No fewer than 560 candidates from the North-West zone have been shortlisted and screened for the Petroleum Technology Development Fund overseas scholarship scheme.
The screening was held at the Kaduna Centre, as part of the fund’s annual initiative to build human capacity for Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
The ongoing exercise, which commenced on Monday at the ICT Centre of Kaduna State University, targets prospective candidates for Master’s and doctoral degrees in fields relevant to the petroleum sector.
Speaking with journalists at the venue, PTDF Manager of Training, Attahiru Ahmed, said the scholarship scheme remained a deliberate strategy to boost indigenous expertise and bridge the capacity gap in the nation’s oil and gas sector through world-class education.
“We are here to interview applicants of the PTDF Overseas Scholarship Scheme. The interview is part of the selection process for both Master’s and PhD applicants,” Ahmed stated.
According to him, 350 candidates were expected to be screened this week for the Master’s category, with the interviews scheduled in both morning and afternoon sessions over five days.
“You know PTDF is tasked with the responsibility of developing capacity for the oil and gas industry, and that’s precisely why we are doing this.
“We focus strictly on oil and gas-related courses. This initiative has been running for several years now and has produced scholars who are making valuable contributions in the sector,” he added.
He further explained that the screening was decentralised, with six centres established nationwide, one per geopolitical zone, to ease participation.
Candidates, he said, were allowed to select centres nearest to them during the application process.
Highlighting the criteria for selection, Ahmed said, “Applicants must present their O’Level results, university degree certificates, and proof of the relevance of their chosen fields to the oil and gas sector.”
The Director of the Katsina State Office of the Federal Character Commission, Dalhatu Ibrahim, commended the PTDF for its transparency, noting that the commission was on the ground to ensure fairness throughout the process.
“This is not the first time PTDF has conducted this exercise, and we have always observed that it is transparent.
“They have clear-cut criteria for shortlisting candidates. After the shortlisting, they invite candidates and we come to monitor the exercise to ensure the process is equitable. That’s why we are here today,” Ibrahim stated.
Some of the candidates expressed optimism about securing the scholarship, revealing how they discovered the opportunity and what they hoped to achieve with their studies abroad.
One of the candidates, Habiba Ali, a graduate of Bayero University, Kano, said she was applying for a Master’s programme in Computational Finance.
“I am here because I believe technology can help solve Nigeria’s economic challenges, especially in the financial sector, which has a direct bearing on the oil and gas industry.
“I combined my background in economics with skills in data science and analysis because I see it as a way of helping Nigeria tackle its financial sector problems,” she said.
In a similar vein, Capt Chukwuebuka Nwali of the Nigerian Army Education Corps said his focus was on securing funding to study Nuclear Physics, having completed his first degree in Physics Education.
Nwali noted that corrosion of equipment costs Nigeria billions of naira annually, stressing that with advanced knowledge in nuclear physics, he hopes to contribute solutions upon his return.
Another candidate, Ibrahim Jamilu from the Department of Geology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said his area of interest is Environmental Geology.
“Since my undergraduate days at ABU, we’ve been exposed to international opportunities, and that’s where I first heard about PTDF. I even set a personal goal to be here today,” he said.
