The Tertiary Education Trust Fund has announced plans to open its 2026 National Research Fair and Exhibition to all Nigerians, regardless of educational background or institutional affiliation, in a move aimed at accelerating the commercialisation of research and innovation.

Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arch Sonny Echono, disclosed the plans in Abuja while inaugurating the committee for this year's fair, explaining that the initiative seeks to convert research outputs into marketable products and services capable of creating jobs and driving national development.

Echono noted that the exhibition would extend beyond TETFund's traditional beneficiary Institutions to include inventors, entrepreneurs, and researchers from across the country, with entries to be publicly advertised and assessed by the committee for commercial potential.

“We want this fair to become the one stop shop for all inventors, innovators, and researchers in Nigeria. We are extending participation beyond our traditional beneficiary institutions because innovation is not limited to the University system,” he stated.

He added that the fair would bring together researchers, manufacturers, investors, venture capitalists, and technology licensing professionals to help move promising innovations from laboratories into the marketplace.

Echono revealed that the Board of Trustees approved an expansion and reconstitution of the organising committee following the success of the inaugural edition, widening its membership to include the organised private sector, innovation hubs, relevant government ministries, the military, and the Association of Nigerian Inventors.

He explained that the committee would compile research outputs from Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education, and research institutes into a national database, cluster technologies by sector, and facilitate partnerships to attract investment.

An international conference will also run alongside the exhibition, drawing experts from within and outside Africa to strengthen Nigeria's research ecosystem, according to Echono, who linked the initiative to President Bola Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda on local manufacturing and job creation.

Director of Research and Development at TETFund, Dr Suleiman Zangina, revealed that several projects funded through the National Research Fund had already produced outputs ready for scaling into commercial products, while committee Chairman, Engr Umar Bindir, pointed to weak collaboration between academia and industry as a longstanding barrier to research impact in Nigeria, pledging deliberate efforts to strengthen private sector involvement going forward.