Cowboy78:
I had to go back and reread what DMainMan initially posted to understand what triggered this argument and I still do not understand how some of you interpreted it as Northerners not having first class graduates or the North not having good schools.

He said a program was discontinued because applicants from the South were outperforming those from the North. If you think he's lying, you should say so but even with that he provided links to buttress his point.

Come on guys, we are all applying for advanced degrees which means we should be capable of logical reasoning and what's up with the insults? Can't you disagree with another person without cursing or being obnoxious?

May God bless you real good, Cowbell ,sorry Nama male , forgive me Cowboy.
PTDF need to come to this thread to see how some of its prospective scholars are expressing themselves

Nigerdcritics:
NORTH WILL SUFFER AND TURN INTO NIGER REPUBLIC IF THEY ARE NOT WITH NIGERIA, AND ITS THE REASON THEY CREATED BOKO HARAM. THEY ARE SO ILLITERATE THAT THEY NEED FEDERAL CHARACTER TO SURVIVE. WHEN FEDERAL CHARACTER IS REMOVED THEY CRY FOUL.

Will you keep quiet? You have the most useless comments on this thread. What happened to your reasoning? Come off this your meaningless talks, we hate to hear it. If you can't reason like humans, kindly leave this thread quietly.

Pls, doesn't anyone have any useful information on what's delaying the list or when the list is coming out?
You guys should gear this energy to calling out PTDF to publish the list even if the fund or budget is not ready now. Then when they are ready, they can call the successful ones for induction and other stuff later.
All these emotional outbursts are completely needless and avoidable.

boninho:
Nobody is saying northerners don't have intelligent individuals. The point is that if there's an academic assessment between them and the southerners at any level without any partiality, the southerners will perform overwhelmingly better

This is a simple truth

At least the cut off marks to unity schools confirm this. Same exam, different scores, different cut-off marks.

All people are innately intelligent. We all just don't exercise our brains through education.

I didn't want comment before simply because of the respect I have for Dmainman.
That Scholarship was simply meant for the best among the best, which was why federal character was jettisoned in order not compromise on the quality of the scholars.
Unfortunately, the procedure was abused as evident in the same links Dmainman posted. For example the main issue of complain by NA and ACF was that candidates from the north didn't make it past shortlisting for the CBT stage.
For the first two sets, not a single northerner was selected. The third and final list had only seven candidates from the entire north out of 103 nationwide.
After in queries and investigations it was discovered that preference was given to graduates from private schools at the initial shortlisting stage. This caused the significant decline of candidates from the north imply because a very tiny fraction of northerners attend private schools. But not that the southerners out-perform the northerners 100 to 0!
So it was believed that private school attendance requirement (and other hidden criteria) at the initial shortlisting stage were intentionally devised to shortchange the north. Especially since the main principal players (the then president, SGF, minister of education, NUC DG et al) were southerners.
We do know that the south is ahead of the north academically. Among the about 100 candidates in every batch, it's believable at worst to have 80-20 south-North. But in first two cases it was 100-0 and then 96-7 in the final batch.

Two years ago Dangote recruited 50 Engineers for their refinery strictly based on merit after rigorous tests of candidates from all over the country.
A very close freind of mine is among the best 50 finalists recruited.
Out of those 50 14 were northerners while 36 southerners. That's 72-28 South-North ratio.
This supports my theory that 80-20 shall be the worst case, but a situation where 100 candidates are selected based on academic merit and that nobody from the north made it to the top 100 is impossible; and to believe that fallacy is simply myopic.

Someone brought out an argument with proofs(the links) and your are arguing blindly; the least you could do was to bring out a counter argument with proofs, instead of ranting up and down. Yet you want to go for advanced degree when you can even read in between lines.

victory148:
Someone brought out an argument with proofs(the links) and your are arguing blindly; the least you could do was to bring out a counter argument with proofs, instead of ranting up and down. Yet you want to go for advanced degree when you can even read in between lines.

Dear PTDF

Please kindly do the needful and publish the list to stop this civil war going on here.

@jsleekysleeky, EzyMoh and others. I appreciate you for trying to educate them. Unfortunately, you will never convince most of them because they were born with negativity about the northerners/Hausas.

What they want you to tell them is that northerners are uneducated and dumb such that even their first class students don't know anything.

Why are some people referring us to the links provided by DmainMan? The links are talking about the allegations from northerners that the Pressid scholarship was biased which of course was true. The scholarship was stopped because it lacks integrity not because of the poor performance from Northern candidates as said by DmainMan

Let me close this by admitting that Pressid scholarship selection procedure is not flawed. It was purely based on merit and that was why the none of the dull northern first class made it.

Let's focus on the awaiting ptdf list please

It's understood

Southerners out performing northerners in pressid" while
Northerners out performing southerners in PTDF.

Oya everyone should seat back and continue to wait for the list that's wat this trend is about.

meelerh:
It's understood

Southerners out performing northerners in pressid" while
Northerners out performing southerners in PTDF.

Oya everyone should seat back and continue to wait for the list that's wat this trend is about.

Hajiya any news from your side?

Mballowa:

Hajiya any news from your side?

Nope just that they are typing some award letters.

meelerh:

Nope just that they are typing some award letters.

Pls, tell me you ain't kidding?

BRAINNY:


Pls, tell me you ain't kidding?

I'm not

meelerh:


Nope just that they are typing some award letters.

Thanks. Just sent you PM.

Mballowa:

Thanks. Just sent you PM.

Replied u

Mtcheew....How long does it take to type award letters? Copy and paste and name changes here and there. Maybe that's what they will spend the rest of the month doing.

meelerh:


Nope just that they are typing some award letters.

This one don pass award letters maybe they are typing REWARD letters

akatovic1:

This one don pass award letters maybe they are typing REWARD letters

meelerh is right.

Award letters are being typed now but not for the hopefuls.

It is being generated for NYSC Awardees, last year scholars who deferred and past Pressid scholars going for PHD. You need award letter for visa application in lieu of bank statement.

Besides, before receiving award letter, you must have obtained proof of funding letter from PTDF, CAS and submitted your admission letter.

jsleekysleeky:
I am very disappointed in you @Dmainman, I always thought you had the capacity clear, coherent and unbigoted thinking but it appears I am wrong. Many Nigerians from the south erroneously believe that Northerners are uneducated, this is far from reality. If you have travelled around Nigeria and have interacted with graduates from the North and South, you will realize that talent and academic potential is spread across the length and breadth of Nigeria. Being a northerner does not make one dull and being a southerner does not make one sharp. Yes, there have been northerners who got the PTDF Scholarship without merit but there are also southerners who got the same PTDF scholarship without merit. I don't know why Pressid was cancelled but I believe if there was true merit in the process almost 50% of the 102 recipients would be northerners. If your position is that there was merit in the Pressid process then you should also agree that there was merit in the recent DSS recruitment exercise that yielded 51 recruits for Katsina and 5 for Akwa Ibom. The reality of Nigeria is that every ethnic group in Nigeria tries to outdo the other when someone from their group occupy any office whether in public or private sector. If a Hausa man occupies an office most of the recruits for that office would be Hausa, same thing happens if an Igbo man occupies the office. Every Nigerian is marganilized and no Nigerian is marginalized. This is the reason for over 50 years of Royal Dutch Shell's operations in Nigeria no northerner has made director or even manager. It is the reason why for over 50 years the Igbo produced a Chief of Army Staff just once.

If we want to build a new and better Nigeria, we must move away from painting one group as culprit in our collective failure. We must admit how we have wrong one another and collectively resolved to change our ways.

oga are u serious...you just compared a scholarship scheme with a recruitment process??

Going by speculations, there will be no scholarship this year. This year's scholars will be added to 2018 set.

Don't you guys think it will be better if you all go on twitter and call PTDF out? Emphasise on the need to get the list released early enough so that successful scholars can prepare and not miss lectures. Unsuccessful scholars will equally know their fate and move on.

Cowboy78:
I had to go back and reread what DMainMan initially posted to understand what triggered this argument and I still do not understand how some of you interpreted it as Northerners not having first class graduates or the North not having good schools.

He said a program was discontinued because applicants from the South were outperforming those from the North. If you think he's lying, you should say so but even with that he provided links to buttress his point.

Come on guys, we are all applying for advanced degrees which means we should be capable of logical reasoning and what's up with the insults? Can't you disagree with another person without cursing or being obnoxious?

may be they dont skim through the given links

.

Prudento:
Going by speculations, there will be no scholarship this year. This year's scholars will be added to 2018 set.

You might be right though. This one that they are handling NYSC Awardees and Pressid.

Could it be that the remaining 7 slots (Niger Delta) and 5 slots (non Niger Delta) of PTDF are being given to this NYSC guys. NYSC Awardees is not based on intelligence and brilliance. Why should PTDF award this guys scholarship. No wonder why these guys disgrace Nigeria abroad by failing.

Winners are being politicised. Could it be a way of bring man know man to the system. Is this why number of PTDF Scholars reduced in recent years. Why can't they scrap scholarship for NYSC guys and let them face exam. Why will you reduce the number of OSS PTDF Scholars and leaving NYSC guys alone which isnt about brilliance. Y would we reduce tge number of brilliant and intelligent ones going for scholarship if actually all this is not politics.

MurphyG1:
Don't you guys think it will be better if you all go on twitter and call PTDF out? Emphasise on the need to get the list released early enough so that successful scholars can prepare and not miss lectures. Unsuccessful scholars will equally know their fate and move on.

I, Renzel, DMainman, Dremanuel and many more did this.

That was why PTDF and Flexisafsupport replied us telling us that we should be patient. Guess you don't know that

usqoh:

I, Renzel, DMainman, Dremanuel and many more did this.

That was why PTDF and Flexisafsupport replied us telling us that we should be patient. Guess you don't know that

My brother I feel you.

There are hundreds of people viewing this thread. And when it comes to ethno-religious issues everyone develops quick fingers but when we say we should mount pressure on PTDF through Twitter and e-mail, many take on "siddon look" attitude, saying their fate is in God's hands and forgetting faith without work is dead.

It seems many of us don't understand life application of Newton's first law of motion.

GentlemanAyo:

Will you keep quiet? You have the most useless comments on this thread. What happened to your reasoning? Come off this your meaningless talks, we hate to hear it. If you can't reason like humans, kindly leave this thread quietly.

See this yoruba demon

Nigerdcritics:


See this yoruba demon

Is that all? Oya go and sleep. You don't need late night stories to put you to sleep, you are an adult now, behave like one. Goodnight.

As if d award letters are being typed in gold and silver. dis ptdf is a FUCKIN.G joke.


there will be scholarship dis year abeg. only dat it may come quite late

adakoleagbenu:
As if d award letters are being typed in gold and silver. dis ptdf is a FUCKIN.G joke.


there will be scholarship dis year abeg. only dat it may come quite late

ptdf are fcking joke. Flexisafsupport too are jokers.
We have a management problem in this country. Just less than 5000 people applied, almost a year, they are still not ready with no timeline.

Chevening scholarship receive application from almost all part of the world. They have set deadline of application to November. Deadline for interview May. Deadline of result announcement July. Funny enough, everything went well with no single change. That is time management and competence in action.

@damian. See the truth from one of the links you posted

Eligible candidates from the northern part of the country were excluded from the Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme for Innovation and Development (PRESSID), Daily Trust investigations have revealed.The PRESSID was established by the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration in January 2012, basically to achieve the goals of Vision 20:2020 and federal government’s transformation agenda.
The scheme was meant to sponsor qualified Nigerian graduates that have obtained first class honours degrees, from any recognised university, to pursue their postgraduate studies at the top 25 universities in the world.


But Daily Trust findings have indicated that only few candidates from the North have been considered eligible in the three editions of the exercise conducted thus far.
Although Daily Trust could not get a copy of the shortlisted beneficiaries, it was gathered that a total of 204 candidates benefitted from the scheme for 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 academic sessions, while 102 students benefitted for 2015/2016 session.
It was gathered that the perceived injustice in the exercise usually begin from the selection stage where first class candidates from the North were excluded by the screening committee, allegedly on the ground that they submitted their applications late, even when they applied within the stipulated time.
Also, the announcement for the commencement of the scholarship application by the National Universities Commission (NUC) did not include as criterion that candidates must attend a popular private school, but the screening committee apply that as a condition to exclude candidates from the North, Daily Trust learnt.
A source in the committee, who did not want his name in print, said that the screening exercise used to be influenced by the office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF) and the National Universities Commission (NUC).
The source said: “Because these people were determined to disqualify northern candidates, they insisted that only candidates that graduated from popular private schools should be considered and most of the candidates from the North attended public schools. So, they were disqualified.”
He said that each geopolitical zone had a representative in the committee but that did not make the exercise credible, alleging that other members were not allowed to do their job selflessly.
The House of Representatives committee on education led by its chairman Aminu Suleiman, had on Thursday met with the Chairman of the Implementation Committee, Prof. Julius Okojie, in Abuja where he claimed that northerners were sidelined in the awards, leading to what he called “education imbalance and monumental abuse.”
He lamented that of the 104 short-listed for the scholarships this year, not a single candidate came from the North-West and North-East with the North-Central with seven slots, while the FCT did not get any.
Responding, Prof Okojie said that no considerations other than merit qualified the beneficiaries for the awards.
He said: “Unless we are saying that the criteria have to change, I will not advise that the programme should be scrapped.”
It would be recalled that the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has also condemned the exercise, alleging serious foul play in the selection process.
In a communiqué, ACF has accused NUC of bias against the North in the scheme, alleging that there was a deliberate plan aimed at denying students from the North participation in the scheme.
The ACF said the federal character principles were not adhered to in the selection of beneficiaries. It, therefore, called on the NUC to ensure fairness, transparency and equity in distribution of available slots among all qualified Nigerians, irrespective of their regions.
Daily Trust gathered that when the House’s committee challenged the second edition of the exercise, last year, the committee promised to review the process but the SGF directed it to ignore complaints from all quarters and implement the scheme.
And when the committee summoned the NUC boss over the issue, he refused to appear before it. Also, when members of committee visited the commission during their oversight function, Okojie avoided it and directed his deputy to receive the members on his behalf.
About 400 scholarships have been awarded by the scheme for the 2013/2014, 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 academic sessions.
When contacted, the NUC’s spokesperson, Alhaji Ibrahim Yakasai, debunked all the allegations against the commission, saying that the award of PRESSID was based on merit. He added that historical background of candidates and their class of degrees were thoroughly scrutinized to check foul play.
He said that NUC operated an open-door policy, adding that northern stakeholders were fully involved in the process of the scholarship award.
He added: “A committee was set up which involved professors from all the six geopolitical zones, and even the exams were computer-based. So many entries were made and the best were selected.”