Secondary and vocational school students, alongside members of the Association of Nigerian Inventors (ANI) and the Association of Researchers and Inventors Network (ARIN), will once again take centre stage this year as Nigeria joins other African nations in commemorating the African Day for Technology and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), observed annually on September 13.
This year’s edition carries added weight: its interactive component, featuring inventors, innovators, and researchers, will be folded into the 2026 National Technology and Innovation Summit (NTIS 2.0), scheduled for October 7-8 in Ikeja, Lagos, giving young Nigerian talent a bigger stage than in previous years.
The Director General and CEO of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dr. Obiageli Edith Amadiobi, said the exhibitions are designed to explore the intellectual potential of Nigerian youths and demonstrate the value the country places on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) as a driver of national development.
In a press release issued through NOTAP’s Public Relations Office, headed by Mr. Raymond Ogbu, Amadiobi described the day as a milestone on Africa’s road to technological development.
The commemoration traces back to a 1999 resolution adopted in Addis Ababa by the then Organization of African Unity (now the African Union), aimed at awakening the creative and inventive spirit of researchers and entrepreneurs across the continent, strengthening IPR systems, and using innovation as a tool against poverty.
Nigeria carries out this mandate through NOTAP, an agency under the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.
Beyond the annual exhibitions, the agency has built out supporting infrastructure, including 69 Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Offices (IPTTOs) across Nigerian universities, polytechnics, and research institutions.
Other programs feeding into this pipeline include the NOTAP-Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship (NITTF), the NOTAP-Industry Research Laboratory Upgrade (NIRLUP), the Technology Story Board (TSB) initiative, and Project NOVA, a technology hub aimed at developing and scaling the expertise of Nigerian youths across sectors.
Amadiobi noted that the quality of prototypes displayed by young Nigerian innovators at past editions of Africa Day gives reason to believe the country can eventually join the ranks of industrialized nations — but only, she stressed, with sustained backing.
She called for adequate budgetary allocation to NOTAP and the Ministry, arguing that consistent funding is what will allow researchers and inventors to carry their ideas beyond the prototype stage.