The Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, John Asein, has reiterated the need for every university to adopt an Intellectual Property policy to help maximise innovative and creative potential.
This was stated in a press release by the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Mrs Ijeoma Egbunike, on Monday in Abuja.
According to the release, the DG emphasised this point during a formal presentation of the revised Model Intellectual Property Policy to the General Assembly of the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities in Abuja on October 30, 2024.
Speaking at the presentation, the DG stated, “The Model Policy, which was developed by the Commission in collaboration with the CVCNU in 2021, has been reissued as part of the Commission’s renewed effort to promote its adoption and implementation.”
While expressing gratitude to the immediate past Secretary General of CVCNU for supporting the initiative and collaborating with the Commission to promote sustainable use and effective management of IP in Nigerian universities, the DG called on tertiary institutions, as centres of learning and research, to introduce their faculties and students to the subject of intellectual property in line with global trends, making Nigerian universities globally competitive.
The statement noted that, to this end, he assured Vice-Chancellors of the Commission’s readiness to assist in the development and implementation of their policies.
“The Commission will work with other agencies, including the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), to initiate an intellectual property ranking of universities and celebrate those excelling in the respect, generation, use, and commercialisation of IP,” the statement read.
The DG further encouraged universities to integrate the WIPO Distance Learning courses on IP, particularly the IP 101 course available online for free, into their General Studies programmes to provide students with basic IP knowledge relevant to their courses of study.
The release further added that, while receiving copies on behalf of Nigerian Vice-Chancellors, the Chair of CVCNU, Professor Lilian Salami (Vice-Chancellor, University of Benin), praised the collaborative efforts of the Commission and CVCNU in developing the Model IP Policy and assured the Director-General of CVCNU’s commitment to promoting a stronger IP culture in universities.
“The Model IP Policy was developed with input from a team of Nigerian experts, supported by the Nigerian University Commission (NUC), the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), and the National Office of Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP),” the statement disclosed.
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