{"id":120275,"date":"2025-07-02T06:29:57","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T05:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=120275"},"modified":"2025-07-02T06:29:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T05:29:57","slug":"oecs-students-scholarship-scheme-to-commence-next-year-tinubu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/oecs-students-scholarship-scheme-to-commence-next-year-tinubu\/","title":{"rendered":"OECS Students Scholarship Scheme to commence next year \u2013 Tinubu"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Myke Agunwa, Abuja<\/div>\n
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President Bola Tinubu announced that a scholarship programme for students from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to study in Nigerian universities will commence in the 2026 academic year.<\/div>\n
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At a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Philip Pierre, following a high-level working luncheon with OECS leaders in Gros Islet on Monday, President Tinubu said the initiative has already commenced.<\/div>\n
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Tinubu, in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), Bayo Onanuga explained that the initiative is part of a broader cooperation framework aimed at strengthening people-to-people ties and expanding opportunities in education, trade, and development.<\/div>\n
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The President further disclosed that a proposal for visa waivers for holders of diplomatic and official passports from OECS member states is also on course.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI believe we can take advantage of our presence here to get from the fruit that is lower to us and then reach the opportunity we have right here.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States is very close to us in Africa, and I thank them for the opportunity to address the joint session of Parliament and actualise our dreams of getting closer to facilitate business and education opportunities, capacity building, and look at other areas of agriculture and food security.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe can easily do that by having a working commission. And we don\u2019t have to look farther away. The organisation itself has indicated several actions. We are moving forward from there. We won\u2019t drop the ball,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
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The scholarship scheme, developed in partnership with OECS leadership, will be overseen by a joint implementation committee comprising representatives from Nigeria and OECS member states.<\/div>\n
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According to President Tinubu, the committee is tasked with finalising modalities and ensuring that beneficiaries begin studies in Nigerian institutions in the upcoming academic year.<\/div>\n
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Responding to a question from the media on potential challenges in expanding cooperation with the OECS in areas such as trade, investment, health, education, culture, and climate resilience, President Tinubu stated:<\/div>\n
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\u201cI don\u2019t look at difficulties. I look at problem-solving. And that is why the working lunch promoted a quick understanding of the expected difficulty level.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIf we take a geometric definition of a straight line, which is the quickest point between two points \u2014 if we move on a straight line, we get our goal achieved, and there will be no problems,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
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Prime Minister Pierre welcomed the scholarship initiative, describing it as a timely and practical expression of solidarity.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe expect students to begin their studies in Nigeria in the next academic year, based on the President\u2019s directive. This is immediate action,\u201d the Prime Minister said.<\/div>\n
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He also confirmed that visa facilitation has been listed as a priority agenda item for the Nigeria\u2013OECS Joint Committee, alongside improving air connectivity, trade, and tourism.<\/div>\n
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Responding to a question on how soon Saint Lucia and other OECS countries might implement reciprocal visa waivers, Prime Minister Pierre said:<\/div>\n
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\u201cWell, at the joint meeting, we discussed that. Additionally, there are some islands in the OECS, such as St. Kitts, where visa requirements do not apply.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe said that the committee will deal with all these issues, and the first on the agenda will be the people-to-people exchange, which will come with the visa requirements. So we hope to have a speedy answer to that as soon as possible.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Earlier in the day, President Tinubu addressed a special joint session of the Senate and House of Assembly of Saint Lucia, where he outlined his vision for a new chapter of engagement between Nigeria and the OECS.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe held a joint session of Parliament where you heard from the President on his vision for the future relationship between the OECS and Nigeria. We had a high-level luncheon where the President outlined to us how the OECS would benefit from the country of Nigeria.<\/div>\n
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\u201cTo this effect, we have formed a joint committee comprising members of the Nigerian government and members of the OECS to deal with some pressing issues: education, air travel, trade, and tourism,\u201d Prime Minister Pierre said.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Myke Agunwa, Abuja President Bola Tinubu announced that a scholarship programme for students from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to study in Nigerian universities will commence in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nOECS Students Scholarship Scheme to commence next year \u2013 Tinubu - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/oecs-students-scholarship-scheme-to-commence-next-year-tinubu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"OECS Students Scholarship Scheme to commence next year \u2013 Tinubu - 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