TETFUND GRANT: Federal Government charges Academics on protection of Intellectual property.
By Abubakar Baba Ahmad
The Federal Government has called on academics to ensure the protection of their Intellectual property from theft and other forms of plagiarism.
The Director General National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion NOTAP Dr Danazumi Ibrahim made the call while declaring open a five day Grants-Writing workshop for tertiary institutions in the Northeast subregion organised by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University ATBU and Tertiary Education Trust Fund TETFUND in Bauchi.
Dr Danazumi Ibrahim who said most academics publish their research findings on public domain without securing them thereby leading to Intellectual theft, disclosed that the office in the last five years saved over seventy nine billion naira from fake researches.
” You have come out with a result which was as a result of activity of your brain, if you don’t protect it-you just send it into public domain, somebody can take and make money out of it and you’ll be there with nothing. So if they come to us we assist them to protect that intellectual asset free of charge, he explained.”
He called on the participants to develop and update existing researches through additional intellectual inputs for the development of the country.
Earlier, the Chairman of the occasion and Vice Chancellor ATBU Bauchi Professor Muhammadu Ahmad Abdulazeez who commended TETFUND for salvaging tertiary institutions through research funding and infrastructure development, said the university has global standard facilities for cutting-edge research.
“The university through research and development is trying to develop a science park. We have also gotten a centre of excellence in addressing social standards and procurement issues in this country, he said”
“We are not unmindful of the successes the executive secretary TETFUND has recorded in his effort to achieve Nigeria’s dream of having National research and development Foundation, he said”
Also Speaking, the University’s Director of Research and Innovation Professor Fatima Sawa said the training which was conceived to turn around the abysmal performance of academics from the subregion through skills and knowledge has one hundred and fifty participants selected based on laid down criteria for application.
“We invited the heads of institutions here so that they would task their nominees when they go back to ensure that the needful is done, because we don’t want the participants to go back and keep their documents and when there’s call for research grants and we’re still receiving poor proposals, and also make them to train other members of the academic community, she argued.”
In Separate goodwill messages, the Emir of Bauchi Dr Rilwanu Sulaiman Adamu represented by Galadiman Bauchi, Surveyor Saidu Jahun, the State Commissioner of Natural Resources Nuruddeen Abdulhamid and representative of Security agencies Brigadier General Tuni Isa expressed hope that research findings from the workshop would be applied for the development of the state and the country in general.
In a vote of thanks, one of the facilitators Professor Wilfred Bacham who expressed gratitude to ATBU and TETFUND for the initiative, promised that the workshop will serve as the epicenter of research in the country.
“According his citadel of knowledge is going to produce outstanding researchers, I have seen it out of experience and I can tell how motivated the participants are and you have selected the best crops of academics to be here. I want to thank you very much for all that you are going and I know that these ambassadors whom we have now christened diplomats.”
The five day workshop drew participants from over thirty tertiary institutions across the northeast subregion.
