FG sets up national laureate committee, unveils ₦365m annual prize

The Federal Government has inaugurated the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Committee as part of efforts to launch a ₦365 million annual prize programme aimed at rewarding outstanding academic research, innovation and research commercialisation in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, a statement by the spokesperson of the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Committee, Ita Ekpenyong, said on Tuesday.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, inaugurated the committee in Abuja on Tuesday, describing the National Laureate Programme as a strategic intervention to reposition academic excellence as a national priority and inspire young researchers to develop solutions to the country’s development challenges.

According to the minister, the initiative is designed to transform Nigeria’s reward system by giving scholarly achievements the same national recognition accorded to excellence in other sectors.

“The National Laureate Programme represents 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,” Alausa said.

He directed the newly inaugurated committee to develop transparent eligibility criteria in line with international best practices, communicate the guidelines to all tertiary institutions and conclude the selection process ahead of the inaugural National Laureate Awards scheduled for November 2026.

Alausa also announced that one of the programme’s special honours would be named the Dr Stella Adadevoh Excellence Award in Medicine and Medical Innovation, in recognition of the late physician whose leadership helped Nigeria successfully contain the Ebola outbreak in 2014.

The committee is chaired by the President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Emeritus Prof. Abubakar Sambo, and comprises representatives of the National Universities Commission, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, National Board for Technical Education, National Commission for Colleges of Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Nigerian Academy of Letters and other tertiary education stakeholders.

Its responsibilities include developing award criteria, overseeing an independent adjudication process, managing the annual prize fund, engaging institutions across the tertiary education system and ensuring the integrity and credibility of the National Laureate Programme.

Under the scheme, the Federal Government will award ₦35 million for the best undergraduate dissertation, ₦50 million for the best master’s thesis and ₦100 million for the best doctoral thesis.

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The programme also features six National Laureate Excellence Awards worth ₦30 million each in 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 minister further commended the Chairman of the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank, Engr. Tunji Ariyomo, for supporting reforms aimed at improving Nigeria’s education sector.

Responding on behalf of the committee, its chairman, Emeritus Prof. Sambo, applauded the Tinubu administration for placing renewed emphasis on research, innovation and academic excellence.

He pledged that the committee would ensure a transparent, merit-based and nationally inclusive selection process.

“We shall remain committed to ensuring that the selection process is transparent, merit-based, nationally inclusive and insulated from institutional favouritism so that every deserving student across Nigeria’s accredited tertiary institutions has an equal opportunity to attain National Laureate status,” Sambo said.

The National Laureate Programme is one of the Federal Government’s latest initiatives to strengthen Nigeria’s higher education sector by promoting research excellence and encouraging the commercialisation of innovations generated in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

For years, education stakeholders have argued that while Nigerian researchers produce valuable academic work, many breakthroughs fail to attract adequate recognition, funding or translation into products and policies that address national challenges. Through the annual awards, the government hopes to incentivise high-impact research, encourage innovation and nurture a culture of academic excellence capable of driving economic growth and national development.

The maiden National Laureate Awards ceremony is expected to hold in November 2026, after the committee finalises the eligibility framework, institutional nominations and adjudication process.