The Director General of the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), Dr. Kazeem Kolawole Raji, has announced that the agency is focusing on innovations that will address food scarcity and other critical challenges facing Nigeria.
Speaking at the national showcase of the 2025 NextGen Innovation Challenge in Abuja on Tuesday, Dr. Raji emphasized that Nigeria's greatest resources are its citizens, not its mineral wealth. The event, themed 'Igniting Indigenous Ingenuity: Nigerian Solutions, Global Impact,' featured 74 finalists selected from over 3,000 applicants nationwide.
"Every entry, every idea, is a vote of confidence in the future we are building — a future authored by Nigerians, for Nigeria, and for the world. Our goal is not cosmetic innovation; it is deep, systemic transformation," Dr. Raji stated.
The NBTI Director General highlighted key challenges the innovations aim to address: "How do we secure food for over 200 million people? How do we bring sustainable energy to the last rural household? How do we ensure that even the most remote child learns from the brightest minds — including those born here, in Nigeria?"
Dr. Raji emphasized that the NextGen Innovation Challenge aligns with President Bola Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda, the Nigeria First Policy, and the country's recent inclusion in the BRICS economic alliance. He described these initiatives as platforms designed to elevate homegrown talent and power innovation-led development.
"The 'Nigeria First Policy' is a clarion call to prioritize local solutions for local and global challenges. It is an affirmation that Nigerian ideas matter, Nigerian products are valuable, and Nigerian innovators deserve to lead," he explained.
The NBTI chief urged innovators to leverage Nigeria's BRICS membership, which connects them to markets representing over 40% of the world's population and trillions in trade and investment flows. He encouraged participants to think beyond prototypes toward scalable products that address real Nigerian problems in energy access, food security, healthcare delivery, education, logistics, fintech, and industrial productivity.
Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, who also attended the event, commended the NBTI for the initiative and urged private sector partners to invest in the showcased innovations.
"To our private sector partners and global friends present here — I urge you to invest in these innovators. What you see today is just a glimpse of what Nigeria has to offer. These young men and women don't just have ideas — they have solutions, blueprints, and scalable products that can redefine industries and transform lives," the minister said.
The NextGen Innovation Challenge, which kicked off on May 28, 2025, serves as a transformative platform designed to amplify Nigerian ingenuity and project homegrown solutions onto the global stage.
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