August 06, (THEWILL) — The Federal Government has approved a grant of N4,249,626,817.69 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).
A statement by Abdulmumin Oniyangi, Director of Public Affairs at TETFund, stated that the 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.
The breakdown of the grant shows N2,349,951,630.43 was allocated to the Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) thematic group, N1,028,966,204.32 to Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), and N870,708,982.94 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 N400,035,708.51; Ahmadu Bello University with 13 awards totalling N359,809,744.18, and Federal University of Technology, Akure with 12 awards at N341,608,592.80.
“Others were Federal University of Technology, Owerri with 11 awards at N256,350,698.80; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi with 10 awards at N273,406,318.80, and University of Ilorin with 8 awards totalling N220,538,834.12”, he said.
Approved research topics include the 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 explores 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”, he said.
Oniyangi also disclosed 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.
“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 N1 billion each”, he said.
The project aims to drive uptake of research outputs through multidisciplinary and solution-focused hubs, tailored to the innovation needs of tertiary institutions.
Oniyangi added that other institutions receiving N750 million each include the Federal Polytechnic, Bida; Taraba State Polytechnic, Jalingo; Adamawa State Polytechnic, Yola; Nuhu Bamalli 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.
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