Top 20 Best Student Aid and Scholarships in Nigeria

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Are you an Abusite or a Nigerian student wondering how to get scholarships in Nigeria for your studies? We provide an extensive list of student Aid opportunities and scholarships in Nigeria for university students.

This list includes the best national and international scholarships, fellowships, college and university grants, free scholarships, federal government scholarships, and other forms of student financial aid and scholarships in Nigeria.

As a university student, You can apply for university scholarships in Nigeria including funding, financial aid, undergraduate scholarships, postgraduate scholarships, and more, all available in our extensive scholarship database.

ALSO READ: SAUDI SCHOLARSHIP 2020: All The Details You should Know

Find the right scholarship in Nigeria, for a wide variety of academic degrees, including business and management scholarships, engineering scholarships, law school or medical school scholarships, as well as sports, arts, or music scholarships to help pay for your studies abroad.

There are several scholarships in Nigeria for Nigerian students. These scholarships cut across the undergraduate, Master’s and PhD levels, and are sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education, government agencies and universities, philantrophic foundations and mostly corporations. Scholarships in Nigeria include merit-based, discipline-based, and means-based (for the financially hampered).

The PTDF scholarships provide scholarships in Nigeria to qualified local and international students to study at undergraduate, masters and Ph.D. levels in specific disciplines. The scholarship covers tuition fees and accommodation costs.

Other prominent merit-based scholarship include the NNPC/Total National merit scholarships, Exxon-mobil undergraduate scholarships, NNPC-ADDAXX undergraduate scholarships, Agip postgraduate scholarships, Shell undergraduate scholarships and highly-rated NLNG scholarships.

All of these scholarships in Nigeria provided by oil and gas companies cover tuition fee basically and some other costs. Scholarships in Nigeria given by foundations include the MTN foundation undergraduate scholarship, Jim Ovia Foundation Leadership Scholarship for graduates and undergraduates, David Oyedepo foundation scholarship for African Students and Gani Fawehinmi Scholarships.

List of Student Aid and Scholarships in Nigeria
#1. PTDF Scholarship Scheme
PTDF Scholarship Scheme

The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), is a Federal Government agency with the mandate of developing indigenous human capacity and petroleum technology to meet the needs of the oil and gas industry. It offers scholarships on a regular basis to suitably qualified candidates for Overseas MSc and Ph.D. Scholarships to institutions under its UK strategic partnership initiative.

Under this scheme, candidates are invited to apply through PTDF to specific programs at the partner institutions in any of the countries (full list of sponsored courses is available on their website www.ptdf.gov.ng and scholarship.ptdf.gov.ng). The PTDF scholarships are highly competitive and only candidates who are outstanding across the board are selected. 

The award includes the provision of flight tickets, payment of health insurance, payment of tuition and bench fees (where applicable) as well as the provision of allowances to meet the costs of accommodation and living expenses. Applications are done online on our Scholarship Management Portal (scholarship.ptdf.gov.ng).

#2. NNPC/Total National merit scholarships
Scholarships in Nigeria

Annually, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria (TUCN): Total Exploration & Production Nigeria Limited (Total E&P Nig Ltd) and Total Upstream Nigeria Limited (TUPNI), together with their venture partners, award scholarships to deserving Nigerian students in the tertiary institutions in the country.

The program is aimed at promoting academic excellence and quality manpower development in the Country. This is one of the many ways TOTAL demonstrates its commitment to the educational development of Nigerian students. The Application Forms for the National Merit Scholarship are available on this site (scholarships.totalcsredu.com) and must be completed online.

#3. Exxon-mobil undergraduate scholarships
Scholarships in Nigeria

MPN Scholarship Awards

Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), operator of its joint venture (JV) with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), awards 500 undergraduate scholarships annually to students in Nigerian universities. The scholarship awards are for one academic year initially and are renewable to cover the duration of approved study, based on the recipients’ academic performance and related reports from the institutions.

Under the NNPC/MPN JV undergraduate scholarship program, 60 percent of the awards go for core disciplines of Engineering and Geosciences, while 40 percent are for other approved business and social sciences related studies. A total of nine approved disciplines are currently covered in the awards which are based strictly on merits as determined from the candidates’ academic records, conduct, and performance in the selection tests.

In order to enhance the scholarship awards process and leverage existing information and communication technologies (ICT), the selection of candidates is conducted through electronic computer-based testing. The e-testing is organized in several centers across the country.

#4. EEPNL’s International Postgraduate Scholarship
Scholarships in Nigeria

Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria, Ltd (EEPNL) awards 10 foreign post-graduate scholarships annually to qualified graduates of Nigerian universities. The scholarship awards are for one academic year initially and are renewable to cover the duration of approved study, based on the recipients’ academic performance and related reports from the institutions.

EEPNL’s International Post Graduate Scholarship commenced before the merger between Exxon Corporation and Mobil Corporation, with two initial awards. In 2005, five awards were made and subsequently increased to 10 in 2006. The awards are for Geosciences and Engineering disciplines.

#6. Shell Nigeria Scholarship Scheme
Scholarships in Nigeria

Niger Delta Postgraduate Scholarship

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), operator of the SPDC Joint Ventures annual SPDC JV Niger Delta Postgraduate Scholarship for applicants from Bayelsa, Delta, Imo and Rivers states. The objective of the scholarship programme is to provide postgraduate study opportunity in courses that are relevant to the oil and gas industry, for qualifying students from these Niger Delta states

Shell University Scholarship Scheme

The University Scholarship Scheme is a programme run by SPDC on behalf of the NNPC/Shell/Elf/Agip Joint Venture

Every year, more than 4,000 Nigerian undergraduates write aptitude tests to join the evergrowing list of students which Shell Nigeria supports in Nigerian Universities. The applicants are shortlisted on the basis of the national SSCE and JAMB examination results. This is followed by an aptitude test at the PortHarcourt, Warri, Enugu, Lagos and Abuja centres.

There are two categories of the Scholarship Scheme, the National Merit Award (NM), open to Nigerian undergraduates and Areas of Operation Merit Award (AOM), for students from communities in which Shell Nigeria operates. Only first year students are eligible for the awards in both categories.

An average of 16,000 applicants responds to advertisements by Shell Nigeria every year, inviting qualified candidates to apply for the scholarships which are tenable only in Nigerian Universities. Check details here: www.shell.com.ng

#7. Agip Postgraduate Scholarship Award Scheme
Agip Scholarship

This is an annual scholarship by Nigerian Agip Exploration (NAE) Limited, on behalf of the NNPC/NAE PSC which is at training and development of manpower as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program.

In pursuance of this, NAE annually invites applications from suitably qualified and interested Nigerian graduates for the Post Graduate Scholarship Award Scheme which runs in two categories: –

1. Overseas – For study in a reputable overseas university
2. Local – For study in a recognized Nigerian university

The NAE scholarship award applies to tuition, books, field trips, accommodation, living expenses and a return economy ticket for selected one-year course of study.

#8. LNG Scholarships Scheme.
Scholarships in Nigeria

Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) yearly invites applications from qualified candidates for the highly-rated NLNG  Scholarships Scheme. This scholarship opportunity is open to all levels of study. It is an annual scholarship program.

Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited supports education through several initiatives. One of them is Scholarships. NLNG has a four-tier scholarship program which channels support for human capital development and encourages high performance, ultimately growing a pool of high potential students, graduates, and professionals with a competitive advantage.

NLNG Undergraduate Scholarship

This is for the undergrad level, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) is now accepting applications from first-year undergraduates in Nigerian Universities for its 2020 Undergraduate Scholarship Award.

The deadline for submission of applications for the NLNG undergraduate scholarship award is May 13th, 2020. Interested first-year undergraduates in Nigerian Universities are therefore encouraged to apply for this Scholarship Award.   The Scheme seeks to promote academic excellence by supporting top-grade Nigeria students through tertiary institutions.

A total of 2,833 undergraduates from various universities in Nigeria have benefited from the scholarship scheme with a spend of over N600 million.

The value of the scholarship has been reviewed upward from N100, 000 to N300, 000 per awardee for an academic year and it runs throughout the duration of the student’s course. CHECK DETAILS HERE

NLNG Overseas Postgraduate Scholarship

Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) also runs a Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme each year for Masters Degree Programmes in the United Kingdom.

The Scheme seeks to grow a pool of high potential Nigerian graduates and professionals with a competitive advantage. This scheme was launched in October 2012 with an annual intake of 15 beneficiaries to study in leading UK universities with an award value ranging between N9 and N11 million ($60,000 and $69,000), depending on the course of study and course duration.

The scheme covers listed disciplines: Environmental Studies, Engineering, Management, Accountancy, Economics, Information Technology, Geology, Banking, Law and Medicine

#9. MTNF Science & Technology Scholarship Scheme
MTNF Science & Technology Scholarship Scheme

The MTN Foundation Science & Technology Scholarship scheme is another top scholarships in Nigeria. It seeks to attract high performing full-time second-year students studying in public tertiary institutions (universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education) in Nigeria. The scholarship provides financial assistance to students who might otherwise be unable to pay for their tertiary education and aims to recognize and reward academic excellence.

A maximum of 500 qualified and successful full-time Nigerian students studying science and technology-related courses are awarded the scholarship which covers tuition, book allowance, and stipends. The scholarship is renewed every year until graduation for existing awardees provided they have maintained a minimum CGPA of 3.5 or its equivalent (second class upper/upper credit) while new applications, when advertised, are welcome from full-time students in their second year of study.

Since 2010, over 5,000 scholarships have been awarded. The scholarships, awarded on an annual basis, is worth N200,000.00 (Two hundred thousand Naira). This covers tuition, book allowances and living allowances for one academic year. Applications are always through the mtn foundation website

#10. Jim Ovia Foundation Scholarship
Top 20 Best Student Aid and Scholarships in Nigeria 2

The Jim Ovia Foundation Scholarship is one of the best scholarships in Nigeria. It was founded and funded by Mr. Jim Ovia in 2004, to provide financial aid to outstanding Nigerian youths. The scholarship gave rise to the MUSTE scholarship in 2007, where awardees are given funding for undergraduate study for the duration of their undergraduate program.

The award includes tuition and maintenance allowance. The scheme offers an average of 100 opportunities every year. The Financial records show that as of October 2010, Mr. Ovia has invested 100 Million Naira in the program on 1,500 beneficiaries. CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

#11. TY Danjuma MBA Scholarship
TY Danjuma MBA Scholarship scheme

Another reputable scholarship in Nigeria is the TY Danjuma MBA Scholarship scheme. It provides financial support to post-graduate African students who have been accepted onto MBA programmes at the top-10 leading Business Schools in the world. It uses The Financial Times MBA Global Ranking

The Financial Times MBA Global Ranking for 2019 lists the top ten schools as; Stanford Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School, INSEAD, University of Pennsylvania: Wharton, Ceibs, London Business School, University of Chicago: Booth, MIT: Sloan, Columbia Business School and University of California at Berkeley:

All successful African MBA applicants to the top ten Business Schools (as ranked by the Financial Times) are eligible to receive The TY Danjuma MBA Scholarship regardless of domicile. The grant is awarded to successful candidates prior to the annual intake for that Business School. The TY Danjuma MBA Scholarship is intended to provide additional financial support to help African students bridge some of the financial burden attached to taking on MBA programmes, it will not be enough to act as the primary source of funding for these programmes. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

We shall continuously update this list….


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Chila Andrew Aondofa

Founder/Team lead at TheAbusite.com | Abusite | Entrepreneur | Activist | Humanitarian | All Inquiries to info@theabusites.com. SMS/WhatsApp +2349015751816

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