The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has disclosed an increment in the stipend provided to students, raising it from $30,000 to $40,000. Additionally, the commission has initiated oral interviews for over 1,050 candidates participating in its foreign post-graduate scholarship program. Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, the Managing Director of NDDC, made this announcement during the interview sessions held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The interviews, spanning 11 days, were specifically for candidates who successfully passed the computer-based test (CBT) taken by 5,000 applicants earlier in the month. When questioned about the limited increase in scholarship recipients, Ogbuku cited funding challenges as the primary constraint.
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.”
