The European Union (EU) has offered 142 postgraduate scholarships to young Nigerians in top European universities in the 2024-2025 academic session.

The 142 young people were awarded the scholarship under the EU’s flagship educational programme, Erasmus+ on Thursday in Abuja.

The Erasmus Mundus scholarship is funded by the EU and is awarded to students selected for attending one of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Programmes at the Master’s or Doctoral level.

The scholarship can be awarded to students from both non-EU and EU countries.

The EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Samuela Isopi, at the Erasmus+ Scholarship Pre-departure Orientation event, said that Nigeria has retained its number one spot among beneficiaries of the EU postgraduate scholarships in Africa for the sixth year.

Isopi said at the event that the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) programme was now in its 20th year.

“Nigeria is the top country in Africa with the highest number of awardees this year and it is one of the top five in the world together with countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

“This once again shows that Nigeria is a country with great talents and we are very proud as the European Union that we can contribute not only to further development of that skill but to contribute through that to the development of Nigeria itself,” she said.

Isopi added that the scholarship was an opportunity not only for the beneficiaries’ personal development but also a great opportunity for their country as well.

“This is because, with this master’s programme, they will study in various European countries, some of them for one year, two years in very specific areas of competence.

“They will come back and put their skills at the disposal of their country to develop further,” she said.

The EU ambassador said that most of the awardees would start their Erasmus Plus journey in September, adding that the pre-departure orientation was aimed at providing the recipients with hands-on tips on how to make the best of the immense opportunities inherent in the prestigious scholarship.

The programmes will run for 12 to 24 months, with each beneficiary studying in at least three different universities in as many countries within and outside the EU during the period.

Some of the programmes would include Renewables-based Power Systems, Chemical Innovation and Regulation, Public Health in Disasters, and Biorefinery.

Others are European M.Sc in Marine Environment 2030, Soils Science, Systems for Sustainable Engineering, Sustainable Mineral and Metal Processing Engineering, Sustainable Ship and Shipping and several more.

On the successful completion of the programme, an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) scholar would receive a master’s degree to be jointly awarded by a consortium of universities, in the framework of the EMJMD programme a key component of Erasmus+.