The Nigerian government has approved the establishment of the National Research and Innovation Development Fund, an initiative now described as a major step towards transforming Nigeria’s research and innovation landscape.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, made this known on Wednesday while briefing State House correspondents on the approval by the Federal Executive Council meeting last week presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.
Dr Alausa said the fund would help move the country from fragmented research activity to a coordinated innovation ecosystem capable of supporting national development.
He said Nigeria’s current system suffers from duplication and weak coordination among research agencies, universities and industry, adding that the new fund would align research priorities with national needs, encourage collaboration and improve transparency in funding decisions.
“This is a game-changer,” he said. “If Nigeria wants to become a 1-trillion-dollar economy, we must unleash the potential of our researchers and innovators,” he said.
The minister said the fund would support research across academia, the private sector and public institutions, including Nigeria’s research institutes, through a competitive process based on merit, national relevance and measurable impact.
He added that the fund would be designed to avoid creating “another burdening bureaucracy” and would operate as a flexible agency under the supervision of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.
Alausa explained that the agency would be headed by a chief executive officer, assisted by three executive directors and a general counsel, while technical committees and expert panels drawn from science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields would evaluate proposals.
He said agencies and institutions that receive funding would be required to submit annual reports and meet agreed performance benchmarks before getting further tranches of support.
According to him, the fund would draw from a dedicated first-line charge and is expected to receive close to 500 million dollars yearly.
He said the National Council on Research and Innovation would supervise the fund, with the Vice President as chairman and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology as vice chairman.
The council will also include ministers responsible for education; health; agriculture and food security, livestock development and environment, as well as representatives of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, the Nigerian National Merit Award, research institutes and professional academies, including the Nigerian Academy of Science, Engineering, Medicine, Letters and Social Sciences.
Private sector representation will come from the industrial and finance clusters, including the President of the Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, the Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Development Finance Institutions and nominees from the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture; the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria; the Nigeria Economic Summit Group and other relevant bodies.
Alausa said the Federal Executive Council had directed the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice to draft an executive bill for transmission to the National Assembly to formalise the fund.
He emphasised that the new structure would not stop existing research institutions from their activities but would harmonise their functions, eliminate duplication and ensure that funds are channelled into national priorities such as food security, health, security, population, environmental sustainability and social development.
The Minister applauded President Bola Tinubu for supporting the reforms, describing the move as a forward-looking decision that would strengthen Nigeria’s academic and research systems.
Similarly, the Minister of Education also disclosed that the Federal Government approved equally a uniform policy to regulate the award and use of honorary degrees by Nigerian universities, warning that defaulting institutions and individuals risk sanctions under a new enforcement framework.
Alausa said the policy was introduced to safeguard academic integrity, restore public confidence in university awards and check the growing abuse, politicisation and commercialisation of honorary degrees.
He said the government had observed a troubling trend in which some universities confer honorary doctorates indiscriminately, including on serving public officials, while some recipients go on to adopt the title “Doctor” in official and public use.
According to him, the new policy requires that honorary degrees must be clearly labelled as “honorary” or “honoris causa” on certificates and in all references, and recipients must not prefix “Dr” to their names in official academic or professional settings.
“Recipients are expected to acknowledge the degree as an award or recognition and not as a formal academic qualification,” he said.
He stated that misrepresentation of honorary degrees as academic credentials would be treated as academic fraud, attracting legal and reputational consequences.
The minister said only universities with established PhD-awarding curricula would be permitted to award honorary degrees, describing the practice of newer institutions with no doctoral programmes conferring such awards as a “misnomer”.
He said the new policy was designed to strengthen the Keffi Declaration, a guideline earlier developed by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities to curb abuse in the award of honorary degrees.
Alausa also announced that the Federal Ministry of Education, through the National Universities Commission, would issue a circular to vice-chancellors, registrars and governing councils, monitor convocation ceremonies and publish an annual list of legitimate honorary degree recipients.
“We will collaborate with the media to discourage the improper attribution of academic titles to people who were awarded honorary degrees,” he said, adding that institutions that violate the policy would face sanctions.
During the question-and-answer session, journalists sought clarification on university autonomy and specific sanctions for institutions that breach the rules.
Responding, Alausa said university autonomy does not give any institution the right to break the law.
“Autonomy does not equate to the right to break the law in this country,” he said, adding that the National Universities Commission would develop and enforce sanctions against erring universities.
Alausa added that the Nigerian media would play a critical role in identifying and exposing misleading use of honorary doctorates.
“If I turn around and say I’m Dr Alausa because a university gave me an honorary degree, the media should call it out,” he said.
He insisted that the policy was not targeted at social usage of titles but at official correspondence and formal settings, where misuse could amount to misrepresentation.
On the Keffi Declaration, Minister of State for Education Suwaiba Ahmad explained that the declaration was originally created by vice-chancellors themselves as a guide for the award of honorary degrees but lacked legal backing.
She said the new federal approval now gives the declaration “authoritative backing” and allows it to be properly implemented.
