By Abdallah el-Kurebe
Eleven Alumni of the Federal University of Technology Akure, FUTA, are among 40 Nigerians who are now in different countries of the European Union (EU) to study for various masters degrees under the EU’s Erasmus+ Scholarship programme for 2019.
This is contained in a statement by the Deputy Director of Communications and Protocol, Adegbenro Adebayo issued Monday.
The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree (EMJMD) is a European Union flagship programme for higher education.
It offers opportunities to students to pursue Master’s Degree in European Institutions.
“For 2019 over 1,000 students in Nigeria applied for the scholarship programme but only 40 of them were selected with eleven of them from FUTA. All the 40 winners from Nigeria have now resumed their studies at individual institutions across Europe.
“The Erasmus Scholars from FUTA include: Akinyemi Makanjuola, Adunola Paul, Oluwagbadieye Oloruntobi Gideon, Abode Daniel, Alonge Babatunde, Christian Oganbule, Boluwatife Igbaroola, Jenrola Jenrola Abosede, Tolulope Alo and Adesuyi Fisola Emmanuel.
Their masters degree programme are in Marine Environment and Resources, Plant Breeding, Smart Telecommunication and Sensing Network, Functionalized Advance Materials and Engineering, Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion, Agricultural food Environmental and policy analysis and Sustainable Tropical Forestry.
“The Ambassador of the European Union delegation to Nigeria, Ketil Karlsen, spoke about the scholarship during the pre-departure orientation for the students in Abuja,” the statement read.
He said the EU has supported young Nigerians who got the scholarship with 6.6 million Euros (about N2.6 billion) since the inception of the programme in 2014. “This year’s scholarship scheme experienced an increase of 25 per cent. I cannot see a better way of investing in development opportunities for the youth. Over the decade, we have 12,000 Nigerians who have studied in Europe on a different scheme,” he said.
The Vice Chancellor, Professor Joseph Fuwape, has congratulated the Eleven FUTA scholars, imploring them to continue to show the world the excellence of the University and the competitiveness of its graduates.
