By Binta Shama
Abuja
“Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Offices (IPTTOs) are veritable instruments that can spur industrialisation in Nigeria when properly harnessed and utilized”.
The Director-General of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dr. DanAzumi Mohammed Ibrahim made this statement at the Rivers State University during the Commissioning ceremony of the 39th IPTTO established by NOTAP across Nigerian knowledge Institutions.
According to Ibrahim, “NOTAP being one of the seventeen parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, among others, regulates the inflow of foreign technologies into the country. In the cause of carrying out this responsibilities, the Office realized that over 90% of the technology that power Nigerian financial and other major sectors of the economy were foreign. A situation that deters development.”
The DG said: “In order to encourage the development of indigenous technologies, NOTAP in 2006, in partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), established IPTTOs in some selected Nigerian knowledge Institutions. The IPPTO is to change the mindset of the Nigerian researcher to focus on researches that can directly impact on human lives and also general earnings”.
“Nigeria has the largest knowledge infrastructure in the entire West African sub-region with over 140 Universities and about 300 Research Institutions, yet the multinational companies in Nigeria still depend largely on their parent companies for research and other technical support. This is owing to low Intellectual Property (IP) development culture, stressing the IPTTO will bring mutual partnership between the knowledge Institutions and Industries as researchers from the knowledge Institutions could solve the problems of the Industry” he added.
Further stating he said “there are lots of inventive and innovative activities going on in Nigerian knowledge Institutions which are not properly directed towards demand and market-driven research. The establishment of IPPTO in the Nigeria Universities, Polytechnics and Research Institutions will expose the researchers to over 6 thousand research results which serves as guide to researchers in carrying out their works”.
He regretted that the Rivers State University IPTTO could not take off ten years ago when it was established due to lack of awareness on its importance to the economic wellbeing of the Institution as well as the researchers. He added that IPTTOs expose Nigerian researchers to the benefits of patenting their invention and change the usual focus of carrying out research mainly for publication as a requisite for career progression.
The DG further stated that “while Universities and Research Institutions in the developed Countries generate enough revenue from licensing and Commercialization of their research results, Nigerian knowledge Institutions wait for budgetary allocations from the federation account to pay salaries”.
Earlier in his address, the Vice Chancellor of Rivers State University, Prof. Blessing Chimezie Didia said that, “the Commissioning of IPTTO in the Institution is a dream come true. Alot of research activities have been carried out in the Institution but have not been presented for patenting due to inadequate knowledge on patent”.
“The Commissioning of IPTTO in our Institute, will make the University be better positioned to generate revenue from research works”.
He encouraged researchers to explore every necessary avenue to benefit from the technical training being rendered by NOTAP staff to ensure that their research works are patented for onward licensing and commercialization.
