Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), on Wednesday, explained that candidates for the overseas scholarship for masters’ and doctorate degrees were selected based on their past academic performance and the potential of their proposals to address challenges confronting the petroleum industry and the country in general.
Speaking during the induction ceremony for successful candidates for the doctoral scholarship programme in Abuja, executive secretary of the PTDF, Bello Gusau, said the candidates were selected based on the ability of their proposals to address industry challenges and drive Nigeria’s economic growth.
He said, “We decided that the selection of most of the candidate was based on their earlier academic endeavours, especially their earlier degrees. More importantly, it was based on the specific proposals that they presented.
“We looked at which of those proposals have the potentials to address real life changes, not only in our industry, but the country at large. The point is that at the level of PHD, we are not just interested in creating skills and competencies; we are particular in the projects, the potentials of the research to existing challenges.
“We want you to have at the back of your mind that you are there to address challenges of progress. Do as much as possible to gear your research to one particular issue that you are interested in back at home. I will call on you to direct your minds toward the contribution you would make in addressing many of our numerous challenges.”
Speaking in the same vein, David Akoji, special assistant to the director-general of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), said the Federal Government’s concern was that people on its scholarship should project the country’s ethics and values through their behaviours and interactions so as to create a positive impression about Nigeria.
He said, “At the National Orientation Agency, NOA, we are trying to raise citizens who are Nigerian diplomats in whatever country they go to. If you look at most nations of the world, you are able to identify where a person comes from by the way the person carries him or herself; by the way the person behaves; by the value and ethics the person projects.
“Now we are concerned that any Nigeria that is travelling outside of Nigeria to another country should reflect behaviours that are in accordance with ethics and values that are established in the 1999 constitution, as amended. Those ethics are clearly spelt out in the constitution. They are ethics of discipline, patriotism, dignity of labour, loyalty amongst others.”
