Israel, TETFund Move to End Nigeria’s ‘Research Graveyard,’ Launch Fresh Drive to Turn Campus Ideas into Billion-Naira Businesses
Michael Olugbode and Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
In a bold move aimed at tackling one of Nigeria’s biggest development challenges—the failure to commercialise research—the Federal Government, through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), has partnered with Israel to inject fresh funding, mentorship and global expertise into transforming university inventions into thriving businesses.
The renewed commitment was unveiled yesterday in Abuja as Israel announced funding for the fifth edition of the Innovation Fellowship for Aspiring Inventors and Researchers (iFAIR 5), even as TETFund disclosed an ambitious nationwide programme to establish innovation centres in more than 60 tertiary institutions to ensure research breakthroughs no longer remain confined to academic shelves.
The initiative comes amid growing concerns that thousands of research findings produced annually by Nigerian universities rarely progress beyond dissertations and journal publications, depriving the country of innovations capable of creating industries, jobs and wealth.
