Photos credit: Federal Ministry of Education
The Federal Government has placed a ₦365 million annual prize to reward outstanding academic research, innovation and intellectual excellence across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
FG also declared a ₦30 million Dr Stella Adadevoh Prize for Medicine and Medical Innovation in honour of the late Nigerian physician, Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, who was credited with helping to curb the spread of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Nigeria after placing the index case, Patrick Sawyer, in quarantine despite pressure from the Liberian government.
Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize, announced by the Federal Ministry of Education, will recognise exceptional undergraduate dissertations, Master’s theses and doctoral research with commercial, industrial or developmental potential.
The initiative will cover universities, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education, with the government saying it is aimed at repositioning tertiary institutions as centres of research, innovation, enterprise and problem-solving.
Unveiling the initiative in Abuja on Wednesday, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said Nigeria had considerable intellectual capacity which needed greater recognition and support to translate research into national impact.
All these were disclosed by the Director, Press & Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Boriowo Folasade, in a release on Wednesday evening.
“Nigeria has exceptional intellectual capacity across our universities, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education, but outstanding research and innovations require greater recognition and support to achieve national impact,” Alausa said.
The minister said the initiative was designed to strengthen the link between academic research and practical solutions while supporting the commercialisation of innovations produced within the country’s tertiary institutions.
The prize will cover six thematic areas: Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences, Agriculture, Law, and Teaching Innovation.
The Federal Ministry of Education said the programme would recognise “exceptional undergraduate dissertations with commercial potential, outstanding Master’s theses and Doctoral research with industrial or developmental applications” across the thematic areas.
It will also feature the “Dr Stella Adadevoh Prize for Medicine and Medical Innovation, named after the late Nigerian physician.”
The ministry said the broader programme would “promote research commercialisation, preserve Nigeria’s intellectual output and strengthen the connection between tertiary education, industry and national development.”
The latest announcement builds on the Federal Government’s earlier steps to establish the National Laureate Programme.
In June, Alausa inaugurated the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Committee in Abuja, charging it with developing transparent eligibility criteria, communicating the guidelines to tertiary institutions and concluding the selection process ahead of the inaugural National Laureate Awards scheduled for November 2026.
At the inauguration, Alausa described the programme as “a deliberate investment in Nigeria’s young intellectual capital.”
“It is intended to celebrate knowledge, innovation, creativity and research-driven development while strengthening the country’s research commercialisation ecosystem,” he said.
The committee is chaired by the President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Emeritus Prof. Abubakar Sambo, while its responsibilities include developing award criteria, overseeing an independent adjudication process, managing the annual prize fund and ensuring the credibility of the programme.
The earlier report had declared the financial structure of the annual prize, with ₦35 million for the best undergraduate dissertation, ₦50 million for the best Master’s thesis and ₦100 million for the best doctoral thesis.
Six National Laureate Excellence Awards, each worth ₦30 million, were also listed for Medicine and Health Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Agriculture, Law, Arts and Social Sciences, and Teaching Innovation, bringing the total annual prize pool to ₦365 million.
The Federal Government said the initiative was established in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Alausa said the government was seeking to give academic excellence greater national recognition while encouraging researchers to develop solutions capable of addressing Nigeria’s developmental challenges.
The minister said Nigeria’s tertiary institutions had produced significant intellectual work but that outstanding research required stronger recognition and support if it was to achieve wider national impact.
The programme is also expected to strengthen the connection between research institutions and industry by encouraging academic work capable of being commercialised or applied to developmental challenges.
The government said the initiative would help ensure that research produced within Nigeria is preserved while creating a stronger pathway from academic work to innovation, enterprise and national development
The inaugural National Laureate Awards are scheduled for November 2026, following the committee’s work on eligibility, nominations and adjudication.
Following the programme, the Federal Government said it wants Nigeria’s universities and other tertiary institutions to “play a stronger role in research, innovation and problem-solving, while giving the country’s leading academic minds greater recognition for work with potential national impact.”
