The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Thursday, in Abuja, presented patent certificates to 19 researchers across Nigeria.
The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Adeleke Mamora, who presented the certificates to the beneficiaries, described the event as a boost to research, industrialisation and development in the country.
He praised NOTAP for delivering on its mandate by providing an efficient process for the acquisition and domestication of foreign technologies.
The minister urged the beneficiaries to create an impact for the FG’s Economic sustainability plan where researches were translated to production activities and create jobs for youth.
“Nigerian innovators, researchers and scientists should improve on their ability to protect their intellectual properties through the help of NOTAP.
”The recipients should make more efforts to move their Research and Development results to be available in the market, which would boost the nation’s overall socio-economic fortunes,” he said.
Mamora added that for any economy to strengthen its intellectual properties, it must increase its investment in Research and Development (R&D).
He called for improved partnership between the private sector and research communities to reduce the nation’s dependence on oil.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Director-General of NOTAP, Dr. DanAzumi Ibrahim, said, ”for any economy to become independent, there is the need for capacity building.
The D-G added that no nation that was aspiring to become economically independent would fold its arms and allow its economy to collapse.
He also said that more than 90 per cent of the technologies that powered the Nigerian economy were imported technologies.
Adding, Ibrahim said that the private sector and research communities have responsibilities to come together to see how the country can grow into economic prosperity.
