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By Funmilayo Adeyemi

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has awarded N7.5 billion research grants to 174 research teams across Nigerian tertiary institutions under the 2025 National Research Fund (NRF) Grant Cycle.

The Executive Secretary, Mr Sonny Echono, announced this at a news conference on Thursday in Abuja, while releasing the outcome of the 2025 NRF grant selection process.

Echono said the grants were awarded following a rigorous and competitive process.

He explained that the process involved the submission and evaluation of concept notes, full proposals, oral defence and final selection by the TETFund NRF Screening and Monitoring Committee.

According to him, the value of individual grants ranges from N13.7 million to N49.98 million.

He said the funded projects covered key national priority areas, including health and social welfare, agriculture and food security, sustainable use of natural resources, science and engineering, power and energy and blue economy.

Other areas, he said, were innovation and technology in national defence, clean and affordable energy, education and human capital, gender equity and social inclusion, as well as conflict, defence and security.

The executive secretary said the Federal University of Technology, Minna, emerged as the highest-performing institution with 18 successful grants.

He added that the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, secured 11 grants, while Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, won 10.

Other institutions included the University of Ilorin with eight grants; Bayero University, Kano and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, with seven grants each; while University of Jos got six.

The University of Ibadan, University of Lagos and Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, secured five grants each.

Echono said some newly established federal universities also recorded successes in the grant cycle.

He identified the institutions as the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia; Federal University of Environment and Technology, Koroma/Saakpenwa, Ogoni; and the Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences, Iyin-Ekiti.

He also listed state-owned institutions that won grants as Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Ekiti State University, Kwara State University, Adamawa State University, Rivers State University and Sokoto State University, among others.

According to him, several polytechnics also secured grants, including the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro; Federal Polytechnic, Bida; and Federal Polytechnic, Nekede.

“Others are Federal Polytechnic, Moguno; Federal Polytechnic, Ile-Oluji; Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi; Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri; Yaba College of Technology; Kaduna Polytechnic; and Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic, Sokoto,” he said.

He added that beneficiary colleges of education included the College of Education, Katsina; Osun State College of Education, Ilesa; and Isa Kaita College of Education, Dutsin-Ma.

Echono congratulated the successful institutions and research teams, describing the awards as the “culmination of a transparent and highly competitive selection process”.

He said preparations would soon begin for the 2026 NRF Grant Cycle and encouraged researchers and scholars in tertiary institutions to take advantage of the opportunity by submitting concept notes for consideration.

Echono said the Federal Government had intensified support for research and development over the past four years as part of efforts to drive economic transformation and national development.

He said the government was leveraging the intellectual capacity of tertiary institutions to develop solutions that would improve resource utilisation, boost innovation, create jobs and address national challenges.

According to him, countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Brazil, India and China achieved rapid development by investing heavily in research and innovation.

“We believe that if we harness the intellectual talents in our tertiary institutions and deploy them efficiently, we will create new products and services, grow the economy and improve the living standards of our people.”

The executive secretary said the grant programme was also designed to prepare Nigerian researchers to compete successfully for international research grants.

According to him, Nigeria has moved from eighth to fourth position in Africa, in terms of research grant competitiveness over the past two years.

He said Nigerian scholars in the diaspora remained the highest-performing African researchers globally, expressing confidence that researchers within the country could attain similar levels of excellence with adequate support.

To accelerate commercialisation, Echono said the fund would host another NRF in November, where researchers would showcase innovations to investors, financial institutions, industries and start-up organisations.

He added that TETFund had created a national database of researchers and research outputs to facilitate access by potential investors and industry partners.

On accountability, Echono said the fund had not recorded significant cases of misuse of research grants due to its stringent monitoring mechanisms.

He explained that grants were disbursed in phases based on approved work plans and verified milestones, while project supervisors and monitors tracked implementation.

“Researchers do not receive the entire grant at once. Funds are released in tranches based on performance and progress reports,” he said.

The executive secretary, however, acknowledged that some projects experienced delays due to security challenges, personnel changes and other operational constraints.

He also highlighted several innovations already emerging from TETFund-supported research, including improved food preservation technologies, cleaner and more efficient gari processing systems and high-yield crop varieties.

“Other innovations are water purification technologies, renewable energy solutions, electric vehicles and locally designed automotive components,” he said.

Echono further disclosed that Nigerian researchers have developed prototypes for hearing aids, wind-powered cooling systems, compressed natural gas conversion technologies and fully indigenous vehicle designs.

He said some of the innovations were already in the market, while others were undergoing certification and scaling for commercial production.

He expressed optimism that stronger collaboration between academia and industry would accelerate the adoption of research outputs and contribute to Nigeria’s industrialisation drive. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Philip Yatai