The Federal Government on Wednesday proposed a N365 million annual National Laureate Prize aimed at steering University research toward commercial applications and national development.
Minister of Education Tunji Alausa disclosed the plan while briefing journalists in Abuja.
He said the award would recognise exceptional undergraduate dissertations, master’s theses and doctoral research with demonstrable industrial or developmental potential.
The prize, he said, is part of a broader effort to reposition tertiary institutions as engines of innovation and enterprise rather than primarily as certificate-granting bodies.
“Scholarship matters; research matters; innovation matters,” Minister Alausa said, describing the initiative as a tool to elevate intellectual work into measurable economic value.
“Excellence must be the determining factor,” he added, stressing that selection would be transparent and insulated from political or institutional influence.
The Minister said the prize would be administered jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD), under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“The government wants research to lead to enterprises, innovation to become industry, and intellectual capital to be quantified,” Minister Alausa said, summarising the policy ambition.
Entries will be screened for commercial viability and real-world impact, with special awards earmarked for strategic sectors including engineering and technology, medicine and health sciences, agriculture, law and teaching innovation.
Minister Alausa also announced the Dr. Stella Adadevoh Prize for Medicine and Medical Innovation, named for the late physician credited with helping contain Nigeria’s 2014 Ebola outbreak.
The move he said signals an emphasis on translating scholarly work into products, services and practices that address pressing national challenges.
NewsQuest reports that the prize could help shift incentives in the country’s higher-education system, where research has often been undervalued and poorly linked to industry.
