- Mamora regrets non-inclusion of Nigerian university among top 100 in innovations
By Dwelleth Morountodun
The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Adeleke Mamora, has said the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), has in overall assisted 393 innovators and inventors with patent certificates since 2006 even as he said 19 individuals, corporate bodies, institutions, researchers were presented with the patent certificates this year.
Speaking at the presentation of patent certificates to inventors and innovators at Kanem Suites, Utako, Abuja, he said: “Since inception of this intervention in 2006, NOTAP has assisted Nigerian inventors in securing 374 patents and today the Federal Government through the Ministry is presenting another 19 patent certificates to Nigerian researchers, bringing the total number facilitated by NOTAP to 393 patent certificates.
While congratulating the recipients of the certificates for their research and resilience, he emphasized that innovations and inventions have become major criteria for the global ranking index of knowledge systems even as he said that it is regrettable that no Nigerian University is ranked among the top 100 Universities in the world due to low innovative activities from the country’s knowledge establishments.
The Minister said: “I challenge Nigerian researchers to take advantage of the opportunity offered by NOTAP to patent their inventions free of charge and enjoy the economic benefits accruing from licensing of their inventions.
I equally look forward to the emergence of products from the successful exploitation of these patents in the shortest possible time.”
He added that the agency is saddled with the responsibility of regulating the inflow of foreign technologies into the country also have the duty of encouraging the development of indigenous technologies in the country.
Mamora, acknowledged that for any nation to develop and maximize its potentials, it must have a brilliant Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) ecosystem that encourages demand-driven research for economic sustenance.
The Minister said that in order to strengthen the Nigeria’s week Intellectual Property (IP) culture and encourage IP awareness in Nigeria, NOTAP in collaboration with WIPO in 2006 established Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Offices (IPTTOs) in some knowledge establishments across the country.
According to him, the establishment of IPTTOs in the Universities, Polytechnics and Research Institutions was to create awareness on the importance of IP and IPR to the economic growth of the country.
He added that the IPTTOs were established and equipped with information technology facilities to support researchers and to conduct searches on patents that are already in the public domain for exploitation and purposes of acquiring knowledge.
The IPTTOs according to Mamora also provide them with guidance on the processes for patenting of inventions, explaining that currently, NOTAP has established 62 functional IPTTOs across Universities and Polytechnics with the intention of establishing more.
However, the Minister said NOTAP’S quest to fast track the processes of patenting an invention in Nigeria, it went into partnership with the Patent and design Registry, Commercial Law Department of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, an agency that has the responsibility of patenting inventions and innovations in Nigeria.
Speaking earlier on the imperative of evolving Intellectual Property (IP) culture and the need for increased spending on R/D, the Director General of NOTAP, Dr. Dan’Azumi Ibrahim, called for increased funding for Research and development (R&D) as a panacea for Nigeria’s technological breakthrough and independence.
He informed that 90% of the technologies that drive the Nigerian economy were imported stressing that the anomaly must be reversed, adding that if R/D was not vigorously pursued for Nigeria to be independent, economic sustainability and viability will continually dodge the nation.
According to the DG, NOTAP through the evaluation and registration of technology transfer agreements saved the country over N79.3 billion that would have left the shores as capital flight between 2015 and 2019.