By Kashim Bukar Shettima

Nigerian citizens seeking to take courses in oil and gas may soon find themselves in Botswana. Botswana’s second national university, Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST), has made an offer to train 200 or more students from Nigeria. In addition to pursuing other goals, the school seeks to use sustainable technology and science education to boost African pride. BIUST hopes that admitting Nigerian students will help address development challenges in Nigeria and allow new students to benefit from the successes of Botswana’s educational system.

The offer comes in the wake of an announcement by Nigeria’s president that a goal has been set for 3,000 Nigerians to receive training abroad in oil and gas. The program will be managed by the Petroleum Trust Development Fund, which will work out enrollment details for Nigerian students in conjunction with BIUST going forward. The National Power Training Institute of Nigeria has also been making plans to expand its educational capabilities after receiving new funding.