The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has urged the Oyo State Government to make relevant policy pronouncements against the incidence of piracy and take practical measures to protect the huge intellectual investments in the state to boost creativity and grow the economy.
Director-General, NCC, Dr. John O. Asein made this call on Monday 19th September 2022 during a courtesy visit by the Director-General of Oyo State Liaison Office (OSLO), Abuja, Hon. Wale Ajani, to the NCC Headquarters, Abuja.
Dr. Asein stated that Ibadan .the Oyo State Capital, was supposed to be the headquarters of educational publishing in Nigeria with many domiciled publishing companies. He said a deliberate policy pronouncement against piracy as a show of political support for the publishing industry, would go a long way to address the activities of book pirates.
This he, noted, would engender the support of publishers for the State Government, drive more traffic to the sector to the boost the revenue base of the publishing industry in the State, promote the culture of respect for copyright and also protect the book culture.
Dr. Asein added that Oyo State as a pacesetter State with many tertiary institutions and research institutes could blaze the trail in this direction for other State Governments to follow suit.
He observed that the cultural space in the State could be reawakened with the rich cultural festivals while the serene atmosphere in the State could be exploited for shooting films to grow the creative sector. “These and a lot of technical support and policies can be leveraged on to grow the economy of the State”, he added.
Director-General, OSLO, Abuja, Hon. Wale Ajani, in has address, extended the greetings and goodwill of the Governor f Oyo State, Mr. Seyi Makinde to the Commission. He said the courtesy visit became imperative in view of the cardinal objective of Governor Makinde’s administration which focused on development.
He noted that this called for synergy with the Commission in order to explore how indigenes of the State could benefit from the mandate of the Commission to attract development to the State in view of the milestones achieved the Commission in recent times.
The DG, NCC, expressing his appreciation for the visit ,said it was a pleasant thing for the State Government reaching out to the NCC. “It takes a deep understanding and commitment to the growth of the knowledge economy to make such a move”, he added.
Dr. Asein noted that although Copyright was under the control of the Federal Government, policy decisions and partnership were key to the State achieving a lot in the creative sector.
He observed that the Commission has been in the State close to two decades and has already commenced Copyright and Creative Clubs in Schools to explore talents. He added, “this can be introduced as a broad project in the State while other projects can follow suit.” He tasked the DG, OSLO, Abuja on the need for partnership to sustain the growth index and development.
Mr. Ajani affirmed the need for the policy and assured the DG, NCC of facilitating his visit to the State Governor in order to cement the interface to add more vale to the State from the creative sector.
Others in attendance from the NCC were the Director, Administration, Dr. Idowu Ogunkuade; and Director, Operations, Mr. Obi Ezeilo; and from OSLO, Abuja were the Director, Administration, Ms. Ladipo Omodasola and Special Adviser, Northern Region, Ms. Dooshima Aneih.
Amos Abutu
For: Director-General
