By The Presidential Amnesty Programme has deployed 54 Niger Delta beneficiaries to the United Kingdom for postgraduate studies under its offshore scholarship scheme, pushing the total number of offshore postgraduate scholars deployed by the programme in 2026 to 243.
The Latest Deployment
According to a statement issued Saturday and signed by Igoniko Oduma, Special Assistant on Media to the PAP Administrator, the 54 scholars departed Abuja and arrived in London on Friday to begin their studies at various UK universities.
They are part of a larger cohort of 150 scholars who completed a pre-departure orientation in August after being selected for deployment by PAP Administrator Dr Dennis Brutu Otuaro.
The scholars will pursue a range of postgraduate programmes, including software engineering, cybersecurity, global public health, oil and gas engineering, law, fintech analytics, construction engineering management, forensic audit and data science analytics.
Otuaro’s Charge to the Scholars
Otuaro urged the beneficiaries to take their studies seriously and conduct themselves as good ambassadors of both Nigeria and the Niger Delta while abroad, while also respecting UK law and complying with their institutions’ rules and regulations.
He further advised them to return home once their programmes are complete and put their new knowledge and skills to work developing their communities and the country at large.
He framed the scholarship push as central to the region’s long term stability, arguing that education serves as the vehicle for the Niger Delta’s socio-economic advancement and sustainable peace, and that investing in the region’s youth is the surest path to a better future for the area.
Crediting Federal Support
Otuaro attributed the scale of this year’s scholarship deployments to backing from President Bola Tinubu under the Renewed Hope Agenda, expressing profound appreciation for what he described as the President’s massive support, without which he said deployments of this size would not have been possible.
He also thanked the Office of the National Security Adviser, singling out National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu for what he called efficient supervision, deep insight and professional input that have benefited the programme, and extended thanks to other programme stakeholders for their continued cooperation and encouragement.
