Paul I. Ojeogwu and I.M. Nwaedozie
24 September 2001
Soon after the Abuja statement, African Ministers responsible for the application of technology to development met in Arusha, Tanzania, in July 1987 and came up with Kilimanjaro Declaration.
This declaration again highlights the problem of low utilisation of science and Technology, which leads to Africa's woes and proclaims "we are convinced that only a greater mastery of Science and Technology and a national use of the fruits of the social and human sciences can lead to genuine and lasting solutions to the fundamental problems of socio-economic development in Africa." The Khartoum Declaration in March 1988 also emphasised that "grater emphasis should be placed on improvements in the teaching of Science and Technology in African countries and more effective mechanisms should be evolved for the dissemination of the results of scientific and technological research for purposes of application and development."
The Addis Ababa Declaration in July 1998 says "Aware of the considerable impact of the progress made in the field of science and technology and aware of the challenges facing our continent, we are determined to promote the development of science and technology and to share our experiences in this areas so as to meet these challenges." To realise their dreams, specialised regional scientific organisations and centres have been set up under the joint sponsorship of UN Economic Commission for Africa and the Organisation of Africa Unity. These are: The African Regional Standards Organisation (ARSO); The African Regional Centre for Technology (ARCT); The African Regional Centre for Engineering Designs and Manufacturing (ARCEDEM); the African Regional Remote Sensing Council (ARRSC); The African Regional Industrial Property Organisation (ARIPO).
All these high-level declarations and statements at the African regional level confirm the fact that there has been a growing awareness of the role of science and technology as an essential tool for socio-economic development.
Regrettably these policy declarations are yet to be translated into concrete plans, programmes and projects that will have the necessary impact on African people. Presently, the African countries invest below on (1%) per cent of their GDP on Science and Technology despite their commitment to the Lagos Plan of Action to achieve by 1990 a level of financing of Science and Technology to the tune of one per cent of their GDP. African countries depend almost entirely on Europe, U.S. A. and Asia for their technology needs. A living illustration of this is borne out of the statement of the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr. Jackson Gaius-Obaseki, who stated in a recently concluded two-day national workshop on the "Improvement of the Local Content and Indigenous Participation in the Upstream Sector of the Petroleum Industry" that "out of the US$5.5 billion budgeted annually in the industry, over 90% of the amount (equivalent of N500 billion or $4.95 billion) is spent on technical services and goods procured outside Nigeria." Indigenous patent registration is very low. In Nigeria the first ever-local patent was registered only in 1989. Infact data available on registered patents in Nigeria indicate that between 1975 200, of the 6,099 patents registered in Nigeria, only 347 representing 6% were indigenously generated. The situation is the same in other African countries with the exception of South Africa. The implication of this pathetic picture is that creative, inventive and innovative culture is currently very low in Africa. The situation requires urgent attention bearing in mind the developmental challenges facing the continent.
Nigeria Experience Nigeria's efforts at the promotion of technology and Intellectual Property Right (IPR) over the years may be discussed under the following headings: Institutional/Legal Framework Intellectual Property particularly Industrial Property has been with us for quite some time. Trade Mark, Patents and Industrial Design Laws were among the laws received from the English in 1900. They have undergone series of amendments since then. The current laws however, are the Trade Marks Act Ca. 436, and the Patent and Design Act Cap, 344 Laws of the Federation 1990. The Trademark Patent and Design registry, under the Federal Ministry of Commerce, is administering both laws. Copyright is governed y the Copyright law Cap 68 Laws of the Federation 1990 and is being administered by the Nigerian Copyright Commission under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Research and Development institutes Realising the importance of R & D and its technological development goals, Nigeria has established about 35 research institutes. Twenty of these are located within the ambit of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology whereas the remaining fifteen (15) are located in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. In terms of academic institutions, Nigeria can boast of twenty four (24) Federal Universities, Eleven (11) State Universities.
Three (3) private Universities, seventeen (17) Federal Polytechnics, twenty six (26) State Polytechnics and fifteen (15) Federal Technical Colleges. These institutions, in spite of poor funding and lack of adequate infrastructure, are beginning o come up with some R&D results that will be useful to our developmental needs.
Establishment of Science and Technology Ministry One of the major achievements of the 80s was the establishment of Ministry of Science and Technology. The Ministry has had a chequered history in that it was at one time scrapped, at another time it was merged and later demerged, but currently it maintains the status of a full fledged ministry.
Under the 4th National Development Plan (1981-1985) the responsibility of the Ministry included the formulation and implementation of the national policy on S&T, promotion of S&T research, liaison with universities and administration of technology transfer programmes. The Ministry is therefore to champion and spearhead the development, management and promotion of S&T in Nigeria.
NOTAP IPR Awareness Building Programme National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) through its Patent Information and Documentation Centre (PIDC) provides free technology information to the Nigerian public particularly to SMEs, entrepreneurs, industrialists, researchers patent agent/attorney etc. NOTAP organises awareness building programmes to sensitise and arouse the Nigerian Public to the usefulness and importance of technology information contained in patent documents, particularly the universities Polytechnics and Research Institutes. The impact of the programme has been rewarding and fruitful, as researchers have since been visiting the office to retrieve technology information on various research projects and some inventions been submitted for patenting. In addition to assisting inventors in the patenting of their inventions, NOTAP has also established and awarded prizes to the best inventor and innovators with the highest number of inventions in a year.
Conclusion In the unanimous declaration of the 13th of September every year as African Day for Technology and Intellectual Property, the African governments have demonstrated their recognition of the strategic role of Technology and IPR as a catalyst and in the promotion of National development. Although investment in Science and Technology have increased slightly since this declaration, it has neither matched the OAU target nor compared favourable with that of other developing countries. While institutional development in Nigeria is commendable it can only yield full benefit when finances for their operation are provided.
Paul I. Ojeogwu and I.M. Nwaedozie are of the National Office of Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Wuse, Zone 6, Abuja.
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