The Federal Government has challenged Nigerian universities and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) to bridge the gap between academic research and the marketplace by transforming innovations into viable businesses, jobs, and practical solutions to Nigeria’s economic challenges.
Minister of Education, Dr Olatunji Alausa, gave the charge while addressing vice-chancellors, directors of academic affairs, directors of postgraduate studies, and officials of the Federal Ministry of Education’s Directorate of University Education on the prospect of strengthening collaboration between universities and NASENI through the NASENI Campus.
Alausa said the initiative offered a strategic opportunity to connect university researchers with advanced laboratories, prototyping facilities, industry, and investment, thereby creating a pathway for promising ideas to move from the laboratory to the marketplace.
He stressed that Nigeria must deliberately shift from research production to research commercialisation if the country is to maximise the potential of its human capital, adding that research outputs should not end as academic publications or prototypes, but should be patented, developed into marketable products, and commercialised through partnerships with investors and industry.
While drawing lessons from the innovation ecosystem around Cambridge, Massachusetts, the minister said Nigerian researchers should be given the opportunity to protect their inventions, develop market-ready products, and work with investors to establish viable companies.
He said such an approach would help transform human capital into human development through the creation of enterprises, employment, and wealth.
To achieve this, Alausa urged NASENI to establish stronger affiliations with universities located around its development centres, noting that the institutions have a vast pool of researchers, lecturers, and students whose expertise could complement the agency’s activities.
He said NASENI could serve as a critical link between academic research and commercial success by supporting patent registration, connecting researchers with venture capital, and facilitating the establishment of university spin-off companies.
Alausa also challenged the agency to explore opportunities in lithium processing and battery manufacturing as Nigeria seeks to expand its renewable energy and industrial capabilities.
Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of NASENI, Mr Khalil Suleiman Halilu, outlined the agency’s efforts to bridge the gap between research and production in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to move beyond prototypes and ensure that innovations reach the production stage.
Halilu said the proposed NASENI Campus, located within a 100-hectare free trade zone, was being developed as an integrated ecosystem where researchers, professors, prototyping facilities, industries, and commercialisation opportunities could operate together.
He noted that several factories and industrial facilities had already been established within the zone, providing opportunities for researchers to connect their innovations with production and investment.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Professor Hakeem Babatunde Fawehinmi, said the university’s existing partnership with NASENI demonstrated the potential of the model being advocated by the Minister.
He said the collaboration had resulted in facilities including an integrated agriculture incubation centre, greenhouse facilities, automated poultry systems, and tissue culture laboratories, which support undergraduate and postgraduate research.
Fawehinmi added that the university was prepared to deepen its partnership with NASENI in areas including dairy science and renewable energy.
Similarly, the Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, Professor Haruna Musa, said the institution was exploring expanded collaboration with NASENI in nanotechnology, vaccinology, toxinology, and mathematical modelling.
He disclosed that two BUK research projects had reached the final stage of NASENI’s research commercialisation grant process. The projects include a reusable sanitary pad initiative and the commercial production of sweet potato-based starch derivatives, highlighting the potential of university research to produce commercially viable solutions.
Alausa reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to the initiative, saying his Ministry would continue to work with NASENI, universities, and other stakeholders to establish a functional pathway linking research and innovation with investment, production, and job creation.
He stressed that under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the objective was not merely to increase research output, but to ensure that Nigeria’s knowledge, skills, and innovations translated into products, enterprises, employment opportunities, and sustainable prosperity for Nigerians.