Update: Contacted a friend. He just said to email NDDC that they will do it. That really doesn't help as he wasn't specific (who, how??) but I will reiterate contacting Ms Seledi instead. If I get new info, will update.

Hello, I would suggest contacting Ms Seledi Thompson for a start - she always responds to her emails. I would need the letter too. I will ask a colleague of mine that has graduated and is still here in the UK (NDDC scholar) and get back to you if I get more info.

unie101:


Hi Ladybug2. Happy new year. Please, do you know who I can contact in NDDC to issue a letter of release for me so I can apply for my Tier 2 visa here in the UK?
If you were under scholarship during your PhD, you will have to provide a letter of release from the scholarship body when applying for a Tier 2 work visa.

I don't think there are any restrictions on courses you would like to pursue, unlike PTDF. If you can, check with current scholars to confirm the requirements. I think they have opened another thread (NDDC 2018 scholarship or something like that). Good luck

Same here, they are not using the current exchange rate, unfortunately. That being said, I'm glad they have at least fulfilled what they should have done 9 months ago.

unie101:

I just checked my account.i was paid 19280 pounds.by my calculation, 3000 pounds less than what is actually due to me in accordance with the scorlarship letter. When will Nigeria be transparent?. Even the white lady at my school finance team found the situation beyond them.

Hello guys,

Just checked my account as soon as I saw @Nuel1647 message. yes, I've been paid too. Thank goodness they kept to their word.

Guys, update from Ms Seledi (in response to my email). She said no one in the UK has been paid yet and in her words 'she is hopeful we will all get paid before the end of the week.'

Yes, it doesn't seem so. Let's hope it is all sorted this coming week.

Nuel1647:
I don't think anyone has gotten paid in the UK

Please who else has been paid (UK)?? Now I'm getting worried as I still haven't received mine. Fingers crossed.

Thank you. I will see what happens. The last time she responded to my email was in June where she indicated 'your payments are being processed.' and you are right as soon as we got paid in January, I sent an email right away informing my final fees were now overdue and she acknowledged it. Hopefully we all get paid and end this nightmare.

irahub:


Well, hopefully you people may still get it. What I know is that Seledi has actually worked hard to see that payments wwere made. As with NDDC which we have already witnessed, they will still pay - it is a matter of waiting game. The people that are paid now were the ones on the list prepared by January. I know that you ladybug was paid then. I guess you must have submitted the documentation for payment of another year since it was already due at that time. To my understanding, she concentrated on the ones that didn't get paid then and told us to resubmit our paperworks. It looked as though payment was about to follow those of January but it lingered till a week ago. If after the week you don't get paid, just know that your name was not included in that list. The payment pretty comes fast!

Hello, no I have not been paid (yet). I don't know if any UK scholar has been paid as it seems only US scholars have received payments (I could be wrong). Ms Seledi isn't responding to her emails which is bizarre. I was aiming to give them until Friday latest. I am still hopeful. I suggest you contact Ms Seledi too and submit any overdue notifications from your school.

unie101:
hi ladybug. Have you been paid...PhD final year in mathematics at the university of Manchester..my school just told me. If I don’t pay will not collect my statement of result or certificate.need that statement for a post doc opening starting in mid October.

Okay, thanks for clarifying.

Mayflowa:


US

I'm guessing you have not received yours as well. Same here (I'm in the UK). Cheers

Nuel1647:


Are you in the UK or US?

What country are you in?

Great!

irahub:
I have received my payment!

Yes sure, good idea!

Mayflowa:


haha. Sure you would be paid. Maybe we should do a commendation letter to her together when you finally get paid and if possible invite interested member of the forum to join us in this regard. This will energize her and spur her to keep answering scholars' emails no matter what. She does really deserve our commendation

Yes she has been the only one trying to give an update even when it's not good news but she still responds. I will thank her personally (after I have been paid, still waiting, lol).

Mayflowa:


Thank you for the info. It made me took the step to check my account and found that I have been paid. Sometimes, I really pity Mrs Seledi. She is the most email active person I have seen in Nigeria's public service. She tries to be reassuring only that she isn't in the position of decision making and like us, she feels a lot of frustration at the inefficiency at the top. Tough job for her!

Thank you very much for the update. Hopefully mine gets credited this week. Thank goodness they kept to their promise.

Mayflowa:


Well, I have good news for you all. I just checked my school account and found I have been credited. I was probably paid yesterday. I'm sure yours and others in UK are on its way.

Same here (waiting for UK payment I mean)... will keep everyone posted.

Nuel1647:
I just heard some people in USA received payment yesterday.
Obviously the NDDC scholarship is in dollars, so maybe we’ll start hearing UK payments next week.

But NDDC can't be trusted. I'm still waiting to hear news of a UK payment.

Okay just checking. I haven't either and although Seledi's emails do not go undelivered this time, she has stopped responding completely. I heard from someone who has reliable contacts in nddc that the paperwork for payments has been signed, and sent to CBN. I really am hopeful but we've been played like this before, hopefully it's different now. Fingers crossed.

Mayflowa:


I have not gotten anything from NDDC. Seledi was the only contact I had until she gone welsh on us. LoL. My only solace is in the fact they are organizing another test & interview. That means they haven't abandon the program.

Cranfield University (Bedfordshire, UK) has an agrifood department. Check their website for more details (cranfield.ac.uk).

ifechiluru282:
what schools and msc programs can one apply for, that is related with a
very high 2.1 in bsc plant biotechnology (atleast it falls under agricultural
sciences). thanks as i await replies and suggestions.

Hi, just checking if anyone has been paid?? I keep getting assurances from folks that have contacts in nddc that payments have been approved / en route to CBN since last month but nothing or no one I know of has been paid.

Mayflowa:


@ladybug2

Did you hear anything about payment NDDC talked about? I don't know why I can't reach Mrs Seledi any longer. The email always return undelivered!

I wrote the test in 2015 - so I advise to get updated info from 2016/2017 candidates as there is a chance the format must have been revised.

In my time though, engineering candidates were locked into one bloc so the questions we had were typical general engineering questions encountered perhaps from first degree years 1 and 2 - so mechanical, electrical, chemical engineering etc students had the same questions because I remembered chatting with my colleagues afterwards from different fields and we had similar questions. I can't remember specifics but they were typical engineering questions with bits from thermodynamics, power, mechanics, electrical, etc etc.

We had current affairs too and its common knowledge that NDDC is very much into current affairs so prepare for that (even in interviews, we had current affairs questions thrown at us, and I mean all of us and it could be anything, even as bizarre as reciting the national anthem (the second stanza nonetheless to make it more interesting); or answering who is featured on the 10,20 or 50 naira note!

Contact your school admin or registry for the best course of action; 'cos if you are in for MSc, this is really late. Registration starts like a week before the actual start date - but that being said deferment is possible but the conditions varies from school to school, so the earlier you contact the school registry to consider your options the better. PhD is not a problem for most schools as long as your prospective supervisor is kept informed.

Unless they (NDDC) work on a very tight ship, the selection process from test invite to induction took about two months in my case (interview invite after cbt was quicker - approx 2 weeks after the online tests, but the release of the list of successful scholars took forever).

kutekwinie:



I'm in your shoes too...

100% agree. There is a systematic problem with NDDC that won't go away until it is fully addressed. Whilst this is good news, how on earth will they squeeze the test, interviews, selection and induction in this space of time if scholars are to commence studies this year

viewingthistopic:
Now this space will get busy as the invites drop in.

Most people went silent on demanding that these issues be addressed.

Kudos to those who were resilient and tenacious.

We must continue to seek for justice4all

If you are going for a PhD, deferment is not a problem at all as the prog is usually more flexible. For Masters prog, this is just too late in my opinion so I would recommend deferring to January. It depends on your school though. Mine has two sessions for Msc - October and February. Your best bet is to contact your school admin.

nenanels:


I just got mine now. But the school i used is resuming next month. Please house do i defer or what?

Someone help

Ditto. Someone had the nerve to reprimand me on twitter when I called Nsima out on his BS (he was criticising Akwa Ibom state govt for not investing in education ff the poor WAEC results!). This chap actually said the MD 'deserves' commendation on the front of education (imagine) and the arrears they are yet to settle are backlogs from the previous admin. Of course, I did not let that go unchallenged (it is obvious he is not a scholar).

Donmatlock:
The MD, like I stated here last year, is the greatest misgiving at NDDC. When I cried out against changing Semetari people didn't see it. Mr. Nsima has a record of fraud and criminal maneuvering.

I knew he was going to embezzle the funds for his giver aspiration thus my dislike for his appointment. He has succeeded in stealing our commonwealth and hindering the academic development of youths from this region while TODD is empowering northerners to study AI, technology, programming, medicine, etc overseas.
He is not only stealing for himself, he is running under APC and thus donating the part of the money to them.
This is why scholarships won't work under him nor projects except for some magic in the entrepreneurship gimmick which may be used to divert attention.

If you follow him, I have been attacking him each time he tries to castigate his sitting governor claiming he can do better.

We should not also become useless citizens by keeping quiet. Someone has urged us to complain to PCC and EFCC. Also try tweet at President, Vice and Senator Saraki on this so we get some help.

I don't see 2018 Scholarship, except there is intervention or he proceeds to contest his election. But God will make him fail. All the stolen funds shall be lost. May Akwa Ibom people not have this their as their Governor. The will be worst for it.

God help Nigeria

Wow, just wow!

Nuel1647:


Well this is the latest from the most reliable source I have.
Our payments have been approved by the MD for about two months now (early last month). In the federal civil service it is not just the signature of the MD that is required but also that of the executive director of Admin and/or finance.

So the story is that MD has signed and has forwarded the file to the EDFA office, who is supposed to sign, forward the file to the relevant payment authority (CBN) and pursue/follow-up the payment. But as at two weeks ago, the file has not left his office. This is consistent with the behaviour of this EDFA since 2015, this is not the first time he is doing it.

The British Prime Minister would be in Nigeria either today or tomorrow and we want to pass this into (about non-payment of NDDC scholars) to the British high commissioner, so that they bring it up, but have so far been unsuccessful.

With regards to Mrs Seledi, she hasn't been replying since the file left the MD’s office, I don't know if it is a coincidence or if she has been moved elsewhere or if she has left NDDC.

In any case, the EDFA is the one we should be concerned about now. Those of you that have his contact should start bombarding him. As for me, I want him removed, besides the MD might not know the actions of this man is giving him a bad name.

Hello, same issue here. I have been emailing Ms Seledi for the past week and just recently yesterday, but the mail always returns undelivered. I have resorted to emailing Godson, however, he has not been responding to my enquiries for a long time now, and still hasn't. I keep hearing that payments are being processed or that we will receive payments soon, but nothing at all.

Mayflowa:


@ladybug2

Did you hear anything about payment NDDC talked about? I don't know why I can't reach Mrs Seledi any longer. The email always return undelivered!

I can also confirm the scholarship ad has been posted on nddc website. I can open both links though (MSc and PhD) from my end so refresh your screen and try again (or try the link below).

E.g. http://forms.nddc.gov.ng/view.php?id=71

sethmelia002:

Morning Folks!!!
The scholarship has been published on the website...Folks let's check it out, even though I can't seem to open the link from my browser...

It is bad enough they canceled the 2017 selection process but now we have all come to terms with it, registration for most schools begins in September if they are serious at all. The incompetence is just mind-blowing. But that is nddc for you. In my time it wasn't any better but at least the cbt and oral interview was out of the way. I got the notification for induction in September!! The first week of September - that was when the list was released. So I'm not too surprised but this admin has taken the cake obviously.

My brothers and sisters, PTDF is a better scholarship by far if you can get that. After all the brouhaha, current scholars they still owe are yet to be paid. They can get away with this cos we do not have a functioning legal process in Naija.

I am so sorry to hear this. If there was any functioning legal recourse at all they wouldn't gamble with our futures' like this. Unfortunately, we are stuck with an inefficient and I dare say a corrupt system with no regard to the effect it has on us and future generation. Yet they expect us to be patriotic.

Onyinel:
It was for the same course i almost died in a fatal accident on my way for the interview where even the driver died with several others terribly injured, came to the venue with bleeding and swollen face, did my best just to know all these efforts were in vain..... Am so pained....

For me, nothing yet. Other scholars I have been contact with are still waiting as well.

Ovywils:


Same.
@ladybug have you people started receiving payments?

Current scholars: I emailed Ms. Seledi to inform that I am (and I speak for colleagues too) still owed payments contrary to the press release, she responded that payments are being processed. That is good news for a start (although with nddc, I am not jumping for joy yet - at least she responded). So any current scholars on here, please do well to notify her as well and send any docs to prove that there are still outstanding payments to make. I won't stop shouting on twitter though cos nddc has played this ping-pong game for too long.

With all the time and resources thrown in to organise the selection process, nddc has made a mockery of us by unceremoniously cancelling the 2017 scheme/list without any forewarning or concrete explanation.

This is Nigeria.