The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), has begun the screening of 720 shortlisted prospective scholars from the North-West for  its ‘Overseas Scholarship Scheme’ in Kaduna.

The scholarship programmed is  one year for MSc and three years for PhD.

The PTDF’s Team Lead for the North-West Centre, Kaduna, Saratu Idris, said this while speaking to newsmen at the sideline of the exercise on Wednesday at the College of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Kaduna.

Idris said that 1,707 candidates applied for the scholarship, where 720 were shortlisted and 189 candidates would be interviewed for the day.

She listed the scholarship programmed to be on certain disciplines which include: Engineering,Computing, Geo-Sciences, Environmental and Management Sciences.

Idris also listed the host countries for the scholarship programmed to be Brazil, France, Malaysia, Germany and UK.

She explained that some of the processes for the scholarship interview included the involvement of panelists who were mostly scholars.

Idris equally said there were criteria for candidates’ selection, which include scrutinizing their first degree certificates, O level results, of which Mathematics and English are key.

She also said professional membership in organizations was a part of the criteria, adding, ”where MSc candidates must have a statement of purpose and research proposals for PhD candidates.

For transparency and giving equal opportunities for eligible Nigerians, the team lead said PTDF advertised the scholarship programmed online and in some Newspapers.

Earlier,  Dr Munir Surajo, the Interim Head of the college, said the institution was established by PTDF as a tertiary Institution to basically complement its other capacity building initiatives.

He explained that one of the major activities of the college was to deliver post-graduate training programmes in trades that were related to the oil and gas industry at Msc and PhD levels.

Speaking on the scholarship programme, he said it was aimed at ensuring that Nigerians were trained on the management of the country’s oil and gas resources.

Surajo said, “When oil was discovered in the country, those who managed its facilities were mostly expatriates.

”We feel it is high time Nigerians take up those roles, which we believe is a gradual process.

“By mandate of PTDF which was set up to develop human and technological capacity for the oil and gas industry.

”One of our cardinal programmes is the overseas scholarship scheme through which Nigerians are trained from various Institutions across the globe”.

Speaking on the importance of oil, Surajo said over 80 per cent of the country’s revenue earning comes from it,  saying, ”if many Nigerians are fully trained and participate in the oil and gas industry the country would flourish better.”

Also speaking to newsmen, one of the panelists for the scholarship interview, Dr Hauwa Ibrahim, a Lecturer at the Nasarawa  University, commended PTDF for selecting the right candidates for the scholarship.

She said the interview panels have at least three panelists each, where the multi-interview process ensures fairness inline with the criteria which was already defined.

Ibrahim said she was impressed by the candidates’ demonstration of excellent research skills.

“Some of them are proactive, some of them are already standing out in their field of research across all the spheres,” she said.

One of the scholarship interviewees, Rukayya Adam, who applied for MSc in cyber-security, said she was passionate about contributing her quota to the upliftment of the oil and gas industry as a cyber analyst.

She said she wants to be part of those who give security guidance to the internet-related issues that put the country’s oil and gas industry in despair.(NAN)