The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has said it had increased the allowance paid to students from $30,000 to $40,000.
The commission also said it had begun oral interviews for over 1,050 candidates for its foreign post-graduate scholarship programme.
The NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, announced this at the venue of the interview in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The interview, which spanned 11 days, was designed for successful candidates in a computer-based test (CBT) written by 5,000 applicants earlier this month.
Responding to questions on why the NDDC had not increased the number of scholarship beneficiaries, Ogbuku explained that funding had been a challenge.
He said: “We increased the allowance for the studies from $30,000.00 to $40,000.00 and this affected our finances, making it necessary to create a balance.
“However, from next year, we hope to reduce the number of foreign scholarships because of the high foreign exchange rate. But we will introduce scholarships for undergraduate students in Nigerian universities. This will enable us to accommodate more persons in the scholarship programme.”
The managing director, who was accompanied by the Executive Director of Finance and Administration, Alabo Boma Iyaye; the Executive Director Projects, Sir Victor Antai; and the Executive Director Corporate Services, Ifedayo Abegunde, said the guiding principles for the interview were equity, fairness and transparency.
In a statement by the NDCC Director of Corporate Affairs, Pius Ughakpoteni, he said: “Everything is going to be done based on merit. That is what we want and the reason we came to monitor the process is to show our support to what is going on and let people know that we did not set up a process without coming to check what was happening. We believe that the best will be selected amongst the successful candidates.
“We are sending the scholars out to represent our country. They are going to be our worthy ambassadors. The interview panel was randomly selected to ensure fairness because the 200 scholars to be selected will be our ambassadors.”
-Thenation
