The Nigerian Government has approved a grant of ₦4,249,626,817.69 for the funding of 158 research projects under the 2024 cycle of the National Research Fund (NRF) managed by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
This was disclosed in a statement on Tuesday by Abdulmumin Oniyangi, Director of Public Affairs at TETFund, who said the grant approval followed the recommendations of the National Research Fund Screening and Monitoring Committee (NRFS&MC) after a rigorous screening process involving 6,944 concept notes from researchers.
According to Oniyangi, the breakdown of the grant shows that ₦2,349,951,630.43 was allocated to the Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) thematic group, ₦1,028,966,204.32 to Humanities and Social Science (HSS), and ₦870,708,982.94 to Cross-Cutting (CC) research.
“Beneficiary Institutions with the highest number of awards include the Federal University of Technology, Minna with a total of 15 awards amounting to ₦400,035,708.51; Ahmadu Bello University with 13 awards totalling ₦359,809,744.18, and Federal University of Technology, Akure with 12 awards at ₦341,608,592.80,” he stated.
“Others were Federal University of Technology, Owerri with 11 awards at ₦256,350,698.80; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi with 10 awards at ₦273,406,318.80, and University of Ilorin with 8 awards totalling ₦220,538,834.12,” he added.
Approved research topics include development of sustainable eco-friendly walling systems for rural housing, hybrid cubic fertilisers using plant-based binders, intelligent aerial robotics systems for crop management, AI-enabled medical monitoring systems for the military, and smart energy management metering solutions.
“The National Research Fund (NRF) Grant was introduced by TETFund to encourage cutting-edge research which explore research areas relevant to societal needs of Nigeria such as power and energy, health, security, agriculture, employment and wealth creation etc., in line with its mandate. The intervention has received additional impetus under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as a veritable tool to grow the economy and improve the standards of living of the Nigerian people,” Oniyangi said.
He also revealed that the Federal Government has approved the establishment of 18 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hubs across beneficiary institutions in all six geo-political zones of the country as part of TETFund’s 2024 Intervention.
“The Hubs will provide Core Labs/Workstations to cover Electronic Lab, 3D Printing Lab, Laser Technology Lab, Product Design Lab, Robotics and Coding, Artificial Intelligence, among others,” he said.
He noted that the project aims to drive uptake of research outputs through multidisciplinary and solution-focused hubs, tailored to the innovation needs of tertiary institutions.
“Still in support of the creation of Innovation Hubs and Entrepreneurship Centres, the Federal Government has also approved the allocation of funds under the 2025 Intervention to 15 TETFund Beneficiary Institutions. The institutions are Federal University Dutse, University of Uyo and University of Ibadan with an allocation of ₦1 billion each,” he said.
Oniyangi added that other institutions receiving ₦750 million each include Federal Polytechnic Bida; Taraba State Polytechnic, Jalingo; Adamawa State Polytechnic, Yola; Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Zaria; Kano State Polytechnic, Kano; Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Uwana; Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi; Bayelsa State Polytechnic, Aliebiri; Federal Polytechnic, Ede; Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo; College of Education (Technical), Kabba; and Enugu State College of Education (Technical), Enugu.
PIAK