The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dr. Obiageli Edith Amadiobi, has said Africa’s quest for technological independence will remain elusive unless countries across the continent deliberately promote innovation, protect intellectual property and domesticate technology.
Amadiobi said the annual commemoration of the African Day for Technology and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) provides an important platform for awakening the creative and inventive potential of African researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs, while accelerating the continent’s technological development.
In a statement issued by NOTAP’s Public Relations Officer, Raymond Ogbu, the Director-General said the commemoration, observed annually on September 13, followed a resolution adopted by the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU), Council of Ministers and Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in July 1999.
She explained that the initiative was established to sensitise African countries to the importance of technology, promote its domestication, strengthen intellectual property rights systems and harness the creative abilities of Africans to tackle poverty and drive sustainable development.
Amadiobi said the Federal Government, recognising the importance of the initiative, had mandated NOTAP to commemorate the day on its behalf.
“Since receiving this mandate, Nigeria has joined other African nations in celebrating the event through exhibitions of scientific innovations by selected secondary and vocational schools across the Federal Capital Territory, as well as members of the Association of Nigerian Inventors (ANI) and the Association of Researchers and Inventors Network (ARIN).
“This initiative is designed to explore and develop the huge intellectual potential of Nigerian youths, inventors/innovators and to demonstrate the value that Nigeria and other African nations place on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) as a panacea for national development,” she said.
The NOTAP boss said Africa must place science, technology and innovation at the centre of its development agenda, particularly as knowledge continues to drive economic growth in the 21st century.
She described the decision by African leaders to establish a day dedicated to recognising the role of technology and intellectual property in achieving sustainable development as a positive step.
“With the increasing importance of knowledge as the main engine of growth in the 21st century, the decision by African leaders to declare a Day for the commemoration of the role of Technology and Intellectual Property in achieving sustainable development on the African continent is a positive stride,” she said.
Amadiobi said the Federal Government, through NOTAP under the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, had demonstrated its commitment to technology acquisition and development, as well as the protection of intellectual property belonging to entrepreneurs, researchers and inventors.
According to her, 69 Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Offices (IPTTOs) have been established in selected universities, polytechnics and research institutions across the country.
She also listed other initiatives, including the NOTAP-Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship (NITTF), NOTAP-Industry Research Laboratory Upgrade (NIRLUP), Technology Story Board (TSB) and Project NOVA.
Project NOVA is a technology hub initiative designed to develop, scale and outsource the expertise of Nigerian youths across different sectors of the economy.
Amadiobi disclosed that the interactive component of this year’s Africa Day commemoration, involving inventors, innovators and researchers, would form a key part of the 2026 National Technology and Innovation Summit (NTIS 2.0), scheduled to hold on October 7 and 8 in Ikeja, Lagos.
She expressed optimism that Nigeria could emerge as an industrialised nation if the innovative potential of its youths, researchers and inventors was adequately harnessed.
“It is instructive to note that countries that have made a mark in science and technology development started with a single step.
“Against this backdrop, with the quality of the prototypes exhibited by Nigerian youths, inventors, researchers and innovators at previous celebrations, we have every reason to hope that Nigeria will soon join the league of industrialised nations,” she said.
However, the NOTAP Director-General called for adequate budgetary provision for the agency and the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology to enable them to provide sustained support for researchers and innovators.
“What is required is the sustained support of this event through adequate budgetary allocation to NOTAP and the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, so that researchers and innovators can be encouraged to further develop their inventions,” Amadiobi said.
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