By SundiataPOST, Abuja
The Federal Government has charged scholars to justify awards given them by contributing to the economic and social transformation of Nigeria through hard work and discipline.
The supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, gave the charge on Monday in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the 2014/2015 Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) selection interview.
Wike said the objective of the scholarship, which is the commission’s mandatory regulation, “is for returnees to make differences in various fields like the academia, government, private sector and international organisations.
Wike said a CSFP alumni and evaluation of the programme would be put in place for the In the scheme from which about 27,500 candidates from Nigeria and other Commonwealth countries had benefited.
“An annual report of this evaluation allows the commission to determine whether the objectives of the award schemes are being met, their impact on society and how effective the policies and procedures are,” the minister stated.
He said the criteria set by the commission for this year include academic merit of candidates, quality of proposals, likely impacts of candidate’s work on the development of their home country and good knowledge of national and international affairs.
He further disclosed that in 2013 alone, more than 1,600 candidates applied and 25 were successful.
“As you may be aware, the CSFP was established in 1959, and has since been managed by the Commonwealth scholarship Commission (CSC), London.
In his address, The Director of the Federal Scholarship Board, Ms. Ifeoma Agunwah, said the 1,600 candidates that applied used the Electronic Application System.
