Young Nigerian innovators transforming classroom concepts into practical solutions for everyday national challenges will soon gain a major platform for recognition, funding, and growth through the Federal Government’s Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize.
Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, Minister of Education Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa explained that the initiative will honour exceptional academic projects across all Nigerian higher institutions, prioritizing research with clear potential to drive national development.
The initiative, jointly implemented by the Federal Ministry of Education and the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD), will recognise outstanding undergraduate dissertations, Master’s theses and Doctoral theses with innovation, commercialisation and industrial potential.
“An annual prize pool of approximately ₦365 million is envisaged for the different categories, alongside special prizes for Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health Sciences, Agriculture, Teaching Innovation, Law and Humanities.
“Our message is therefore very clear: scholarship matters; research matters; innovation matters; and intellectual excellence deserves a prominent place in our national consciousness,” PerSecondNews quotes Alausa as saying.
The Minister stressed that the programme would seek to change how young Nigerians view academic work by creating greater recognition for ideas capable of solving problems and generating opportunities.
“We want Nigerian students to understand that there is honour in scholarship, opportunity in innovation and national recognition for intellectual excellence,” he said.
He disclosed that one of the special prizes will be named after the late Dr. Stella Adadevoh for Medicine and Medical Innovation, in recognition of her courage and professional sacrifice during the 2014 Ebola outbreak.
“Her legacy demonstrates the transformative power of knowledge, professionalism and service to humanity,” the minister noted.
Alausa further maintained that the initiative was intended to move tertiary education beyond certificate production and towards research, innovation, enterprise creation and measurable national value.
“Ultimately, we must build an education system that does not simply produce certificates but produces solutions, innovations, enterprises and measurable national value.”
The programme forms part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in the education sector and is expected to strengthen the connection between academic research and Nigeria’s economic and industrial development.
The Minister emphasized the credibility of the award would depend on a selection process that protects deserving researchers from political, institutional or personal influence.
“The process will therefore be transparent, competitive, merit-driven and insulated from political, institutional or personal influence. Excellence must be the determining factor.”
The Ministry reaffirmed its commitment to building an education system that rewards scholarship, promotes innovation and transforms academic research into practical solutions, enterprises and measurable national value.
Ariyomo emphasized that the initiative would ultimately help Nigeria build an education system capable of converting its intellectual resources into practical solutions and economic opportunities.
“What the Federal Government has achieved by starting this programme is to make sure that youths who are intellectually inclined can also be celebrated.”