FG vows to facilitate commercialisation of research works
Omeiza Bilal
The federal government has said it would work closely with indigenous researchers to help them commercialise their works.
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Mr. Uche Nnaji, stated this at a one-day sensitisation workshop for researchers and innovators organised by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) in Abuja.
“On our part, the ministry will continue to provide the necessary support to National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) to ensure the achievement of facilitating the commercialisation of research results.”
The workshop, he said, is a proof of NOTAP’s commitment to sustain the drive for research commercialization and national development anchored on a robust Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) platform.
According to Nnaji, NOTAP, has long been at the forefront of driving national initiatives to regulate foreign technology inflow, developing technology acquisition, adaptation, domestication of strategies and promoting indigenous technological activities.
He acknowledged that it is well-known that the Nigerian STI landscape is quantitatively rich with several documented research activities and results, adding that Nigeria has many knowledge institutions, including 272 universities, 108 polytechnics, 235 Colleges of Education, several research institutes and unquantifiable numbers of private researchers, innovators and inventors.
The vast resource base according to him, is known for regularly producing so many research results, adding that the continent’s publishing landscape showed that Nigeria is only second to South Africa in the number of research papers published in peer-reviewed journals.
Nnaji urged stakeholders in the research commercialisation value chain to see the present societal needs as a call to action.
“Relevant stakeholders should take every necessary step to ensure that the research results from the vast knowledge base of the country are effectively commercialized,” he said.
The Acting Director-General, NOTAP, Dr. Theresa Imiyoho, said the presence of researchers, inventors and innovators at the workshop showed their desire for national development.
Imiyoho said the workshop was organised to sustain advocacy among stakeholders on the need to go beyond the conventional practice of churning out research results without completing the cycle leading to successful commercialisation.
“This programme is organised by NOTAP to ensure that Nigerian inventors and innovators exploit the financial benefits of their research result,’’ she said.
“This workshop is aimed at ensuring sustainability in the discourse on effective commercialisation of research results with the key stakeholders in the Science Technology Innovation (STI) ecosystem.’’
“Inventions are products of research; therefore, Nigerian researchers should take up market and demand-driven research and translate into goods and services for the benefit of the country,’’ she said.
