THE Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has reaffirmed its commitment to empowerment of talented Nigerian youths through adequate protection of their copyright.
Director-General of NCC, Dr. John O. Asein gave the assurance while speaking at a panel discussion with the theme ; ‘Making Nigerian Intellectual Property Infrastructure Work For Innovative Nigerian Youth,’ during an IP symposium organised by the Embassy of the United States of America in commemoration of World Intellectual Property Day from 25th to 26th April 2022, at the Sheraton Hotel, Lagos.
While calling for strengthened collaborations and enforcement of laws to adequately protect young creatives in Nigeria, to foster economic development, the NCC Director-General stressed the need to protect young people because they were key drivers in the knowledge and technology-driven space.
According to him, “It is the responsibility of relevant agencies and stakeholders to ensure that IPR legal frameworks were put in place to protect creatives. We have come to realise that young people have the energy, talent and what it takes to grow and help Nigeria be a better country. The NCC and other relevant agencies responsible for growing and protecting intellectual property will be more available to support the use of their talent.”
He added that the Commission, under its hashtag #TalktoNCC, would continue to engage with the youths and provide road maps to harness Intellectual Property (IP) for wealth creation, job opportunities and development of Nigeria.
Dr Asein also disclosed that the NCC had been collaborating with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), to ensure pirated books do not go through the border.
“The IP ecosystem has many stakeholders. We also have law enforcement agencies who collaborate to ensure we have effective enforcement. For border control, we have the Nigerian Customs Service NCS and they have been working well with the NCC to ensure pirated books do not go through our border. Food and drugs also carry trademarks which is a type of intellectual property. In this regard, NAFDAC also has a role to play in fighting counterfeits,” he said.
The NCC Director-General further expressed optimism that the new copyright law would strengthen the enforcement and regulatory mandate of the Commission so that creatives would get more value for their work.
On his part, the Director, Investigation and Enforcement, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mr. Kingsley Ejiofor, said the agency was also concerned with safeguarding the intellectual property of health-related products by enforcing the law.
According to him, Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) were beyond the copyright of literary works to include trademarks such as brand names, product designs and packaging.
“When a product is registered and branded, there is IPR involved and people should be able to benefit from their intellectual property without infringement. At NAFDAC, before we register a product, we request proof of trademark because we found out that people copy other people’s brands. Our enforcement activities are also targeted at counterfeiters who ride on other people’s brands for financial gains without regard to the safety of lives”, he said.
He urged creators to register their brands with the Patents And Trademarks Office so that the law could protect them when a violation of IPR occurred.
In his remarks, Justice Ayokunle Faji said that the Nigerian society was not dealing with IPR issues seriously due to a lack of adequate knowledge within the society and legal system.
According to him, the courts were not well-equipped for IPR cases “because there are few lawyers specialising in IPR issues and even fewer judges”.
He concluded that there must be conscious efforts at creating specialised alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practitioners “who are knowledgeable in IP law and practice”.

Olumide Oduntan,
Assistant Director Public Affairs.