NOTAP Moves to Turn Nigerian Research into Wealth, Partners NUJ to Drive Innovation Agenda

By: Michael Mike

In a major push to unlock the economic value of scientific research and reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported technologies, the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has unveiled plans to commercialise research findings from Nigerian universities and research institutions through strategic partnerships with investors and industry players, a move expected to boost government revenue, create jobs and accelerate industrial development.

The Director-General of NOTAP, Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, disclosed the initiative while receiving the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), FCT Council, during a courtesy visit to the agency’s headquarters in Abuja, where both organisations agreed to collaborate in promoting indigenous innovation, technology transfer and intellectual property awareness.

At the heart of the initiative is the National Technology and Innovation Summit, scheduled for October 7 and 8, 2026, at the Civic Centre, Lagos. The summit will convene researchers, innovators, manufacturers, investors, financial institutions and the Bank of Industry to facilitate the commercialisation of research outputs through strategic matchmaking.

Amadiobi said the initiative is designed to bridge the long-standing gap between research laboratories and the marketplace by connecting innovators with investors capable of transforming scientific discoveries into commercially viable products and services.

She noted that although Nigerian universities and research institutes have produced numerous groundbreaking innovations over the years, many have remained on the shelves because of inadequate funding, weak industry linkages and the absence of effective commercialisation mechanisms.

According to her, NOTAP is determined to reverse that trend by ensuring that locally developed technologies attract investment, reach the market and contribute meaningfully to national economic growth.

She explained that the initiative aligns with the agency’s statutory mandate of promoting technology acquisition, encouraging indigenous innovation and facilitating technology transfer capable of enhancing Nigeria’s industrial competitiveness while generating employment and increasing national revenue.

The Director-General stressed that journalists have a crucial role to play in advancing Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem through accurate and sustained reporting of science, technology and innovation.

She also highlighted NOTAP’s efforts to domesticate and adapt imported technologies to suit Nigeria’s development needs, arguing that the country must build sufficient local expertise to understand, improve and eventually develop its own technologies.

Amadiobi lamented that Nigeria had for decades served as a dumping ground for foreign technologies because of weak indigenous capacity but said the agency’s Local Vendor Policy has begun to change the narrative, particularly in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.

She explained that the policy requires Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to invest in local capacity development by training Nigerians, a strategy that has produced a growing pool of indigenous software developers and ICT professionals now making significant contributions both within Nigeria and internationally.

Building on that success, she said NOTAP intends to replicate similar technology transfer models across manufacturing, engineering and other strategic sectors of the economy.

The Director-General further disclosed that the agency is developing a Technology and Innovation Hub that will provide practical demonstrations of emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), making technology education more interactive while strengthening Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem.

She added that NOTAP is already partnering with leading technology firms such as Huawei, MTN and Airtel to build the technical capacity of its workforce and improve Nigeria’s ability to evaluate and domesticate imported technologies.

As part of efforts to tackle youth unemployment, Amadiobi unveiled the National Outsourcing Value Acceleration (NOVA) Programme, an initiative aimed at equipping young Nigerians with industry-ready skills through simulation-based training before exposing them to practical experience in sectors including engineering, manufacturing and maritime.

She said the programme is expected to bridge the country’s skills deficit while positioning Nigerian youths to compete for employment opportunities in both local and global markets.

The Director-General also revealed that several state governments, including Niger State, have expressed interest in partnering with NOTAP to establish innovation centres that will promote technology development and entrepreneurship at the sub-national level.

Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the NUJ FCT Council, Comrade Grace Ike, described NOTAP as one of Nigeria’s most strategic institutions in the areas of technology acquisition, intellectual property protection and innovation development.

She said stronger collaboration between the media and technology institutions would help build public confidence in Nigerian innovations and improve awareness of government policies designed to promote research commercialisation and technology transfer.

According to Ike, journalists have a responsibility not only to report technological breakthroughs but also to explain their relevance to national development and economic transformation.

She proposed regular capacity-building programmes for journalists covering science, technology and innovation, as well as joint public enlightenment campaigns on intellectual property rights, patents, technology transfer and research commercialisation targeted at researchers, innovators, startups and technology entrepreneurs.

Nigeria invests billions of naira annually in research through universities, polytechnics and government-funded research institutes. However, experts have long argued that the country derives limited economic benefits from these investments because only a small fraction of research outputs are successfully commercialised.

NOTAP, established to regulate technology transfer agreements and promote indigenous technological capacity, has increasingly shifted its focus towards ensuring that innovations developed by Nigerian researchers are transformed into marketable products capable of creating wealth, generating employment and reducing dependence on imported technologies.

Analysts believe that if effectively implemented, the agency’s commercialisation strategy could help unlock the enormous economic potential of Nigeria’s research sector, strengthen local manufacturing and support the Federal Government’s drive towards a knowledge-based economy.

NOTAP Moves to Turn Nigerian Research into Wealth, Partners NUJ to Drive Innovation Agenda