The Federal Government has unveiled a N365 million annual National Laureate Programme to reward outstanding academic excellence, research and innovation in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, describing it as one of Africa’s largest publicly funded academic recognition schemes.
Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced the initiative on Tuesday in Abuja while inaugurating the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Committee at the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Digital Resource Centre.
The National Laureate Programme provides an annual prize pool of approximately N365 million, comprising N35 million for the best Undergraduate Dissertation, N50 million for the best Master’s Thesis, and N100 million for the best Doctoral (PhD) Thesis.
In addition, the programme features six Special National Laureate Excellence Awards, each valued at N30 million, across the thematic areas of Medicine and Health Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Law, Arts and Social Sciences, Agriculture, and Teaching Innovation, bringing the total value of the six special awards to N180 million annually.
Alausa said the programme is designed to reposition academic excellence as a national priority by recognising exceptional undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral research, while encouraging innovation and the commercialisation of research for national development.
The minister also announced the Dr Stella Adadevoh Excellence Award in Medicine and Medical Innovation, named after the late physician whose intervention helped prevent the spread of the Ebola virus in Nigeria in 2014.
To oversee the initiative, the Federal Government inaugurated the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Committee, chaired by the President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Emeritus Prof. Abubakar Sambo.
Alausa directed the committee to complete the eligibility criteria and evaluation framework ahead of the maiden National Laureate Awards scheduled for November 2026.