The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has charged Nigerian universities and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, NASENI, to bridge the gap between academic research and the marketplace by transforming university innovations into businesses, jobs and practical solutions capable of driving Nigeria’s economic transformation.
Alausa gave the charge during a presentation to 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 possibility of partnering with universities through the NASENI Campus.
He said the initiative would connect researchers with advanced laboratories, prototyping facilities, industry and investment, thereby creating a pathway for promising ideas to move from the laboratory to the marketplace.
According to the Minister’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah, the initiative is aimed at strengthening the connection between research, innovation and economic development by ensuring that Nigeria’s substantial pool of human capital is translated into tangible economic value.
The Minister said Nigeria must deliberately move from research to commercialisation if it is to fully harness the potential of its human capital, stressing that research outputs should not end as academic publications or prototypes.
While drawing lessons from the innovation ecosystem around Cambridge, Massachusetts, Alausa said Nigerian researchers should be given opportunities to patent their inventions, develop them into marketable products and work with investors to establish viable companies.
He said such a model would help transform human capital into human development, while creating businesses, employment opportunities and sustainable sources of wealth.
To achieve this, the Minister urged NASENI to establish stronger affiliations with universities around its development centres, noting that the institutions possess a vast pool of researchers, lecturers and students whose expertise could complement the agency’s work.
He said NASENI could provide the missing link between academic research and commercial success by supporting patent registration, connecting researchers with venture capital and facilitating the establishment of spin-off companies.
Alausa also challenged the agency to explore opportunities in lithium processing and battery manufacturing as Nigeria expands its renewable energy and industrial capabilities.
Speaking earlier, the Executive Vice Chairman and 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 explained that the proposed NASENI Campus, located within a 100-hectare free trade zone, was being developed as an integrated environment where researchers, professors, prototyping facilities, industries and commercialisation opportunities could operate together.
He added that several factories and industrial facilities had already been established within the zone.
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 produced 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 ready to deepen the partnership in areas such as dairy science and renewable energy.
Further demonstrating the commercial potential of university research, 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, including a reusable sanitary pad project and the commercial production of sweet potato-based starch derivatives.
While reaffirming the Federal Government’s commitment to the initiative, Alausa said the Ministry would continue to work with NASENI, universities and other stakeholders to build a functional pathway from research and innovation to investment, production and job creation.
He stressed that under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the objective was not simply to produce more research, but to ensure that Nigeria’s knowledge, skills and innovations translated into products, enterprises, jobs and sustainable prosperity for Nigerians.
