It is my pleasure to announce the opening of the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize.
As part of our commitment to supporting student excellence, the National Laureate Prize is a new national platform to celebrate and reward outstanding research, innovation and intellectual excellence across our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
Backed by an initial annual prize fund of ₦365 million, the National Laureate Prize will award ₦35 million for the Undergraduate Star Prize, ₦50 million for the Master’s Star Prize and ₦100 million for the Doctoral Star Prize, alongside ₦180 million for 15 Thematic Excellence Prizes, valued at ₦12 million each.
The Prize is open to students and researchers across every accredited tertiary institution in Nigeria, providing a truly national platform to identify and reward our brightest minds and most impactful research.
Yesterday, I held a press briefing alongside members of the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) National Laureate team, where we formally announced the Prize, outlined its vision and structure, and answered questions from members of the media on its implementation, selection process and long-term objectives.
In addition to the Star Prizes, the National Laureate Prize will feature special awards across critical fields, including Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences, Agriculture, Law and Teaching Innovation.
We have also introduced the Dr. Stella Adadevoh Prize for Medicine and Medical Innovation, a special award established in honour of Dr Adadevoh’s extraordinary courage and contribution to our nation.
Jointly implemented by the Federal Ministry of Education and NERD, the Prize will operate through a transparent, competitive and merit-driven process that puts academic excellence and impact first.
This initiative reflects the clear direction of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, under the Renewed Hope Agenda: to build a Nigeria where knowledge, skills, research and innovation are deliberately harnessed to create opportunities, strengthen our economy and improve the lives of our people.
The President has continued to demonstrate his commitment to investing in Nigeria’s human capital and giving our young people the platforms they need to compete, innovate and succeed. Through the National Laureate Prize, we are translating that vision into another tangible opportunity for Nigerian students and researchers.
Our goal is to build an education system that does not simply produce certificates, but produces solutions, innovations, enterprises and measurable national value.
I don't have 30 mins to get on a call with you but I can share these tips with you. Trust me, I know my stuff.
1. If you're applying to a particular lab or team. Research their last 3 publications & use it to amp up your talking points.
2. Every detail you share about yourself has to br around your skillset. What you can do, what you have done. Nobody cares about your family problem.
3. If the PhD already has a research problem & you've formulated your proposal. Be able to explain that proposal in 30 seconds, 2 mins, 10 mins. Time and train yourself for this. This way, you rip out a lot of filler junks.
4. To every question they ask, script your response as a scientific answer. Start with the problem, feed it into an hypothesis, detail an approach, postulate a finding - most importantly, propose possible limitations.
5. Go to the interview with your own questions. It communicates confidence. Ask them: "Realistically, what do you expect a candidate to achieve in 12 months?"
6. Don't oversell yourself. You're not Einstein. The people you're talking to, also don't know everything. They don't expect you to know everything. So when you're asked a question that you don't know an answer to, your main goal is to communicate how you think when you don't know an answer to a question.
7. Don't over patronise them. That's what charlatans do. One "thank you for this opportunity" is okay. It's a professional interview, you're not soliciting for their favor.
8. They need to remember you. You need to give them a why. It can be an edge you've honed from a previous experience you held, or a problem you solved in the past, or your approach to the proposal you're discussing. Decide which one it is, then finely insert it in one of your response frames. It shouldn't exceed 10-15 seconds.
When you eventually land the position, my favorite drink is caprisun. I don't drink beer.
Good luck.
@BlehisBack Forget local upbringing
if you live with an aged man or woman, who live in Lagos or any City at that , They would surely tell you about Dolly in one random conversation of what was trendy in their prime.
Don't mind these 2000+ pikin them
This is actually a good thing. Public infrastructure are meant to be used by people to improve their quality of life, not as a monument that people can’t interact with.
@papichulo4224 Hah. I totally agree with those that said you dont need to campaign against this dullard. Just hand him mic and he will do that against himself
I still believe this is not necessary.
Scrap the introductory math and physics done in 100L to create space for more GET courses.
Then give the entire 400L for the 1 year training if you just have it.