Abstract

Author:

Abidemi, Owokoya

Doi: 10.26480/seps.01.2026.31.37

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

The ability to discover scientifically does not just rely on the intellectual ability but also relies on the effectiveness, fairness and openness of the research financing regimes. This paper analyses how transparent funding models can stimulate scientific discoveries in Nigeria, and how such a situation can be compared to South Africa, Europe, and North America. The point of interest is to assess the role of transparency in the access to research funding, the equity of its distribution, and the presence of Nigerian scholarship in the global knowledge economy. The research uses the qualitative and comparative case analysis method, which is based on secondary data, including scholarly articles, UNESCO and TETFund reports, and policy documents. The results show that even though the agencies like the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) have been providing the much-needed resources to Nigerian universities, funding mechanisms are still limited by the shrouded aspects of reviewing processes, bureaucracies, and unequal distribution patterns that have been biased towards the older academicians and elite institutions. The challenges reduce efficiency and deter innovation among young professional researchers and institutions in rural settings. By contrast, clearer models in Europe and South Africa, with clear criteria of review and open dissemination policy, and specific equity tendencies, are found to have stronger connections between funding, visibility, and discovery results. The research concludes that the failure of science in Nigeria is not an issue of poor intellectual endowment, but rather a failure in governance structure, in giving funds to science. It suggests implementing transparent evaluation frameworks, open science policies, encouraging mechanisms of equity-based allocation, and encouraging research funding partnerships between the public and the private. Through the introduction of transparency into its funding framework, Nigeria will be able to enhance accountability, bolster the visibility of its research to the global audience, and place Nigeria in a better position to make transformative scientific breakthroughs.