As part of their Human Resource Development initiatives, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is embarking on a Post-Graduate Foreign Scholarship Programme to equip Niger Deltans with relevant training and skills for effective participation in the Local Content program of the current Administration as well as competition globally in various professional fields.
The Scheme is for suitably qualified applicants with relevant Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree from recognized Universities.
The NDDC Foreign Scholarship Application 2021 is available for those pursuing the postgraduate program in the following professional disciplines:
- Engineering
- Medical Sciences (M.Sc. Public Health excluded)
- Law
- Management Sciences
- Geology
- Geosciences
- Environmental Sciences
- Agricultural Sciences
- ICT (Computer Science/Technology)
- Humanities
- Education
The scholarship is hosted by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Nigeria. In addition, it is applicable in the countries where the institutions are situated. The NDDC Post Graduate Foreign Scholarship Programme provides valuable opportunities to its recipients. It also includes a full tuition waiver, accommodation, travel fares, and other expenses paid.
About Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)
The Niger Delta Development Commission is a federal government agency established by Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000 with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In September 2008, President Umaru Yar’Adua announced the formation of a Niger Delta Ministry, with the Niger Delta Development Commission to become a parastatal under the ministry. One of the core mandates of the commission is to train and educate the youths of the oil-rich Niger Delta regions to curb hostilities and militancy while developing key infrastructure to promote diversification and productivity.
The NDDC was created largely as a response to the demands of the population of the Niger Delta, a populous area inhabited by a diversity of minority ethnic groups. During the 1990s these ethnic groups, most notably the Ijaw and the Ogoni, established organizations to confront the Nigerian government and multinational oil companies such as Shell. The minorities of the Niger Delta have continued to agitate and articulate demands for greater autonomy and control of the area’s petroleum resources. They justify their grievances by reference to the extensive environmental degradation and pollution from oil activities that have occurred in the region since the late 1950s. However, the minority communities of oil-producing areas have received little or no currency from the oil industry and environmental remediation measures are limited and negligible. The region is highly underdeveloped and is poor even by Nigeria’s standards for quality of life.
Sometimes violent confrontation with the state and oil companies, as well as with other communities has constrained oil production as disaffected youth or organizations deliberately disrupt oil operations in attempts to effect change. These disruptions have been extremely costly to the Nigerian oil industry, and both the multinationals and the federal government have vested interests in permitting uninterrupted extraction operations; the NDDC is a result of these concerns and is an attempt to satisfy the demands of the delta’s population.
Eligibility
The NDDC Foreign Scholarship is open to Niger Delta states in Nigeria which includes Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, and the Rivers States.
The following criteria must be met in order for applicants to be eligible for this NDDC scholarship:
- First degree with a minimum of 2nd Class Lower Division for those wishing to undertake a Master’s Degree program and a good Master’s Degree for Ph.D. candidates from a recognized University.
- Applicants must have gained admission for a Post Graduate Programme in any of the listed disciplines above, at a foreign University.
- Applicants who have already enrolled in Overseas Universities are NOT eligible to apply.
- Guarantor’s written consent of good conduct of the applicant from any of the following persons from the applicant’s community/clan.
- Member of National Assembly/State House of Assembly
- Chairman of the LGA
- First Class Traditional Ruler
- High Court Judge
- Persons with evidence of cult membership or criminal record shall not be
- considered for the award.
- Applicants must have completed the mandatory National Youth Service (NYSC).
- Students must meet the required criteria for a particular Institution.
- Must be a citizen of one of the eligible regions
How to Apply for NDDC Scholarship
The application must be made online at the Commission’s website with the following attachments:
- Recent passport photograph
- Local Government identification letter.
- Post Graduate (PG) admission letter from a recognized Overseas University.
- Relevant Degrees from a recognized University.
- Y.S.C Discharge/Exemption Certificate.
- The successfully completed application form will be assigned a registration number automatically.
- Print the hard copy of the online generated acknowledgment for ease of reference.
- All shortlisted applicants will be posted on the NDDC website.
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