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.
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.