The Federal Government is setting up a National Design and Development Agency to revitalise Nigeria’s innovation landscape by supporting local inventors, securing funding for their ideas, and fast-tracking solutions to market.
Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, Minister of State for Education, unveils the initiative during a working visit to Innov8 Hub, an Abuja-based innovation centre lauded for nurturing raw creativity into viable ventures.
The Minister says the new agency will operate alongside the soon-to-be-launched National Research and Development Fund Agency, which will offer competitive grants to drive “scalable, high-impact innovations” nationwide.
“Innovation must be sustainable,” Alausa says, stressing that the new ecosystem will rely on strategic collaborations linking innovators with financiers and manufacturers to bring Nigerian ingenuity to life.
“Nigerians are some of the most creative people in the world,” Alausa says, “but they need structured support to bring their ideas to life.”
The Minister tours the Innov8 facility, where he inspects locally developed technologies including cassava dryers, shredders, and modular poultry pen tools – innovations tailored to boost agricultural processing, rural enterprise, and job creation.
Dr Alausa hails the Hub’s Poultry Empowerment Programme, which features prefabricated poultry pens designed to empower smallholder farmers and improve national food security. “This is the kind of grassroots innovation that can truly transform lives,” he says.
He commends TETFund and other stakeholders for backing youth-driven innovation, noting the Tinubu administration’s resolve to unlock Nigeria’s creative potential through education, research and innovation.
“Nigerians are some of the most creative people in the world,” Alausa says, “but they need structured support to bring their ideas to life.”
Challenging innovation centres across the country to become self-reliant, he calls for a shift from government dependence to market-led innovation models. “From subsidies, we must move to self-sufficiency,” the Minister adds.
The move signals a fresh commitment by the Federal Government to nurture local talent and position Nigeria as a competitive player in the global innovation economy, the Minister says.
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