The European Union (EU), on Thursday in Abuja, described Nigerian students as outstanding as it offered 142 postgraduate scholarships to young Nigerians in top European universities in the 2024–2025 academic session.
142 young people were awarded the scholarship under the EU’s flagship educational programme, Erasmus+. The Erasmus Mundus scholarship is funded by the EU and is awarded to students selected to attend one of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Programmes at the Master’s or Doctoral level.
The scholarship can be awarded to students from both non-EU and EU countries. The EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Samuela Isopi, at the Erasmus+ Scholarship Pre-Departure Orientation event said that Nigeria has retained its number one spot among beneficiaries of the EU postgraduate scholarships in Africa for the sixth year.
Isopi said at the event, which was organised by the EU, that the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) programme was now in its 20th year. She said that this had a highly transformative impact on individuals, higher education institutions, and countries both within and outside of the EU.
According to her, this year in Nigeria, there are 142 awardees who were selected from thousands of candidates all over the world through a very competitive process. Isopi said, “This means that it is a very good achievement and reaffirms that Nigerian students are very good and among the best.
“Nigeria is the top country in Africa with the highest number of awardees this year, and it is one of the top five in the world together with countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
“This once again shows that Nigeria is a country with great talents, and we are very proud as the European Union that we can contribute not only to the further development of that skill but to the development of Nigeria itself.”
Isopi said that the scholarship was an opportunity not only for their personal development but also a great opportunity for the country as a whole. “This is because with this master’s programme, they will study in various European countries, some of them for one or two years, in very specific areas of competence.
“They will come back and put their skills at the disposal of their country to develop further,” she said. The EU ambassador, however, said that most of the awardees would start their Erasmus+ journey in September.
She said that the pre-departure orientation was aimed at providing the recipients with hands-on tips on how to make the most of the immense opportunities inherent in the prestigious scholarship.
The programmes will run for 12 to 24 months, with each beneficiary studying at least three different universities in as many countries within and outside the EU during the period. Some of the programmes would include renewable-based power systems, chemical innovation and regulation, public health in disasters, and biorefineries.
Others are European MScs in Marine Environment 2030, Soils Science, Systems for Sustainable Engineering, Sustainable Mineral and Metal Processing Engineering, Sustainable Ship and Shipping, and several more.
On the successful completion of the programme, an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) scholar would receive a master degree to be jointly awarded by a consortium of universities in the framework of the EMJMD program, a key component of Erasmus+.
The EU works with the governments of Kano, Sokoto, Jigawa, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Oyo, Katsina, Enugu, and Plateau. The projects aim at strengthening the education system, increasing the use of digital technology for teaching, learning, and system management, and mainstreaming green skills and knowledge by investing 45.4 million euros from 2021–2027 in their education projects.
