About 600 shortlisted Masters and Doctorate candidates were recently interviewed for the 2024/2025 overseas scholarship scheme by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Addressing journalists on the scheme, General Manager, PTDF, Mrs Ifeoma Nwokike, said the initiative was aimed at providing Nigerian students with the intellectual foundation and skills set needed to participate actively in the country’s oil and gas industry.
She said candidates who scaled through the rigorous selection process would be sent to elite tertiary institutions abroad, especially the United Kingdom
Nwokike said the students are expected to return to the country after they train to bridge identified gaps in the oil and gas industry with their expertise.
She said, “Our mandate is to build capacity in the oil and gas industry, and we have been mandated to train Nigerians in different skills to fill some of the identified gaps.”
Nwokike disclosed that the selection interview would hold simultaneously across the six geo-political zones.
The team lead for the overseas scholarship interview, Port Harcourt Centre, Mr Ere Iyalla, said the 600 students for the zone were shortlisted based on their results at the ordinary and undergraduate levels, as well as research proposal and statement of purpose that fit into the needs of the oil and gas industry.
