Nigeria redirects education funds from foreign scholarships to domestic research

Nigeria's Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has announced a strategic shift in education funding, focusing on domestic capacity and the commercialisation of academic research.

The government is reviewing and halting new funding for foreign scholarship programs under Bilateral Education Agreements. Alausa stated that public funds will no longer be used to sponsor students for courses already available in Nigerian universities, polytechnics, and colleges. He cited a proposal to send 100,000 students to Morocco for English-taught courses as an example of inefficient spending, noting that students would have had to learn French first.

To redirect these resources, the government is introducing the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize, a ₦365 million annual award to reward academic excellence and innovation. Additionally, Alausa has tasked Nigerian universities and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) with bridging the gap between research and the marketplace. The goal is to transform academic prototypes into marketable products, businesses, and jobs, moving beyond mere publications to drive economic growth.