By Ngozi Nwankwo
Federal Government has approved the establishment of the Nigeria National Laureate Annual Prize Programme, a landmark initiative designed to recognise and reward outstanding academic research, intellectual excellence, and commercially viable innovation emerging from Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
Announcing the initiative, the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Olatunji Alausa, described the programme as a strategic national intervention aimed at reshaping Nigeria’s educational incentive structure by placing scholarly achievement academic excellence, and research innovation at the forefront of national recognition.
Under the programme, exceptional dissertations and theses produced by students in accredited tertiary institutions will be honoured annually through the National Laureate Prize, with financial rewards ranging from ₦5 million to ₦20 million across three academic categories.
Undergraduate dissertation winners will receive a minimum of ₦5 million, master’s thesis winners will receive ₦10 million, while doctoral thesis winners will be awarded ₦20 million, alongside national recognition befitting their scholarly contributions.
The Minister 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 him, the programme represents a deliberate effort to elevate the value of academic research and ensure that the rigour of scholarly work receives recognition comparable to 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,” the Minister stated.
“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,” he added.
To ensure sustainability without placing additional pressure on public funds, the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank,NERD, and its strategic partners will finance the entire lifecycle of the annual prize programme.
Also, to oversee the implementation of the initiative, the Minister has constituted a 10-member NERD National Laureate Prize Committee chaired by Prof. 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 Prof Solomon Nwhator, Prof,(Mrs) Tolulope Ariyomo, Prof Francis F. Uba, and Prof (Mrs) Carol Arinze-Umobi, alongside representatives from the Nigerian Academy of Letters, Nigeria 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.
Explaining further, he said ” In a historic tribute to national service, select prizes under the programme will be named after distinguished Nigerians. The inaugural honour will recognise Dr. 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.
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.
The Minister therefore advised the members of the public to follow the progress of the national research curation and laureate selection process via the NERD portal.
