Adodo Eddy Osaman, a Notable Nigerian Training Specialist and Travel Enthusiast in Canada recently encouraged Nigerians to embrace scholarship and study opportunities in Canada and Europe. Osaman who has been reaching out to Nigerians and Africans on his social media platforms spoke with ThisDay. He has this to say:
“I always recommend Nigerians to immigrate either to Canada or Europe. When I say Europe, I mean either the Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland. Iceland) or the Baltic countries (Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia). The Nordic countries have been rated even better than Canada and the USA in respect to living standards, GDP and even in passport power. For folks who find Canada or the Nordic countries expensive, they can opt for the Baltic countries, which are also good Schengen countries to begin with.
For Scholarships, let me use Canada as cast study. When people think scholarships, they usually imagine an all-expense-paid trip. This is not usually the case in all situations. In Canada and other major travel destinations, there are 2 major types of scholarships – Full scholarships and Partial scholarships. Full scholarships (100% funded) are more affiliated with Higher academic levels such as MSc & PhD, but Partial scholarships can apply to all levels, including BSc. This does not mean BSc aspirants cannot find full scholarships. There are, but you will have to dig deeper.
If you are looking for full scholarships to Canada, don’t go looking at popular scholarship websites. Knowing fully well that Canada is the most desirable country in the world, there’s a possibility that millions of students worldwide have already applied to those opportunities and your chances of acceptance will be very thin.
If you are looking for full scholarships, then you should actually be looking for research opportunities. Research opportunities are usually funded by the Government or Private companies, and they come with lots of perks. Researches are not limited to the Science/Medical field. It can be for any profession. Some research can be awkward and funny. I have seen fully funded scholarships tied to research on Owls and even Beetles.
To find a research opportunity, you can use these keywords on Google – ‘Research opportunity XYZ Institution’, for example, ‘Research opportunity University of Manitoba’. Google will provide you research opportunities in that university and possible departments and co-ordinators incharge. If the Supervisor name is available on the research opportunity but no contact information, you can google out ‘Academic staff XYZ Institution’ (For example ‘Academic staff university of Manitoba’) to find out the email address and phone number of any Supervisor. You can reach out to your supervisor via email, phone number or linked in. For tips on how to write an email, lookup my Instagram handle @eddyosaman.
Regarding the best universities in Canada to target for scholarships, I want to also introduce you to Canada’s U15. The U15 are a consortium of 15 Canadian public universities that are highly dedicated into research. Statistics reveal that these 15 universities conduct up to $8.5billion in research annually and conduct up to 81% of all private-sector research. The U15 includes: University of Alberta, University of British Columbia , University of Calgary, Dalhousie University, Université Laval, University of Manitoba, McGill University, McMaster University, Université de Montréal, University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, University of Saskatchewan, University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, University of Western Ontario.
Finally, remember that all we have been talking about is obtaining a scholarship based on your academic grades. There are scholarships that are not tied to any grade. This is a good fit for individuals who have low grades but still desire scholarships. These scholarships can be sports scholarships, Leadership scholarships, Scholarships based on your sex, religion, origin, etc. There are also scholarships sponsored by private companies and well-meaning individuals.
On the steps to studying in Canada, you can find these on my social media handles”
Adodo Eddy Osaman is also the author of a Book ‘Canada Express Entry Bible’. To follow Adodo Eddy Osaman for more travel inspired information and humor, follow him on Instagram/Twitter (@eddyosaman), Facebook/YouTube (Adodo Eddy Osaman)
