By Oluseye Ojo
Two hundred and fifty five postgraduate students from the six South West states of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti, are currently jostling for the 2024 In-Country Scholarship Scheme of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).
This was disclosed during the interview for the shortlisted applicants from the geopolitical zone, held at Petroleum Engineering Department, University of Ibadan, yesterday.
The PTDF’s Chief Officer and Team Lead for the South West interview panel for the scholarship scheme, Tajudeen Ibiyeye, revealed that a total of 1,643 students were shortlisted for the interview across the country, for both masters and doctorate degree programmes.
He added that from the South West, 255 students were invited for the interview among the applicants from different universities.
He stated: “For the South West, we have 255 applicants. We have 185 MSc and 70 PhD applicants from different institutions across the South West of Nigeria.
“The areas of focus for this scholarship scheme are management, engineering, geoscience and information and communication technology (ICT).”
He explained that successful applicants would be sponsored for their masters and doctorate degree programmes by the PTDF.
He noted that the in-country scholarship scheme was designed for students pursuing their postgraduate studies in different universities within Nigeria.
He also noted that the first criterion for selection for the physical interview is that the applicant must be a Nigerian, and must have completed his or her first degree programme with a minimum grade of 2.1 and with a good O-level certificate. He added that the interview was emplaced to get the best among the applicants for the scholarship towards adding values to the oil and gas sector.
He was optimistic that those that would eventually benefit from the scholarship scheme would embark on research that would among other things, support the gradual transition of Nigeria from massive usage of petrol to compressed natural gas (CNG), which is part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Three among the interviewed applicants, Mrs. Yetunde Oriji, a doctorate degree student at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State; Okunowo Olutayo, a doctorate degree student at the University of Lagos and Adeeyo Kayode, a masters degree student at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, said they applied for the scholarship online and they were shortlisted for the interview. They described the interview session as strict and good.