The Federal Government has inaugurated the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Committee as part of plans to introduce a ₦365 million annual prize programme to reward outstanding academic research, innovation and research commercialisation in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the spokesperson for the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Committee, Ita Ekpenyong, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, inaugurated the committee in Abuja.
Alausa described the National Laureate Programme as a strategic initiative to make academic excellence a national priority and inspire young researchers to develop solutions to Nigeria’s development challenges.
He said the programme would reshape the country’s reward system by giving scholarly achievements the same level of national recognition as 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.
The minister directed the committee to develop transparent eligibility criteria in line with international best practice, communicate the guidelines to tertiary institutions and complete the selection process ahead of the inaugural National Laureate Awards scheduled for November 2026.
He 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 contain the Ebola outbreak in 2014.
The committee is chaired by the President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Emeritus Prof. Abubakar Sambo, and includes representatives of the National Universities Commission, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, National Board for Technical Education, National Commission for Colleges of Education, the Federal Ministry of Education, the Nigerian Academy of Letters and other stakeholders in the tertiary education sector.
Its responsibilities include developing award criteria, supervising an independent adjudication process, managing the annual prize fund, engaging tertiary institutions and safeguarding the integrity 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.
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 fund to ₦365 million.
Alausa also commended the Chairman of the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank, Engr. Tunji Ariyomo, for supporting reforms aimed at improving the country’s education sector.
Responding on behalf of the committee, its chairman, Emeritus Prof. Sambo, praised the Tinubu administration for placing renewed emphasis on research, innovation and academic excellence.
He pledged that the committee would conduct 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 forms part of the Federal Government’s efforts to strengthen higher education by promoting research excellence and encouraging the commercialisation of innovations developed in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
For years, education stakeholders have argued that although Nigerian researchers produce valuable academic work, many breakthroughs fail to receive adequate recognition, funding or translation into products and policies that address national challenges.
Through the annual awards, the government hopes to encourage high-impact research, stimulate innovation and foster a culture of academic excellence capable of driving economic growth and national development.
The maiden National Laureate Awards ceremony is scheduled for November 2026 after the committee completes the eligibility framework, institutional nominations and adjudication process.