The first lady of Kaduna State, Mrs Asia Ahmad El-Rufai has called for public and private partnerships for the promotion of innovation, creativity and investments in intellectual Property (IP) in Kaduna state, especially in the area of balancing gender involvement The wife of the state governor made this call at a seminar organised by the intellectual property committee of the Nigerian Bar association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) in Kaduna on Thursday, where she also called for sustainable sensitization of the general public on the challenges, expectations and benefits of a proactive IP regime and the revamping and remodeling of our educational curriculum. She said, “We need to think out of the box in formulating policies, also taking into consideration our areas of strength and our peculiarities.” Asia El Rufai further called for the teaching of sciences in local languages to solve the mother tongue language barrier issues. The event hosted by the NBA-SBL Intellectual Property Committee, saw the gathering of eminent and celebrated IP minds at the seminar which had two sessions with two significant themes – ‘Securing Nigeria’s Future Through Innovation and Creativity’, and ‘Powering Change: Women in Innovation and Creativity’. In his welcome address, the Chairman of the IP Committee, Mr. Afam Nwokedi welcomed participants and called on stakeholders to join in the very useful and imperative discussions needed to draw a road map for actualizing the formulation of an IP policy in Nigeria. He noted that as IP was an essential ingredient in any form of development that Nigeria would seek, it was necessary to get it right from the beginning. Nwokedi advocated for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in the intellectual space to encourage diversity of thoughts and cross-pollination of ideas. He said “the expectations on Nigeria to meet up with what is considered as international best practices in the field of IP must not overshadow our national interest and quest to join the comity of developed nations.” Buttressing this position, the Chairman of the NBA-SBL, Olumide Akpata, informed participants at the event that the NBA-SBL had undertaken the task of developing capacity and growth in the legal profession through its various committees. “To this end” he said, “The SBL is partnering with relevant institutions to formulate curriculums. The process of knowledge acquisition being continuous, the Section will churn out more thought-provoking platforms to assist in the drive for knowledge acquisition, not only amongst qualified lawyers, but potential law graduates.” According to him, it is in the light of these objectives that the SBL has commenced the creation of SBL Clubs in universities in Nigeria. “Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria is the second beneficiary of the initiative, other will follows shortly,” the NBA-SBL Chairman said, stating further that there was need to train lawyers to understand the dynamics of modern developmental requirements, otherwise such expertise will be sourced offshore. Following a successful inauguration of the ‘SBL CLUB’ at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria on Wednesday April 25, 2018, the Council of the Nigerian Bar Association Section On Business Law (NBA-SBL), led by its Intellectual Property (IP) Committee had moved to Kaduna to mark this year’s World Intellectual Property Day. The Attorney General of Kaduna State, Umma Hikima thanked the NBA-SBL and its IP Committee for choosing Kaduna State as a seat of celebration for this year’s World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) – induced celebration. She said that Kaduna state was working assiduously towards placing the state in the forefront of benefiting from the implementations of the various treaty obligations that Nigeria has entered into in the IP space. The keynote speakers listed out the challenges bedeviling Nigeria’s IP landscape and proffered solutions to address them. Dr. U. B. Bindir advocated for the restructuring of our educational curriculum, the inculcation of research and development as a veritable instrument for development and the creation of IP investment funds to assist inventors, innovators and creatives. Using scientific analysis, Dr. Bindir was of the opinion that at Nigeria’s current developmental state, the full actualisation of the vision 2020 target was impracticable. He compared the trajectory of the lower quarter of the list of the top 20 world economies and said it was practically unrealistic for Nigeria to achieve the target of been on the eminent list within a space of less than 2 years. He said the was need for us to readjust our expectations and be pragmatic in our ways. The panelists which included, Dr. Musa Waziri of University of Abuja, Mrs. Nima Salman, the former Registrar of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, Mrs. Chiaka Okoye, the Special Advisor to the Minister of Trade and Investment and Dr. Zainab Haruna of ABU. Dr. Waziri and Mrs. Salman called on the government to play an active role in the development of intellectual property knowledge and practice through various funding initiatives. Mrs. Salman held the view that the level of resources allocated to the IP sectors in general reflected the lack of recognition of the inherent potentials of the sector to the national economy, while Dr. Haruna and Mrs. Okoye were of the view that the potentials of “women” to the development of the national economy cannot be overstated. The Nigerian Bar association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) has been widely applauded for its innovative and qualitative programs introduced in the course of prosecuting its core mandate, which is to raise the standard of commercial law practice in Nigeria. The ‘SBL Club’ is part of the objectives of the Section to build capacity and to promote the development of commercial law practice in Nigeria. The initiative is expected to turn the tide and guarantee a great future for the NBA and the Legal Profession in Nigeria. In the same light, the Section’s Merger, Acquisition and Corporate Reorganisation Committee (M&A Committee) will on Wednesday May 3rd, 2018 hold a one-day seminar themed ‘Recurring Issues in Mergers & Acquisitions in Nigeria’. Participants at this event will attempt a general overview of the M&A space in Nigeria; as well as discuss current developments in mergers; acquisition structures and regulatory challenges.]]>

"Exciting news! TheNigeriaLawyer is now on WhatsApp Channels 🚀 Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest legal insights!" Click here! ....................................................................................................................... Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material and other digital content on this website, in whole or in part, without express and written permission from TheNigeriaLawyer, is strictly prohibited _________________________________________________________________ [Register Now] ILA Nigeria Branch Marks 10 Years With Infrastructure Financing As Theme For 7th Annual Conference The International Law Association - Nigeria Branch 7th annual conference on public-private partnerships for sustainable infrastructure financing, April 4-5 in Abuja. Details: https://ilanigeria.org.ng/conference _________________________________________________________________

NIALS' Compendia Series: Your One-Stop Solution For Navigating Nigerian Laws (2004-2023)

Email: info@nials.edu.ng, tugomak@yahoo.co.uk, Contact: For Inquiry and information, kindly contact, NIALS Director of Marketing: +2348074128732, +2348100363602.