By Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo

The PTDF has commenced interviews for 403 candidates for the In-Country Scholarship Scheme at the College of Petroleum Studies Kaduna.

Saratu Abdullahi Idris, the Team Lead for the Northwest Zone, said in an interview with journalists on Tuesday that ” this exercise is the In-Country Scholarship Scheme done by the PTDF which we’ve been doing for years and it’s a very good programme because it helps our scholars to gain quality education.”

According to the Team Lead, “The 403 candidates that we have are cut across 5 different areas of study: Engineering, Computing,Geo Sciences, Environmental and Management. In that, we have 267 MScs and 136 PhDs.”

” The selection criteria for the MSc is having a minimum of 5 credits in their O’ levels, a minimum of Second Class Lower in their BSc, and for the PhD in. addition to that we need them to have a minimum of merit which is an equivalent to a Second Class lower, in their Masters. If they have professional membership registrations,that one too is also accepted, it’s a plus for them. It’s for all Federal and state universities, including AFIT and NDA.”

“I can assure you that our scholarship process are the most transparent processes, if not in the whole country. This is because all the processes are automated.Since 2019 we deployed a new scholarship management portal that manages the scholarship processes from application, throughout the life cycle of the scholarship if one gets awarded.”

The official said many scholars could testify that they don’t know anybody in the PTDF and yet, they got the scholarship award.

One of the panelists that conducted interviews for candidates pursuing courses at the Masters and PhD level,Dr. Lucky Imagbe , Lecturer and Associate Professor University of Jos,Department of Geology, said “so far the candidates are very good, they are trying their best considering the economic situation in Nigeria.”

He said “as at now,they are very good and have answered questions to our satisfaction.I think I need to commend them. On the scale of 1 to 10, 1 will rate the process 9 over 10.I commend the PTDF for granting this programme,bringing all of us from far and near and taking care of us.So I commend them. The programme is excellent. “

One of the scholars, Samson Bidemi, a BSc holder from Kebbi State University of Science and Technology,and an MSc student from the Federal University Birnin-Kebbi,said she was at the interview session for the MSc category and the process had been fair.

She said the questions asked by the panelists, ” from the field of computing..the questions asked were related to my field. The overall questions were fair.It was nice.”

Similarly,Abdullahi Aliyu who obtained his HND from Hassan Usman Katsina Polytechnic, described the selection process as very fair and objective.

“I need this scholarship because of the economic content. If I were financially OK, I would’ve allowed others to have a chance. But I need the scholarship because my research is obviously an expensive one. So I need a good support,” he said.