SGF Commends NASENI as Six Public Servants Win N162.5m Innovation Grants, Prizes

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, has received six winners of the maiden National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) Innovation Assessment and Awards (NIAA), commending the agency for promoting innovation and the rapid commercialisation of research outcomes. The six innovators, drawn from the Inter-Agency and Intra-Agency categories of the competition, were formally presented to the SGF by NASENI’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu. The competition, organised under the theme, “Driving Innovation, Accelerating Industrialization, Transforming Nigeria,” provided N140 million in development grants to the top three Inter-Agency projects and N22.5 million in cash prizes to the top three Intra-Agency winners. Speaking during the presentation, Halilu said the initiative was designed to recognise and support public servants whose innovations were contributing to Nigeria’s technological and industrial development. He said NASENI’s growing footprint, including the facilitation of more than 20 factories and development of over 40 indigenous products, had been driven significantly by the dedication and creativity of public servants working across government institutions. “We realised that civil servants have been the ones behind this very amazing growth. That is why we dedicated funds and resources specifically for these innovators who are working hard in public service.” The NASENI boss said the agency’s approach was anchored on its Creation, Collaboration and Commercialisation (3Cs) strategy, aimed at moving research and technological ideas from laboratories into practical, market-ready products capable of addressing Nigeria’s security, energy and economic challenges. He added that the competition was part of efforts to strengthen the link between innovation, industrial production and economic development. Providing details of the selection process, Chairman of the Innovation Awards Committee and Director of Manufacturing Services at NASENI, Engr. Dr Olayode A. Olasupo, said 678 users registered on the online submission portal developed by NASENI’s ICT team. He said 261 complete entries, comprising 180 intra-agency and 81 inter-agency submissions, were received across areas including engineering design, software development, renewable energy, healthcare and agriculture. According to him, the entries underwent a two-stage preliminary screening involving computer algorithms for compliance review and subsequent expert technical evaluation. Twenty finalists, comprising 10 from each category, were eventually selected for physical pitching at NASENI headquarters, where they defended their technical and commercial propositions before an independent panel of assessors drawn from industry and academia. Olasupo said the process was designed to guarantee transparency, fairness and credibility in the selection of winners. Under the Inter-Agency category, the first-place winner was Mr. Idowu Ajigbon and his team from the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Abuja, for the Tactical Deep Surveillance Wearable Jacket, a smart security jacket designed to improve real-time situational awareness, personnel safety and tactical communication for security agencies. The second position went to Mr. Temitope Badmus and his team from the Nigerian Institute of Leather Science and Technology (NILEST), Zaria, for the Extraction and Development of NILEST-Tan for Leather Industries, aimed at promoting local production of leather-tanning chemicals and reducing production costs. Mr. Isaac Johnson Ajeh and his team from the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), Abuja, emerged third with their Valorization of Plantain Peel Waste: Development and Standardization of High-Potency Vitamin C project, which seeks to convert agricultural waste into pharmaceutical raw materials. In the Intra-Agency category, Mr. Yusuf Usman of NASENI headquarters emerged first with NASENI MART: A Digital E-Commerce Platform for Made-in-Nigeria Products, a multilingual digital marketplace designed to connect consumers directly with indigenous engineering products. Mr. Benjamin Nweke of NASENI ELDI-Awka took second position for his Solar-Powered Standalone Cooking Station for Food Vendor Empowerment, which seeks to provide clean, affordable and reliable cooking energy to food vendors. Engr. Mikairu Aminu Abu of NASENI NSEL-Karshi emerged third with the Design and Development of an Off-Grid Solar-Powered Cassava Dryer, aimed at improving post-harvest preservation and increasing the incomes of rural farmers. Olasupo said the ₦140 million development grant approved for the three Inter-Agency winners would enable the teams to prototype, scale and further develop their innovations, while the ₦22.5 million cash prize would be shared among the top three Intra-Agency winners. The Head of the NASENI Innovation Hub, Mrs. Busola Perez-Folayan, said the Hub would provide the winners with tailored incubation support, business development assistance and investor-matching services. She said the support was intended to help transform the winning ideas from promising innovations into scalable and commercially viable products. Receiving the delegation, Akume commended NASENI for its leadership and transparent approach to the competition. The SGF also praised the ingenuity demonstrated by the public servants and assured the agency and the innovators of the Federal Government’s support to ensure that the home-grown engineering solutions receive the backing required to contribute to Nigeria’s industrial transformation.