From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
83 students that were selected for Federal Government scholarship have departed Nigeria for Morocco, to begin their studies in the 2023/2024 academic year.
Minister of Education Prof Tahir Mamman, in his pre-departure briefing to the students in Abuja, on Thursday, congratulated them for benefitting in this year’s Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) opportunity.
He reminded them of the objectives of the scholarship and urged them to maximise the opportunity for their own benefit and that of Nigeria.
He said: “Your success in the selection process is a reflection of academic brilliance as well as the efforts of your teachers and your parents. It’s part of a broader plan of deepening the education agenda of government which ensures that brilliant Nigerians, especially those that could not afford to study programmes that are not readily available in Nigeria, are supported to get necessary knowledge, skills and competences that would be useful in Nigeria’s development agenda.”
He informed the scholars that in spite of the global economic meltdown, the number of development partners have increased and many of them now offer scholarship to Nigeria. “The active countries include Hungary, China, Russia, Algeria, Romania, Morocco, Serbia, Mexico, Egypt and Venezuela, others not very active include Macedonia, Poland, South Korea, Greece, Japan and Turkey.”
The Minister said that, in order to reciprocate their good gestures, Nigeria also offer scholarship awards to China and Romania in the past and hope to re-activate the gesture as soon as the country and others indicate interest.
The Minister further warned: “As you prepare to travel to foreign land today, many of you might be leaving your parents for the first time, while virtually all of you would be leaving for a foreign land, you should not see this as a freedom to do things that would be a disgrace to you, your parents and the country.
“Nigeria is investing a lot in you, so are you parents. So, we expect that the returns of the investment would manifest in your coming back to help move your nation forward.”
He reminded them that living in foreign land is very different from living in Nigeria, hence they should learn to abide by the rules in their host countries, and for those going to the same place, they should learn to become their brother’s keeper. “Most importantly, you need to make your presence known to the Nigerian Embassy in Rabat, Morocco, for their knowledge and guidance. This is very necessary, based on our experiences from Ukraine.
“Note very seriously that we all expect you to return to our dear Country at the end of your studies to assist Nigeria build a better place by contributing your quota to the development of our dear country.”