The 2025 Demonstration Day for the TETFund Alliance for Innovative Research (TETFAIR) and Academic Solutions Incubation Programme (ASIP), jointly organised by TETFund in strategic partnership with Innov8 Hub, may be over but the experience and impact will remain vividly etched in the memories of participants for a long time.
 
While TETFAIR equipped academics and researchers with the skills to turn innovative concepts into early-stage prototypes, ASIP served as an incubation hub that offered advanced capacity building, sector-focused mentorship, and professional industry evaluations to validate, improve, and strengthen these initial Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), making them investment-ready and suitable for commercialisation.
 
After several weeks of intensive and carefully structured training, the programme reached a fitting climax with the participation of 60 lecturers and researchers drawn from 26 tertiary institutions across the country. The participants were exposed to practical sessions, expert guidance and collaborative learning aimed at strengthening their capacity to move research beyond theory into viable solutions.
 
This sustained engagement paid off at the end of the programme, as a total of 17 patents and copyrights were successfully presented, highlighting the tangible outcomes of the initiative and reinforcing its contribution to strengthening Nigeria’s research, innovation and intellectual property ecosystem.
 
Speaking at the closing ceremony, the Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Arc. Sonny Echono, conveyed his appreciation to the participants for their active engagement and steadfast support for the Fund’s ongoing efforts to deepen research and development across Nigeria’s tertiary education landscape. He noted that the enthusiasm and commitment demonstrated by the academics and researchers reaffirmed the shared belief that innovation-driven research remains a critical pathway to national growth and sustainable development.
 
Arc. Echono reiterated TETFund’s statutory mandate as a key government intervention agency established to strengthen Nigeria’s tertiary education sector through strategic funding, capacity building and infrastructure development.
 
According to him, beyond improving teaching and learning, the Fund is increasingly focused on promoting problem-solving research that responds directly to the country’s socio-economic challenges and supports the translation of knowledge into practical, market-ready solutions.
 
He explained that the programmes were deliberately designed to align with Nigeria’s most pressing national development priorities. These include agriculture and food technology to enhance food security; environmental sustainability, energy innovation and the circular economy; health, inclusiveness and accessibility; as well as advances in information and communication technology aimed at driving digital transformation and productivity.
 
The Executive Secretary also highlighted security, transportation and shipping, alongside production process improvement, as critical focus areas where research outcomes can significantly boost efficiency, resilience and competitiveness. He stressed that by directing innovation efforts towards these strategic sectors, TETFund is laying the foundation for stronger industry linkages, increased commercialisation of research outputs and a more robust contribution of the tertiary education system to Nigeria’s overall development agenda.
 
“Over the years, various initiatives, policies, and strategies have been introduced to reduce unemployment, alleviate poverty, and improve our socio-economic well-being. Yet many challenges persist. It has therefore become imperative to adopt a more sustainable approach rooted in science, technology, and innovation”, he said.
 
Echono stated that the initiative took off with the introduction of the Research for Impact (R4i) and the Transformative Innovation Workshop (TIW) in 2021, before being scaled up with the launch of TETFAIR in 2022. He added that the framework was further strengthened with the rollout of ASIP, the facilitation of SGCI-funded projects, and the INCUB8 programmes in 2024.
 
He explained that, taken together, these interventions provide a clearly defined pipeline for research commercialisation, offering support that spans from short-term, six-week intensive training programmes to comprehensive incubation processes lasting up to one year.
 
According to TETFund boss, the initiatives are deliberately structured to provide researchers and academics with essential technical assistance, mentorship, access to resources and a supportive ecosystem that enables innovative ideas to evolve into practical, market-ready solutions capable of addressing real-world challenges.
 
Also, Head of Programmes and Ventures at Innov8 Hub, Tolulope Aina, highlighted the strategic role of the hub in bridging the gap between research and the marketplace. She explained that Innov8 Hub was designed to support innovators at different stages of their journey, from idea validation and product development to business structuring and market entry, with a strong emphasis on sustainability and impact.
 
Aina lauded TETFund for its sustained commitment to promoting innovation-driven research and building a robust ecosystem that supports the translation of academic outputs into commercially viable solutions, noting that the Fund’s strategic interventions have significantly strengthened capacity within tertiary institutions across the country.
 
She noted that through tailored mentorship, capacity-building workshops and access to industry networks, Innov8 Hub has continued to nurture a growing pipeline of viable innovations emerging from Nigerian tertiary institutions. According to her, the hub’s programmes are structured to help researchers and startups refine their value propositions, protect their intellectual property and attract both local and international investment.
 
She added that collaborations with key stakeholders, including government agencies, development partners and the private sector, have strengthened the ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship. Aina expressed confidence that with sustained support and deliberate alignment of research with national development priorities, Innov8 Hub would continue to play a pivotal role in transforming ideas into scalable solutions that address real socio-economic challenges.