THE federal government has charged Nigerian students studying in foreign countries to be law abiding, saying they must avoid things that could obstruct their academic success.
This came as the European Union,EU disclosed that Nigerians was trailing behind Pakistan as the second most benefiting country in its postgraduate scholarships.
Minister of Education,Malam Adamu Adamu, who gave the advice, yesterday,in Abuja, at a pre-departure orientation ceremony of the postgraduate scholarships awardees, hailed the EU for the gesture.
Speaking through his representative and Director, Federal Scholarship Board, Mrs Asta Ndajiwo, the minister hailed the EU delegation and the ECOWAS for organising the event for Nigerians students, just as he congratulated the awardees.
The benefiaries are to study in the best European universities, under the Erasmus Plus Programme,an initiative of the European Union, which is aimed at enhancing quality higher education through scholarships and academic cooperation between the Union all countries of the world.
EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Samuela Isopi, speaking at the ceremony, said 200 Nigerians have benefited from the scheme since 2019.
She explained that the numbers increased from 44 winners to 93 in 2020, 133 in 2021 and now 200 in 2022, revealing that Nigeria moved from 6th position to second, next to Pakistan, in the ranking of countries benefiting from the programme.
She explained that this year’s awardees of the
Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Scholarships
was selected by a consortium of top European universities.
The awardees,she said, would have the opportunity to visit up to six countries across Europe during their period of stay, adding that the programme was aimed at connecting and uniting young people across the globe.
“This is a master postgraduate master degree program that will run for 12 or 24 months, Nigerian awardees will go to 75 different universities in 20 different countries across Europe, including 18 European Union member states. During that period, they will have the opportunity to visit up to six countries across Europe.
“In three years since 2019, Nigeria has been able to quadruple the number of students participating in the program. Moving from the sixth to the second position right behind Pakistan. Nigerian awardees were just 44 in 2019 then the number increased to 93 in 2020 to 133 last year to reach the record number of over 200 this year.
“This makes us very proud and you have to be very proud. We know that it’s not enough because the potential of Nigeria is really very, high and that’s why we want to work together with you and with the federal government for these numbers to keep growing in the next few years.
“On education, we have decided to combine the traditional pre-departure orientation event with a study in Europe fair. We expect to receive today more than 2000 visitors today in just the first time we organized this fair in a few months, we promise we can meet to make it bigger next year,”she said.
On his part,the Deputy Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission,NUC, Mr. Chris Maiyaki described the development as a laudable achievement, saying it was a proud moment for Nigeria.
He hailed EU for its tremendous support and contributions in generating, disseminating and expanding the frontiers of knowledge to develop Nigerian manpower.
VANGUARD
