The Federal Government is to accord top priority to research findings so as to commercialise them for wealth creation, the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Barrister Mohammed Abdullahi, has said.
Barrister Abdullahi disclosed this when he gave his keynote address at the training of Nigerian Researchers on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and presentation of certificates and PhD thesis organised by National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion(NOTAP)in Abuja.
The Minister also said research institutes would be encouraged to collaborate with industries so as to promote private-sector driven commercialization. It is only through this, he added, that wealth could be generated and employment be created for our teeming unemployed youths. Barrister Abdullahi also said that the training workshop would help to increase the awareness of IPRs amongst the Researchers, increase their knowledge on the role of intellectual property as well as acquaint them with international best practices and methodologies for developing bankable research proposal.
He further said technology and Intellectual Property Systems had long been recognised to be among the foremost important factors in Nation building and wealth creation.
He said: “Ideas and knowledge are increasingly becoming important factors in international trade relations as codified in the trade related aspects of intellectual property (TRIPS) under the World Trade Organization(WTO) agreement’’.
Barrister Abdullahi highlighted the role of intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in knowledge transfer and commercialization which he said was very low among Nigerian researchers.
Earlier, the Director General of NOTAP Dr. Danazumi Mohammed Ibrahim said that 90% of technologies powering Nigerian economy both in manufacturing were imported.
He added that a nation that is striving to become economically dependent should not allow this to continue.
