The first set of Nigerian scholars to benefit from the partnership between the Petroleum Technology Development Fund and the University of Sao Paulo Brazil, have travelled out of the country to commence studies in petroleum engineering and other related courses in Brazil.
According to the PTDF, the 17 scholars include eight doctorate and nine master’s degree students, adding that they constitute the pilot batch of the PTDF/University of Sao Paulo strategic collaboration.
“A Memorandum of Understanding between the PTDF and the USP was signed last year proposing to establish mutual co-operation in the conduct of academic projects in teaching, research and community service,” the agency said in a statement issued in Abuja.
The agreement, according to the fund, provides specifically that there will be no tuition fees applied to the PTDF scholars for the duration of their studies in the University of São Paulo.
At a brief induction ceremony, prior to their departure, the Executive Secretary, PTDF, Dr. Bello Gusau, observed that forging global partnerships in the training of the PTDF scholars would enable the fund to continue to deliver world-class education and achieve better value for money in the conduct of its programmes.
Gusau described the pioneer set of scholars as exceptionally lucky, saying they would be exposed to one of the leading universities in the world with cutting edge technology in the oil and gas sector.
He urged them to be conscious of their mission to Brazil as pioneering students of the partnership, adding that they should be good ambassadors of Nigeria and the PTDF in their conduct.
He was quoted as saying, “You must at all times be conscious of why you are there, not only are you going to represent Nigeria as a country, but you are also going to represent the PTDF as pioneering students of an education partnership agreement. How you behave, how you conduct yourself in that country will determine the fate of this programme.”
The PTDF stated that the university was ranked among the best 50 petroleum and sub-sea engineering institutions in the world.
It noted that the commencement of studies by the PTDF scholars in the university was a major step towards implementing one of the priorities of the new agenda guiding the fund’s capacity building interventions.