May 30, 2018

National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) expressed readiness to partner with Kano State University of Science and Technology (KUST) to support patents and technological advancement.
Mr Solomon Nshem, NOTAP’s Head of Media and publicity, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
This was made known when the management of the university visited NOTAP headquarters in Abuja to explore areas of partnership in patent support and other programmes that can advance technology in Nigeria.
The Director-General of NOTAP, Dr DanAzumi Ibrahim, while receiving the university management said it had become expedient for universities and research institutes to convert the enormous researches on its shelves into patents.
Ibrahim said that transforming the patents into products and services would be of immense benefits to Nigerians and would lead to job creation.
He decried the present situation where many technological devices being utilised in Nigeria were imported.
He said that most Nigerian researchers published their works for career promotion rather than acquired patents.
“This situation informed the institutionalisation of the Intellectual Property Technology Transfer Offices (IPTTOs) scheme by NOTAP with the support of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in 2005.”
He said the essence was to create awareness on Intellectual Property Rights and instill the culture of Intellectual Property (IP) in universities and research institutions.
“The IPTTO scheme embarked upon by NOTAP has started yielding dividend with more patents emanating from the institutions in recent times than when the programme commenced.”
The D-G called on universities and research institutes to ensure the institutionalisation of IP policy based on their peculiarities.
He also assured the KUST delegation that NOTAP was ready for any partnership that would lead to the much-desired technological advancement of the country.
He said that in many economies of the world today, patents were highly considered as index for development.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University and leader of the delegation, Prof. Shehu Musa, said the visit to the agency was to enable the institution to benefit from NOTAP’s technological exploits.