By; Jerome-Mario Utomi
If you believe that education is the main bedrock of development – socio-economic, infrastructural and human capital development – then you are in good company with Mr. Chiedu Ebie, Chairman, Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, Managing Director, NDDC and Dr Dennis Otuaro, Special Adviser/Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP). The steadfast commitment of this trio to foreign post graduate scholarship programmes for people of the Niger Delta region is unmatched. It stands as a testament of their firm conviction that with sound education, a country is as good as made – as education will in turn produce all rounded manpower to continue with the development of the society driven by well thought out ideas, policies, programmes.
Ebie, Ogbuku and Otuaro are undoubtedly apostles of foreign scholarship programme; they are at the vanguard of its advocacy. They believe that if there is anything that the people of the region wish that the Federal Government accomplishes for them quickly without much ado, it is giving them, particularly the youths, optimal access to world class education as this will help to bring democratized human capital development, help limit underdevelopment while enhancing economic empowerment of the region and its people.
Newspaper reports that PAP has sponsored 161 beneficiaries to pursue postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom for the 2025/2026 academic year reinforces the above argument. The Administrator of PAP, Dr Otuaro, in a statement signed by his media aide, Igoniko Oduma, said that the initiative aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which focuses on closing the human capacity development gap in the Niger Delta and fostering socio-economic growth in the region.
“I believe that if we sustain the high number of scholarship deployments within and outside the country, the issue of the human capacity development gap in our region will be decisively tackled. I am eternally grateful to His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, for graciously supporting the Presidential Amnesty Programme as we deploy foreign scholarship beneficiaries for the academic session. But for the President’s magnanimity, it would not have been possible for us to send 161 beneficiaries to universities in the UK. I am highly encouraged by the President’s backing of our formal education and vocational training initiatives, and his strong desire for the socio-economic growth and development of our region,” Otuaro stated.
While the beneficiaries and their families celebrate, noteworthy is that this is coming just before the dust of excitement raised by similar effort could settle.
Recall that a few months ago, after an intense and rigorous selection process largely driven by technology, the NDDC, in a similar fashion awarded scholarships to 200 successful candidates from the region to pursue Master’s Degrees overseas, a programme which of course is an important component of the Commission’s human capital development drive that seeks leverage on education to change the fortunes of the region. While the entire process may have climaxed with presentation of letters by Ebie, the NDDC board Chairman, to the prospective scholars at a pre-departure and award ceremony held recently in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, it is gratifying to note that, given transparency of the process and fairness which characterized the entire exercise, the pre-condition for sustainable development now exists in NDDC. This can only happen when honest, dedicated and selfless persons man critical agencies of government such as NDDC.
The NDDC Foreign Postgraduate Scholarship programme which started in 2010 was designed to produce top level professionals with technical knowledge, capacity and expertise to compete in the oil and gas industry, as well as other sectors. So far, the Commission has reportedly sponsored over 3,000 scholars at both Masters and Ph.D levels since the inception of the programme.
Aside the high level of transparency which branded the process, and made it possible for most of the beneficiaries to be those that never knew anyone from the NDDC or anyone that works there, this unique outcome and other positive vibes recently coming out from the Commission, have significantly made Niger Deltans to conclude and rightly too, that the NDDC has finally got a people-centered Board and Management that take the welfare of Niger Delta communities seriously, a board that is interested in the vision and aspirations of the people. Of course, the NDDC board under the Chairmanship of Ebie is irrevocably committed to the economic growth, education, health, security, stability and comfort of the people. The NDDC will not relent in creating a conducive atmosphere to achieve targets and opportunities that guarantee welfare and a bright future for the people.
Worthy of commendation too is the declaration by the NDDC board that the Commission is promising Ph.D scholarship for any of these 200 recipients who gets Distinction.
The gesture becomes even more appreciated when one recalls that education is the catalyst for development. It also points to the fact that the selection process was not a tea party but made possible by a Board Peopled by leaders imbued with practical experience, transparent and honest. This was why it was possible to effectively and meticulously review over 20,000 applications that were received in 2023, out of which 5,000 were selected for a Computer Based Test conducted. The number was further trimmed down to 1,500 who were orally interviewed by panels of academia.
One salutary feature of the NDDC that other government agencies, in my view, should emulate, is the absence, to use a common Nigerian slang “man know man” in selecting candidates for sponsorship of any kind or award of favour of any kind.
Said Ebie: “Most of these people never knew anyone from the NDDC or anyone that works here, they applied by themselves, they created their platforms. Some of them, not these ones but some people did upload fake documents. Out of those 20,000, we pruned it down to 5000 that wrote the CBTs and were given their scores immediately”
And in a press statement, the NDDC assured it was leaving nothing to chance in ensuring that the scholarship programme met its set objective of increasing human capital development in the Niger Delta. Part of such steps, the agency added, includes adequate provision for fees and stipends.
“It is not the intention of the Board and Management of NDDC to send you abroad and keep you stranded. We will try our best to see that whenever it is time to pay your fees, we will do that”, the Managing Director NDDC said
As this piece celebrates and applauds the NDDC leadership over its milestones, two silent points must be noted and commended: The rancor-free relationship between the Board and the Management of the agency. The humility of, and unflinching belief in productive collaboration by the Governing Board Chairman, Mr. Chiedu Ebie.
The above points resonate with Ebie’s recent praises for the NDDC Managing Director (MD) and the management of NDDC for sustaining and ensuring that the scholarship program was as transparent as possible and merit-based.
This, to me, should be emulated by boards of other government agencies.
Finally, I believe that those in positions of authority must recognize that the development of a third world country is a shared responsibility and therefore, must learn to acknowledge as well as give honour to whom honour is due!
