The Nigerian Federal Government has earmarked N365 million annually as a National Laureate Prize to recognise outstanding academic research, innovation and intellectual excellence across the country’s tertiary education system.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this while briefing newsmen on the initiative on Wednesday in Abuja.
It is the first time such a prize will be institutionalised in Nigeria’s education system.
Education Minister Tunji Alausa said the prize was part of the Federal Government’s efforts to reposition education as a catalyst for national development.
Having inaugurated the National Laureate Prize Committee at a separate event, he charged the members at this media engagement with providing the strategic direction, governance and integrity required for the successful implementation of the programme.
He said the prize would cover outstanding undergraduate dissertations with strong commercial potential, exceptional master’s theses and doctoral theses with clear industrial and developmental applications.
According to him, special prizes will also be awarded in six thematic areas, namely engineering and technology, medicine and health sciences, arts and social sciences, agriculture, law, and teaching innovation.
The minister also hinted that some of the special prizes would honour distinguished Nigerians whose lives symbolised exceptional service, courage and contribution to the nation, citing the Dr Stella Adadevoh Prize for Medicine and Medical Innovation as one such award. He said it would honour the late physician’s courage and professional sacrifice during the 2014 Ebola outbreak.
Speaking on the cancellation of funding under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA), he explained that the policy was no longer providing value commensurate with the resources being committed.
According to him, Nigeria has developed significant capacity in its universities, polytechnics and colleges of education over the years, making it unnecessary in some cases to spend large sums of public funds sending students abroad to study programmes available locally.
Alausa said the government would, however, not prevent foreign countries from offering scholarships to Nigerian students.
He said the decision was aimed at ensuring that public funds were deployed more efficiently and towards programmes that would provide greater benefits to Nigerians.
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