Portugal’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Amb. Paulo Santos has pledged to advocate for increased opportunities for Nigerian students aspiring to study in Portugal.
He made the commitment during the 6th edition of Nasarawa State University Keffi (NSUK) Special Lecture Series, held in Keffi Local Government Area on Wednesday.
StarReporters reports that Santos delivered a lecture titled “Educational opportunities within the framework of Portugal-Nigeria bilateral relations.”
He noted that Nigerian students form a significant portion of African applicants to Portuguese universities, making it essential to provide more access, support, and opportunities for them.
The ambassador said such efforts would strengthen bilateral ties between Portugal and Nigeria, despite Portugal’s traditional focus on five Portuguese-speaking African countries; Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe.
“Our resources are limited and this means these five countries usually take most of the resources that we have, both financial and human resources,” he said.
“Having said this, my task therefore is to convince my authorities that, though still concentrating on those five Portuguese-speaking countries, we need to find space also for non-speaking Portuguese African countries including Nigeria,” he added.
He said the rising interest of Nigerian students in Portuguese education, as well as existing strong economic ties, justify this advocacy.
“We have achieved a lot over the years, including economic. Most of the energy that Portugal consumes comes from Nigeria. Nigeria is by far our supplier of energy and this includes oil and gas,” he explained.
Santos noted that despite Portugal being a mid-size European country, many of its universities maintain active collaborations with African nations, especially Nigeria.
“Few weeks ago, Nigerian students bagged scholarships to study in Europe. I was surprised to see that the group going to Portugal was the second biggest after France. This means there is interest in our country and the kind of studies that we have there,” he stated.
He added that the Portuguese embassy in Nigeria remains proud of this interest and is committed to lobbying for additional support and opportunities for Nigerian students.
“We have hundreds of Nigerians every year going to Portugal. Some of them are self-sponsored. There is always a minimum of 300 to 400 new students going to Portugal,” he said.
Santos praised NSUK’s development efforts and expressed readiness to collaborate with the institution to pursue mutually beneficial objectives.
Prof. Sa’adatu Liman, Vice Chancellor of the university, thanked the ambassador for accepting to deliver the lecture, describing him as the ideal speaker due to his commitment to fostering Nigeria–Portugal relations.
She said the lecture was a significant opportunity for the university to deepen educational, research, and cultural exchanges between both countries.
“The bilateral relations between us has grown significantly that it is desirable and most expedient for the two countries to leverage this partnership and collaboration to enhance educational opportunities for driving growth and development,” she said.
(NAN)