Federal Government Scholarships for Nigerian Students

One of the ways the Federal Government supports education in the country is by granting scholarships to Nigerian students based on merit or their unique needs.

In this post, we’ll take a look at the Federal Government Scholarships available to students in Nigerian. So, if you’re a Nigerian student looking for scholarship opportunities, you’re certainly on the right page.

This list comprises these scholarships or financial aids as well as their eligibility criteria and application process.

PTDF Scholarships

The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) is an agency under the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

The agency was set up with the objective of developing indigenous human capacity and petroleum technology to meet the needs of the oil and gas industry.

The PTDF Scholarship is awarded to both postgraduate and undergraduate students at Nigerian tertiary institutions. Also, this scholarship opportunity is applicable to Nigerian students interested in studying abroad at the postgraduate levels (Masters and PhD).

The PTDF Overseas Postgraduate Scholarships are applicable to all fields. On the other hand, the undergraduate scholarships are applicable to those studying in Nigerian universities.

 

At the Postgraduate level, below are some of the eligibilty criteria for the PTDF Scholarship Scheme:

• You must possess a minimum qualification of 5 O/Level Credit in the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination in the subjects relevant to your field including English Language and Mathematics.
• You must be computer literate
• You must have a minimum of a Second Class Upper degree either a first class degree or a Second Class Lower degree with relevant industry experience
• You must have completed the mandatory one year National Youth Service Corps

PhD applicants are expected to study a statement of purpose of no less than 500 words stating how their postgraduate research will impact on national development.

If you meet the criteria, you can apply for the award. Then, you’ll be scheduled for an interview at specific venues depending on your respective state of origin.

Prior to the interview, you’re expected to submit the following documents. You can scan them as copies:

 

• Application Form
• NYSC Discharge Certificate
• First Degree Certificate
• Passport sized coloured photograph on white background;
• Local Government Certificate
• Evidence of Membership of Professional Associations
• Master’s Degree Certificate (for PhD applicants)
• WAEC certificate as well as the PIN numbers on the application forms which will ebable the PTDF viewing of the O’ Level results on the relevant website.
• Photocopies of Authenticated academic certificates

Candidates that successfully scale the initial application stage will be requested to submit their transcript.

Successful candidates are awarded a scholarship package that includes the provision of flight tickets, payment of health insurance, payment of tuition and bench fees (where applicable) as well as the provision of allowances to meet the costs of accommodation and living expenses. The scheme also includes language classes to aid scholars settle into their new environments.

Overall, the PTDF scholarships are quite competitive and only the best are selected.

BEA Scholarship Awards

The Federal Government also offers a Bilateral Educational Agreement (BEA) Scholarship Awards which is applicable to Undergraduate, Masters and PhD students that intend to study overseas

Some of the countries include Russia, China, Cuba, Morocco, Algeria, Romania, Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt, Japan, Serbia, Mexico, Macedonia, e.t.c

The BEA Scholarship Award is sponsored by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Education, through the Federal Scholarship Board

 

However, not all countries have bilateral agreement with Nigeria under this scholarship award. The countries with bilateral agreement are Russia, China, Morocco, Turkey, Algeria, Romania, Serbia, Japan, Ukraine, Cuba, Greece, Czech Republic, Syria, Macedonia, Mexico, Egypt, Tunisia etc.

 

The available courses include:

• Engineering
• Geology
• Agriculture
• Sciences
• Mathematics
• Languages
• Environmental Sciences
• Sports
• Law
• Social Sciences
• Biotechnology
• Architecture
• Medicine (very limited)

At the Postgraduate level (Masters Degree and Ph.D), the scholarship is available in all fields.

Usually, the interviews for the scholarship usually hold at the beginning of the year across the six geopolitical zones.

If you’re interested and qualified as a Nigerian, you should apply online before the examination dates.

Below are the eligibility criteria for the undergraduate BEA Award scholarship:

• All applicants for undergraduate degree courses must possess a minimum qualification of five (5) distinctions (As & Bs) in the Senior Secoundary School Certificate, WAEC (May/June) only in the subjects relevant to their fields of study including English Language and Mathematics.
• Certificates should not be more than Two (2) years old (2015 & 2016).
• Age limit is from 18 to 20 years.

 

The Eligibility Criteria for the Postgraduate Scholarship have been highlighted below:

• All applicants must hold a first degree with at least Second Class Upper Division.
• The applicants who are previous recipients of Foreign Awards must have completed at least 2 years post qualification or employment practice in Nigeria.
• All applicants must have completed N.Y.S.C.
• Age limit is 35 years for Masters and 40 years for Ph.D.

 

Usually, the BEA countries are non-English speaking as a result, applicants should be prepared to undertake a mandatory one year foreign language of the country of choice which will be the standard medium of instruction.

 

These BEA countries are usually responsible for the tuition and accommodation of the students, while the Nigerian Government takes care of supplement, warm clothing, health insurance, research grant where applicable and take off.

 

The duration of the scholarship is usually between 4- 9 years depending on the level of study and the country.

 

Here’s a list of the countries for both undrgraduate and postgraduate studies:

• Undergraduate  (UG)  studies: Russia,  Morocco, Algeria, Serbia, Hungary, Egypt, Turkey, Cuba, Ukraine, Japan, and
• Postgraduate (PG) studies: Russia (for those whose first degrees were obtained from Russia), China, Hungary, Serbia, Turkey, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, e.t.c.

The application involves the following steps:

 

• Log in to the Federal Ministry of Education’s website gov.ng 
• Read the guidelines and fill the Application Form online
• Print the completed Application Form
• Submit two sets of the Printed Application Forms at the venue of the interview as scheduled

 

The interviews are usually done at the Federal Unity Schools across the 36 states.

We have compiled a list of these states and their venues:

North-East:

• Adamawa State: FGGC Yola, Numan Road Yola
• Bauchi State: FGGC Bauchi, Gombe Road Bauchi
• Borno State: Ramat Polytechnic Opposite Police Headquarters, Maiduguri
• Gombe State: Govt Science Secondary School 1 Gombe, Adjacent Specialist Hospital.
• Taraba State: FGGC Jalingo, Road Safely Road, Jalingo.
• Yobe State: Government Girls College, Along Maiduguri Road, Opposite Federal Polytechnic Damaturu.

North West:

• Zamafara State: FGGC Gussu.
• Kaduna State: FGGC, Kaduna
• Sokoto State: FGGC Sokoto
• Katsina State: Govt. Colege (Day Wing) Katsina
• Kebbi State: Fed.Poly.( Twtin Lecture Theatre) Birninkebbi
• Kano State: Kano State Scholarship Board Office Hall, Kano
• Jigawa State: Commercial Secondary School, Dutse.

South South:

• Rivers State: Federal Government College, Rumuokoro, Ph
• Akwa Ibom State: Federal Science & Technical College – Uyo
• Cross Rvers State: FGGC, Calabar
• Delta State: Federal College Of Education Technical, Asaba
• Bayelsa State: Bishop Dimeri Grammar School, Yenagua
• Edo State: Federal Government Girls College, Benin

South East:

• Enugu State: Federal Government College, Enugu
• Imo State: Federal Government Girls College, Owerri
• Ebonyi State: Law Faculty Auditorium, Ebony State University, Abakallki
• Anambra State: Federal Science and Technical College Awaka
• Abia State: Federal Government Girls’ College Umuahia.

South West:

• Oyo State: School Of Science, Okebola, Ibadan.
• Osun State: Ataoja School of Science Osogbo
• Ekiti State: Christ School, Ado-Ekiti.
• Ogun State: Abeokuta Grammar School, Abeokuta
• Lagos State: Federal Science and Technical College, Akoka
• Ondo State: Federal Government Girls College, Akure

North Central:

• Kwara State: Federal Government College, Ogidi Oloje – Ilonn

• Niger State: Federal Government College, Chanchaga – Minna
• Nasarawa State: Government Science Secondary School, Lafia
• Benue State: Government Seconday School -Makurdi
• Kogi State: Government Science Secondary School, Lokoja
• Plateau State: Federal Government College, Zaria Road – Jos
• FCT: Federal Government Boys College, Apo

 

You’re expected to report at the interview centre for proper identification. Also, you’re to come along with two sets of printed and completed application forms along with the following attachments:

 

• 2 sets of Photocopies of Educational Certificates and Testimonials of previous schools attended with the originals for sighting;
• May/June WAEC certificate OR Statement of results which has been confirmed by WAEC and forwarded to the Director/Secretary, Federal Scholarship Board, Abuja;
• 2 copies of your Birth certificate;
• State of Origin/LGA certificate duly signed, stamped and dated;
• 4 passport sized coloured photographs on white background;
• Academic transcripts and NYSC certificates will be required from applicants for Postgraduate Studies.

 

The application process involves submiting the following to the Federal Scholarship Board. This is applicable to those that have been selected by the awarding BEA countries. The documents include:

• Photocopies of original academic certificates;
• Data page of current International passport, and
• Specified Medical Reports & Police clearance certificate.

Please note that the BEA application doesn’t attract a processing fee so beware of fraudsters.

Overall, if you’re a student in a Nigerian University, you can apply for any of the Federal Government Scholarship Awards if you belong to any of these departments:

• Agriculture
• Education
• Entreprenuerial Studies
• Environmental Science
• HND
• ICT
• Law
• Liberal Arts/Social/Management Sciences
• Medicine and Para-medicals
• NCE
• Science and Technology

On the other hand, if you’re applying for Postgraduate Studies. Below are the eligibility criteria:

• You must possess a minimum of first degree with Second Class Honors, Upper Division.

If you’re an undergraduate, below are the eligibility criteria:

• You must be registered full-time students in their second year or above in Federal or State University, Polytechnics, Monotechnics and Colleges of Education. The same applies to physically challenged undergraduate students.
• You must have at least 4.0 Cumulative Grade Points Aggregate (CGPA) on a 5 point scale or its equivalent.
• Applicants must be registered full-time students of Federal or State Universities.

It is expected that the scholarship award is used in assisting the student in the payment of Institution charges/fees as well as for personal maintenance.

NITDA Scholarship

This is another Federal Government based scholarship. The agency in charge of this scholarship, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has a mandate of transforming Nigeria into an IT driven economy for global competitiveness and the need to bridge the digital gap.

And one of the ways of achieving this was to establish a Scholarship Scheme for Masters (MSc) and Doctorate (PhD) Degrees in relevant areas of Information Technology (IT) which can be obtained in Nigerian (Government and Private) Universities. This scheme was established in 2010.

The Scholarships are targeted at 2 persons per State of the Federal on including the FCT at masters’ level and 1 person per geo-political zone of the country at doctorate level.

However, this scholarship scheme only applies to candidates who are willing to study in any of the federal, state or private universities in Nigeria. The scheme does not apply to foreign universities.

Over the years, NITDA has successfully sponsored 247 Nigerian Graduates in Information Technology fields at post graduate level and 24 for doctorate.

The scholarship is awarded based on merit and is evenly distributed between the six geo-political zones for PhD and the 36 States and FCT for MSc.

Typically, the Scholarship covers the duration of the Masters programme which is expected to run for one year and the Doctorate programme which is expected to run for three years.

At the PhD level, only University Lecturers with MSc in any Information Technology related field are eligible to apply for sponsorship.

On the other hand, at the MSc level, holders of First Class or Second Class (Upper) Honours Bachelor’s degree, (BSc) in Information Technology related field are eligible to apply.