutions to make them superb and good enough to train thousands of Nigerians.

He further said: “On skills acquisition, NDDC is looking at the areas where we have comparative advantage as a nation to build the capacity of the youths. These areas include agriculture, the creative industry and manufacturing,”.