PTDF: Nigerian PhD
PTDF: Nigerian PhD Students in UK Turn Beggars Due to
Non-Payment of Allowances
Nigerian Students under the aegis of Ph.D Students in the United
Kingdom (UK) Universities have cried out to the Federal Government
over the refusal of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund
(PTDF) to pay their extension allowances which have run to more
than six months.
The students claimed that some of them are turning to beggars to
survive in the foreign land due to non-payment of their
allowances.
In a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, a copy of which was
made available to PRNigeria[1]
in Abuja, the students said all their complaints to the current
leadership of PTDF led by Dr Bello Aliyu Gusau have landed on deaf
ears, while appealing to the President to intervene in order for
them to complete their various programmes and return home.
The PhD students told President Buhari in the petition that
firms involved in accommodating and feeding them have threatened to
take them to court, a development that may greatly dent the image
of the country if the threats are carried out.
The PhD students noted that their “ letter of admission from all
our universities stated that the PhD programme will last for four
years with additional one-year extension and the award letter given
to each of the PhD students by the PTDF indicated that the
scholarship covers accommodation, feeding and utilities for the
period of thirty-six months with twelve months extension period due
to the nature of the programme”.
The students further reasoned that majority of them that started
the programme in 2016 were not able to finish the programme within
three years because PhD programme is a step by step process,
stressing that each PhD student is expected to produce and present
an interim assessment report at the end of first year which will be
used by the examiners to access the student and internal evaluation
report at the end of second year which will be used by external and
internal examiners to decide whether the student should proceed or
not to proceed to the third year.
According to them, “If the examiners are satisfied with the
report and the progress, they will allow the student to continue
and if they are not satisfied the student will not continue with
the research. The third-year is mostly used for designing data
collection instrument, data collection, data analysis while the
fourth year is generally for the writing of the thesis.
They argued that “with this step by step process it is almost
impossible for many of the students to finish such a programme in
three years without any challenge. There are unforeseen
circumstances that can arise like a change of supervisor, lack of
access to the data required for the research, health issues and
shortage of resources because most of the time our allowances were
paid three months late which distract us from our studies because
we cannot study with an empty stomach”.
The students also noted that several letters written as
individuals, a group and their universities’ supervisors to the
Executive Secretary requesting for the payment of allowances to
cover the one-year extension period since November 2018 have fallen
on deaf ears.
According to them, the development has led many of them passing
through difficulties whereby they cannot buy food, pay their rents,
electricity, water and gas bills.
The students have appealed to President Buhari to set up an
enquiry to investigate the veracity of their claims as part of
efforts to bring the Executive Secretary to order and close the
communication gap between them and the management of PTDF.
Several calls, text messages, including e-mails sent to the Head of
Media and External Affairs of PTDF were not replied as at the time
of going to press.