FG unveils National laureate plans to reward top research with N20m

The federal government has unveiled the Nigeria National Laureate Program, a new initiative designed to recognise and reward outstanding academic research and innovation in tertiary institutions with top prizes of up to N20 million for exceptional scholarly work.

Announcing the initiative, Maruf Olatunji Alausa, the minister of education, described the program as a strategic national intervention aimed at reshaping Nigeria’s educational incentive structure by putting scholarly achievement, academic excellence, and research innovation at the forefront of national recognition.

According to a statement signed by Boriowo Folasade, director of press and public relations, on Tuesday in Abuja, under the program, exceptional dissertations and theses produced by students at accredited tertiary institutions will be honoured annually through the National Laureate Prize, with financial rewards ranging from N5 million to N20 million across three academic categories.

Undergraduate dissertation winners will receive a minimum of N5 million, and master’s thesis winners will receive N10 million, while doctoral thesis winners will be awarded N20 million, alongside national recognition befitting their scholarly contributions.

Alausa noted that the initiative reflects the federal government’s commitment to positioning Nigeria as a knowledge-driven and innovation-led economy, where intellectual capital and research excellence are celebrated as critical drivers of national development.

According to the minister, the program represents a deliberate effort to elevate the value of academic research and ensure that the rigour of scholarly work receives recognition comparable to that of other celebrated fields in society.

“By elevating our students to the status of celebrated National Laureates, we are ensuring that the rigour of research and academic excellence is matched with the highest level of national prestige and financial reward.

“While it is not wrong to celebrate social influencers, this must not be at the expense of innovators. “With the National Laureate Prize, we are signalling a new era where a student’s thesis is no longer merely a graduation requirement but a potential blueprint for national industrialisation and development,” the minister stated.

To ensure sustainability without placing additional pressure on public funds, the Nigeria Education Repository and Data Bank (NERD) and its strategic partners will finance the entire lifecycle of the annual prize program.

To oversee the implementation of the initiative, the Honourable Minister has constituted a 10-member NERD National Laureate Prize committee chaired by Abubakar Sambo. The committee will supervise the national call for submissions, vetting processes, and final selection of laureates across the country.

Other members of the committee include Solomon Nwhator, Tolulope Ariyomo, Francis F. Uba, and Carol Arinze-Umobi, alongside representatives from the Nigerian Academy of Letters, Nigerian Academy of Sciences, National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), and the Federal Ministry of Education. The secretary of NERD will serve as secretary to the committee.

“In a historic tribute to national service, select prizes under the programme will be named after distinguished Nigerians. The inaugural award will recognise Stella Adadevoh, celebrating her legacy of courage, professionalism, and national sacrifice.

“Under the programme guidelines, tertiary institutions across the country have been directed to assess and submit their best academic works for national consideration, while the Prize Committee retains the authority to identify outstanding research contributions from across the country,” the statement added

For the 2026 cycle, the programme will commence with the inauguration of the Prize Committee, followed by a national call for submissions in May 2026 through the NERD portal.

The evaluation phase will run from June to September 2026, culminating in the National Laureate Gala scheduled for November 2026 in Abuja, where outstanding scholars will be decorated and celebrated for their contributions to Nigeria’s intellectual advancement and national development.

Members of the public are encouraged to follow the progress of the national research curation and laureate selection process via the NERD portal.