Nigeria Education 'PTDF overseas scholarship has not been cancelled'

Reports that the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) overseas scholarship scheme has been cancelled are false.

The Executive Secretary of PTDF, Femi Ajayi, made the clarification while speaking with Daily Trust at a two-day workshop on collaboration between Oil and Gas Centres of Excellence and Nigerian tertiary institutions.

Ajayi explained that the Fund only restructured the terms of the scheme.

"The PTDF has not cancelled the scheme," the Executive Secretary said.

"The point I have made is that as much as possible we want to increase capacity building locally here and because of that even our training partners; we have told them that going forward, people that we would be favourably disposed to, are those partners who are ready to encourage our domestication drive.

"We are asking them to come and set up shops in our country here, to do what they are doing for us over there, here."

  Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Mr. Femi Ajayi

He further explained that cancelling the scheme is not likely to ever happen because of the importance of encouraging interaction interaction.

"In fact we are not likely to be able to cancel it outright because don’t forget, there is a need for intellectual interaction and diffusion even within the country.

"If you bring scholars who trained in the US, Germany and the ones that trained in the UK, the mix is the best you can have and be better for you because we are combining the expertise from so many places."

A refinery worker
(Getty Images)

The PTDF is a Federal Government parastatal established to develop petroleum technology and building indigenous manpower for Nigeria's oil and gas industry.