Speakers at COUCH grand finale in Abuja
The push to integrate young innovators into Nigeria’s technology and innovation economy took centre stage as the Coderina Education and Technology Foundation, in partnership with the National Universities Commission, hosted the Grand Finale of the Coderina University Challenge 2025 in Abuja.
The event, held recently at the NUC Auditorium, brought together top government officials, university leaders, industry partners and the ten finalist teams selected from more than 62 entries nationwide.
This year’s theme, “Circular Economy Through Technology”, highlighted the role of youth-led, tech-enabled solutions in addressing national challenges in sustainability, waste management, energy transition and the circular economy.
Speakers at the event reiterated a consistent message: Nigeria must accelerate the transition of university research from shelves into real-world innovation, commercialisation and industry adoption to drive economic growth.
In his opening remarks, Chairman of the Coderina Board of Directors, Olufemi Niyi, said university projects must not remain buried in archives, noting that COUCH has demonstrated that research can become functional innovation. He urged donors, development organisations and private sector players to support the programme as a sustainable national innovation pipeline.
Delivering the keynote address, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Dr Kingsley Tochukwu praised COUCH for advancing the ministry’s priority of moving research “from the shelves to the marketplace”.
He described the initiative as a model for the partnerships and commercialisation pathways needed to unlock Nigeria’s technological and scientific potential.
He outlined the ministry’s key priorities for strengthening the innovation ecosystem, including coordinated national frameworks, wider adoption of emerging technologies and the development of a tech-driven economy capable of improving global competitiveness.
“Creating new opportunities for youth innovators and ensuring they are empowered to drive the innovation economy are part of the key focus areas of the ministry,” he said.
The minister pledged the ministry’s readiness to work with Coderina and the NUC to incubate and scale student-led innovations. He also donated N5m to Waste2Light from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, and announced plans to collaborate with all ten finalist universities to support commercialisation.
Executive Secretary of the NUC, Mallam Abdullahi Ribadu, commended the twelve universities nominated for the pilot edition and urged the finalists to invest their prize money in entrepreneurship and technical skill development. He reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to strengthening innovation-driven learning across tertiary institutions.
In a special address, the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Dr Tope Fasua, described technology as the biggest driver of global growth, noting that Nigeria’s economic transformation is closely tied to youth innovation. He called for greater national visibility for COUCH and the creation of an innovation archive and centres where theories and research can be translated into commercially viable products.
Vice-Chancellor of Nasarawa State University, Professor Sa’adatu Liman, emphasised the need for stronger industry–university collaboration, an entrepreneurial university culture and digital literacy in emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain and IoT. She identified AI as a catalyst for enhancing teacher retraining, curriculum development and virtual learning systems.
In the competition’s first category, The Challenge, Team IMSU of Imo State University won the star prize of N5m, followed by Team Neuronaut of Nile University with N2.5m and Team Waste2Light of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, with N1.5m.
The People’s Choice Awards, based on online engagement and public voting, saw Team ADSU Innovators of Adamawa State University win N250,000; Team Scraplink of Lagos State University win N150,000; and Team Circle of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, take home N100,000.
Providing an overview of the programme, COUCH Project Lead, Ms Christiana Anthony, said COUCH is not merely a competition but a structured innovation development platform enabling students to design, build, test and pitch solutions with commercial potential. She noted that the partnership between Coderina and the NUC has created a national pathway for university-driven innovation.
The COUCH 2025 grand finale reinforced Nigeria’s readiness to position youth at the centre of its innovation economy, with leaders emphasising that student-led research and technology solutions must play a pivotal role in national development and sustainable economic growth.
