The Niger Delta Development Commission has initiated oral interviews for more than 1,050 candidates participating in its $40,000 Foreign Postgraduate Scholarship Programme. Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, the NDDC Managing Director, revealed this during the interview sessions held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
According to him, these interviews span over 11 days and involve candidates who cleared a computer-based test among 5,000 applicants earlier this month.
Accompanied by key officials including, Executive Director of Finance, Alabo Iyaye, and Administration, Sir Victor Antai, Executive Director of Projects, and Ifedayo Abegunde, Executive Director of Corporate Services, Ogbuku emphasized that the interview process adheres strictly to the principles of equity, fairness, and transparency.
He said, “Everything is going to be done based on merit and that is what we want. The reason we came to monitor the process is to show our support for 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 among 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.”
The NDDC boss explained the number of scholarship beneficiaries had yet to increase due to lack of funding.
He said, “We increased the allowance for the studies from $30,000 to $40,000 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.”
