The European Union says it has spent over N2.6bn sponsoring Nigerian students to foreign universities in the last five years.
The EU Ambassador to Nigeria, Ketil Karlsen, said this at the departure orientation for the 2019 Erasmus+ Scholarship Awardees in Abuja on Thursday.
Karlsen explained that for this year, the EU picked 40 Nigerian students out of about 1,000 that applied for the scholarship.
He said the awardees would be attending the best universities in Greece, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Czech Republic, Belgium, France, Poland, the United Kingdom, Portugal, the Netherlands and Germany.
The envoy said the cost of the entire programme and travel expenses would be borne by the EU.
He said, “This is part of the global Erasmus programme that cost €14.7bn.
“It has supported thousands of scholars, thousands of researchers coming to Europe.
“In the case of Nigeria in particular, the European Union has invested €6.6m since 2014. That is equivalent of N2.6bn in supporting young people.”
Karlsen asked the beneficiaries to be good ambassadors of Nigeria and ensure that they contribute to the growth of the country.
The envoy said programme was evidence that the EU was not against migration of Africans to Europe, but argued that migration must be done properly and legally.
He said the EU had seen an increase in legal migration and a drop in illegal migration in the last few months.
Karlsen stated, “We support Nigeria with over €600m (N243bn) in different development programmes around the country.
“We engage in political issues, we are the biggest trading partner of Nigeria.
“But I find this particular engagement — investing in Nigerian youth to go to Europe, make acquaintances, build relations, understand cultures better and then return to Nigeria, helping and promoting such fundamental values learnt — worthwhile.”
The EU Erasmus programme aims to enhance quality in higher education through scholarships and academic co-operation between the EU and the rest of the world.
The three main objectives of the programme are linked to the internationalisation of students, staff, curricula and research; ensure an influence on the development of practice and inclusive education; and to develop international collaborative networks, projects and research
On why the EU had not placed a travel ban on Nigerians who undermined the last elections, Karlsen said the EU had different member states and each state would be responsible for how it decides to handle such matters.
He said the EU had spent over €100m (N40.6bn) on election activities and democratic institutions in the last 20 years.
The envoy added, “The EU has been extremely active around the support of democracy for many years. In fact, since 1999, e have provided more than €100m on election activities, institutions, and you will all recall that for every single general election since 1999, the European Election Observation Mission and our just recently provided all the recommendations and we have been working non-stop to make sure that those recommendations are being translated into real actions.
“It is not for the EU to determine travel restrictions. This is within the mandate of individual members of the EU.”
