President Tinubu to present prize grants to winners of NASENI innovation competitions

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will, on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Aso Rock, Abuja, present prize grants to the final winners of the Innovate Naija competition, FutureMakers by NASENI, and Intra-Inter Agency Innovation awards organized by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI).

The joint awards presentations mark the completion of the maiden edition of innovation competitions by NASENI to identify innovative ideas that can translate to commercial ventures, create jobs and spur Nigeria’s technological and industrial renewal.

President Tinubu will have the pleasure of meeting the national winners of FutureMakers by NASENI; three final national and regional winners of InnovateNaija Competition; and the six winners that emerged in the Intra-Inter Agency Innovation Competitions.

All the winners will be presented with their cash grants, which will be used to develop their ideas from the early stage to commercial ventures. 

Before that, on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, zonal champions in the InnovateNaija and FutureMakers competitions will take to the stage for the final pitching exercise from which the national champions will emerge.

The two final pitching exercises will be held at Innovate Hub, NASENI Headquarters, Idu, Industrial Area, Abuja.

In the FutureMakers by NASENI competition, six young innovators who emerged from 60 in the zonal competition will participate in the national pitching exercise where they will compete for a N5 million national prize and a range of opportunities designed to support their continued innovation journey.

The national competition marks the culmination of the 2026 edition of the FutureMakers by NASENI, a youth innovation programme of the NASENI Innovation Hub designed to identify, nurture and empower young Nigerians between the ages of 5 and 16 to develop technology-driven solutions to real-world challenges.

For the InnovateNaija competition, three national winners will emerge at the national level out of the 37 state winners who made it to the final stage. The challenge aims to ignite creativity and generate vibrant energy within Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem. The national champion will win N100 million; second place will win N30 million, and third place will win N20 million to further translate their ideas into commercial ventures.

Also, the top six winners of the NASENI Intra-Inter Agency Competitions from NASENI headquarters and Development Institutes and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) will be presented with their prizes totaling N162 million. N140 million will be shared by the three winners from the MDAs competition, while N22.5 million will go to the three winners from the Intra-Agency competition, respectively.