The Niger Delta Students Union Government (NIDSUG ) have taken a swipe at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) over its recent ongoing plans to conduct a CBT test for selected candidates who have been shortlisted for exams for the commission’s Scholarship Program.
The National President of NIDSUG, Comr. N-EPBA GOODNESS who spoke to Newsmen in Port Harcourt narrated how NDDC had abandoned scholars in UK in 2020 and 2021 and left them to embarrass the country through protest before they are paid.
In his words “We are shocked that NDDC are coming up with another Abroad scholarship program that will cost the Region about N22M each scholar at a time we have not uncovered the Rationale behind why the previous scholarship program of the commission had failed. If we can recall NIDSUG joined scholars in 2020 to protest against the NDDC for failure to pay them their Allowances and Tuition fees, which took the commission more than 2 years to clear.
“It was just recently the commission cleared the last batch of arrears owed scholars. It is insensitive to the Niger Delta people that Billions Of Naira are spent yearly on staff Travels(in the name of Scholarship), Educational Tourism, and Management Allowances, unfortunately whopping amounts of money are allocated to these frivolities to satisfy certain projected Budgetary provisions without corresponding impacts on the region.
“If these monies are spent in our Local Educational Sector like equipping our Laboratories, equipping our Medical schools, assisting our Lecturers Welfare, supporting our students with Grants, Supporting our Research Institutes, and building of better schools(even if they can hire foreign teachers which is needless), we can assure NDDC that we will not need any services of Foreign Institutions to read Law, Economics, Engineering, Medicine or any other course in the Niger Delta Region. Unfortunately the reverse is the order of the day.
“We are determined to resist the NDDC in this their new found means of conniving to siphon our common resources to Train their families and friends because we have discovered that the families of the poor who are the main goal of the scheme are been exempted.
“We shall mobilize all our structures to resist the ongoing CBT test and tell the world that this injustice cannot suffice under our watch.”
