Nigeria is set to send around 5,000 students abroad for postgraduate studies in 2025/2026, leveraging its oil wealth to plug long-standing skills and competency gaps in the energy sector.

This comes as the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) begins nationwide interviews for shortlisted candidates drawn from about 29,000 applications received for its Overseas Scholarship Scheme.

The scheme, now in its 25th year, shows a push by Nigeria to invest resource revenues into long-term human capital development.

The PTDF was established by law in 1973 to train skilled professionals for the petroleum industry and operates under the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources. Since 2000, the Fund has prioritised international education for MSc and PhD students in critical technical and managerial fields.

This year’s interviews are taking place across six geo-political zones, with the selection panels comprising a blend of academics and industry professionals.

Candidates are being assessed on academic merit, research potential, leadership capabilities and adaptability for overseas study.

Briefing journalists in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the PTDF, Ahmed Aminu, represented by the Deputy General Manager, Education and Training, Mohammed Mustapha, reiterated the Fund’s role in “closing the skills and competency gap in the industry”.

Aminu noted that in a bid to reduce costs and enhance programme quality, the PTDF has built long-term strategic partnerships with institutions in the UK, France, Germany and Malaysia, where selected candidates will study English-taught programmes.

The continued reliance on foreign institutions for specialist training reflects the limitations of Nigeria’s domestic higher education sector in delivering industry-ready expertise, especially in high-tech energy fields. However, the PTDF’s scheme also signals an attempt to use oil revenues for a broader developmental impact amid public criticism of mismanagement in the sector.

Head of the Overseas Scholarship Scheme at PTDF, BolanleKehindeAgboola, noted that integrity, transparency and fairness have remained the hallmarks of the scheme since its inception.

“We ensure that the process is open and merit-based. This year, out of 29,000 applicants, only 5,000 have been shortlisted for interviews,” she said.