By Mahdi Waziri Isa
The Federal Government has approved N4.2 billion in grants to support 158 research projects across Nigerian tertiary institutions under the 2024 TETFund National Research Fund cycle. The funding follows a competitive selection process that evaluated 6,944 research proposals from scholars nationwide.
In a Tuesday statement, TETFund’s Director of Public Affairs, Abdulmumin Oniyangi, detailed the allocation: “The sum of N2,349,951,630.43 was approved for Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation; N1,028,966,204.32 for Humanities and Social Science; while Cross Cutting research projects received N870,708,982.94.”
Leading recipients of the grants include Federal University of Technology, Minna (15 awards, N400m), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (13 awards, N359.8m) and Federal University of Technology, Akure (12 awards, N341.6m).
Concurrently, the government greenlit 18 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hubs across six geopolitical zones, featuring cutting-edge facilities like AI labs, robotics workstations, and 3D printing centers.
“The project is intended to facilitate and accelerate the uptake of promising research output,” the statement noted.
Fifteen institutions have already been earmarked for 2025 funding, with Federal University Dutse, University of Uyo and University of Ibadan each receiving N1bn allocations, while twelve others secured N750m each.