Minister of Education Dr Tunji Alausa during the official announcement of the ₦365 million Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize in Abuja.
There’s now a new national platform putting Nigeria’s brightest student researchers and innovators in the spotlight, and there is ₦365 million in annual prize money attached to it.
The Federal Ministry of Education has announced the opening of the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize, a new initiative designed to recognise and reward outstanding research, innovation and intellectual excellence across Nigeria’s universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
Announcing the prize on Thursday, Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the initiative is part of the government’s efforts to support student excellence and give exceptional academic work the recognition and reward it deserves.
And the prize pool is significant. The Undergraduate Star Prize is worth ₦35 million, while the Master’s Star Prize carries ₦50 million and the Doctoral Star Prize is worth ₦100 million. Another ₦180 million will be shared across 15 Thematic Excellence Prizes, with each recipient receiving ₦12 million.
That means students and researchers whose work stands out have more than academic recognition to look forward to. The programme is designed to create a national platform where research and ideas with real potential can receive both visibility and meaningful support.
The prize is open to students and researchers across every accredited tertiary institution in Nigeria, making it a nationwide opportunity rather than one limited to a particular university or region.
The awards will recognise work across key areas including Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences, Agriculture, Law and Teaching Innovation.
There is also a special award with a particularly significant namesake. The Dr Stella Adadevoh Prize for Medicine and Medical Innovation has been established in honour of the late Nigerian doctor, whose courage and contribution during the 2014 Ebola outbreak became an important part of Nigeria’s public health history.
Minister of Education Dr Tunji Alausa with members of the National Laureate team during the launch of the ₦365 million initiative.
The National Laureate Prize is being jointly implemented by the Federal Ministry of Education and the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD). According to Alausa, the selection process will be transparent, competitive and merit-driven, with academic excellence and impact at its centre.
The Minister said the broader goal is to encourage an education system that goes beyond producing certificates to one that also produces solutions, innovations, enterprises and measurable national value.
Our goal is to build an education system that does not simply produce certificates, but produces solutions, innovations, enterprises and measurable national value.
Alausa formally announced the prize following a press briefing in Abuja with members of the NERD National Laureate team, where the ministry outlined the programme’s vision, structure, selection process and long-term objectives.
For Nigerian students and researchers, the new prize offers another reason to see their academic work as something that can extend beyond the classroom, laboratory or research paper. The Federal Government says it wants the National Laureate Prize to help identify and reward ideas and research that can contribute to Nigeria’s development.
And with ₦365 million on the table each year, some of the country’s most promising academic minds now have a national platform built specifically to recognise their work
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