The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) after reviewing its scholarship scheme has decided to plunge monies into the universities in the Niger Delta to develop them and affiliate them with foreign universities.
This was disclosed by Udengs Eradiri Special Assistant to Mr Effiong Akwa, Acting Managing Director of the Commission, while speaking at an event organised to commemorate the World Youth Day in Calabar.
He said: “The NDDC used to operate a scholarship scheme which was suspended as fallout of the forensic exercise, but the process is now undergoing a review.
“We cannot be sending people to study accountancy or law in foreign universities; rather we can send someone to read forensic law as a speciality that is not so available in Nigeria.
“We will plunge those monies in our universities in the Niger Delta to develop them and affiliate them with foreign universities,’’ Mr Udengs Eradiri, said.
Rather than waste money to send youths to foreign universities to study courses available in Nigeria, NDDC would rather invest the money in universities in the Niger Delta region, Eradiri said.
According to him, the gesture is to develop tertiary institutions in the nation and affiliate them with their foreign counterparts to make them Centres of Excellence to train thousands of Nigerians.
“On skills acquisition, NDDC is looking at the areas we have comparative advantage as a nation to build the capacity of the youths; these areas include agriculture, the creative industry and manufacturing,’’ he said.
