By Gabriel Ameh
The Federal Government has awarded N435.5 million in grants to Nigerian innovators and young inventors as part of efforts to promote homegrown technology, engineering and industrial development.
The beneficiaries emerged from three innovation competitions organised by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI): InnovateNaija, FutureMakers and the Intra-Inter Agency Innovation competitions.
The grants were presented at the State House Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja, where government officials, innovators and other stakeholders gathered to celebrate the winning ideas.
Under the InnovateNaija competition, the national winner received N100 million, while the first and second runners-up received N30 million and N20 million respectively.
The 37 state champions, including the Federal Capital Territory, received N2.5 million each.
The NASENI Intra-Agency and Inter-Agency Innovation competitions produced six winners who received a combined N162 million. The three Inter-Agency winners shared N140 million, while the three Intra-Agency winners received N22.5 million.
The FutureMakers competition, targeted at young Nigerians between five and 16 years, produced six national finalists who shared N23 million, with the overall winner receiving N5 million.
How the InnovateNaija winners were selected
Explaining the process, the Head and Manager of the NASENI Innovation Hub, Mrs Busola Perez-Folayan, said the InnovateNaija competition was created to identify and support innovators working in hardware manufacturing, engineering and science across Nigeria.
According to her, NASENI received more than 1,000 applications from across the country before the entries were screened down to the strongest candidates.
She said Nigerians were subsequently allowed to vote for their preferred candidates, leading to the emergence of the state winners and the final 15 national contenders.
“Over 1,000 applications were submitted, and we were able to distill from those applications and had Nigerians vote for their top candidates,” Perez-Folayan explained.
She said the process eventually produced the 36 state winners and the leading national contestants, from whom the top three national winners were selected and rewarded.
Perez-Folayan said the initiative was not only designed to reward innovators who were already known but also to identify promising talents at the grassroots.
“One of the things that we’re doing is beyond just supporting innovators who are already known. We are going into the grassroots to look for innovators,” she said.
Young innovators also get support
She also highlighted the FutureMakers programme, which focuses on developing innovation among children and teenagers between five and 16 years.
According to Perez-Folayan, participants were exposed to business thinking, design thinking, innovation and leadership skills as part of the programme.
She noted that one of the young innovators who emerged through the initiative came from an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp and eventually became the overall winner.
Perez-Folayan said the achievement demonstrated the importance of creating opportunities for innovative young Nigerians regardless of their backgrounds.
She added that NASENI was also using the Intra-Agency and Inter-Agency competitions to encourage innovation among civil servants and public servants across government institutions.
The NASENI Innovation Hub operates under the leadership of the agency’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Khalil Suleiman Halilu.
The competitions are part of broader efforts to move promising Nigerian innovations from ideas and prototypes into commercially viable products and businesses capable of contributing to the country’s industrial development.
The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande; Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe; Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency, Prof Matthew Adepoju; members of NASENI management and other stakeholders.
