President Bola Tinubu has unveiled a scholarship programme that will allow students from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States to study at Nigerian universities beginning with the next academic session.
Speaking alongside Saint Lucian Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre at a joint press conference in Gros Islet on Monday, the Nigerian leader said the scheme is part of a broader push to strengthen Africa-Caribbean cooperation in education, trade and development.
“The OECS is very close to us in Africa,” Tinubu told reporters. “By working together we can seize the low-hanging fruits before us and expand opportunities in business, education, agriculture and food security. We won’t drop the ball.”
A joint implementation committee made up of officials from Nigeria and the eight OECS member states has already been constituted to work out the details and ensure the awards are rolled out on schedule.
Prime Minister Pierre welcomed the initiative, calling it “a timely and practical expression of solidarity.”
“We expect students to begin their studies in Nigeria in the next academic year, in line with President Tinubu’s directive,” he said. Visa facilitation, improved air links and greater trade flows would be top priorities for the new Nigeria–OECS committee, he added.
Tinubu also revealed that Abuja is negotiating a waiver of visa requirements for holders of diplomatic and official passports from OECS countries. “We can do this quickly,” he said. “It will make movement easier and deepen our people-to-people ties.”
Earlier in the day, the Nigerian president addressed a special joint sitting of Saint Lucia’s Parliament, outlining a vision for what he called “a new phase of engagement” between Africa and the Caribbean. The scholarship package, he noted, is only the first step in that agenda.
The OECS comprises Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Anguilla (a U.K. territory).
