50 Nigerian scientists, investors patented under Buhari’s govt —NOTAP

THE Director-General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Engineer Ibrahim Danazumi, has said that about 50 intellectual properties of Nigerian scientists and investors have been patented under President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.

He made this known in his office in Abuja, while hosting a Nigerian scientist, Michael Friday, who came up with an invention aimed at relieving subscribers of telecommunications services from buying recharge cards.

He said: “In 2015, we had only six patented technologies in Nigeria. In 2016, the number moved to 16, and we went to 50 in 2017. People now appreciate the need to protect intellectual property.”

Danazumi added that it was unfortunate that more than 90 per cent of the technology in areas such as the Information and Telecommunication Technology (ICT), transportation, automobile and electronic sectors powered in the Nigerian economy was imported.

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NOTAP is one of the agencies under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.

Earlier, Mr Friday reiterated his commitment to freeing the country from over-dependence on highly expensive imported telecom services.

He said: “The source of the Internet that we are all depending on is also in their (foreign) hands.  Even our telecommunications companies are all hanging on their necks. If you want to manufacture a mobile phone now, till you buy the operating system chips and insert it on your system, it can never access any of these technologies- WIFI, bluetooth that you see on mobile phone today, they are small minute ICs that are all embedded in the PCV that makes it work.”

Friday recalled the frustrations he went through to draw government attention to his inventions, saying he would require financial grants so that Nigerians could benefit from his inventions.

It will be recalled that Friday has developed, re-designed and invented more than 15 products which include the newly lunched corporate computing system, fuel-less generator rating about 500 KVA, a fuel-less car with recyclable energy, a mobile and smallest scanner, photocopier sizing only 3.5 inch and finger swap access security device for all computer users, eco tricycle that generates its energy and gives energy for other usage.

He is a global award winner for developing the smallest storage micro chip of the year 2009 at a global science competition held in china emerging the overall best scientist of the year 2009.