Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
In a bid to take science, technology and innovation‎ closer to the people in the six geo-political zones, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu has disclosed that the next edition ‎of the expo would be staged in the south-east part of the country.
The minister made this disclosure while declaring close the 2018 edition of the expo.‎ He said in the last two years, between 2015 and 2017, there has been a remarkable improvement in the level of innovation in Nigeria, adding that in 2015, there were only six patents for research findings in the country.
Onu said barely a year later in 2016, the number increased to 16, and by the end of last year 2017, it again rose significantly to 50, adding that it shows a phenomenal appreciation of the role of innovation in nation building for the benefit of the people.
The minister revealed the within the period of January and February 2018, a total number of 20 patents were processed through the National Office for Technological Acquisition (NOTAP).
To build on this success therefore, Onu stressed: “In this regard, we intend to take the event closer to the people in the six-geo political zones of our beloved country. It is proposed that beginning from next year, the south-east will host the expo at a venue yet to be determined later. It will then move from one geo-political zone to the other.”‎
Similarly, the Director General of NOTAP, Ibrahim Dan Azumi said‎ the level of awareness of the expo was increasing drastically, describing it as an improvement on last year’s edition.
He said; “Traditionally, we use to have individual organisations holding its own fair. But when the minister came on board, he said as a science and technology family, he said we need to come together and hold one every year. This expo is a combination of effort from the science and technology family. The one we had last her was very good too, but this one is much better. it is a significant improvement.”
Azumi added that, “the patents given today are 20 but symbolically we presented seven. These patents were expected to be presented on NOTAP’S day but the minister said because of the importance of patent in commercialisation of research and development, he said it should be presented at the closing ceremony. We presented 20 patents cutting across universities, research and establishments and individual.â€
He said the first stage towards commercialisation of research and development is to protect the intellectual property, stressing that, “it is like if you have a land that does not have a Certificate of Occupancy, anybody can encroach on that, so also is your mental activity. Patenting any technological development is the first phase to have the ownership of that technology and no investor will come and put his money into any technology that is not patented, because another person may take the technology and make money out of it.”
