The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said the recently inaugurated National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy (NIPSS) committee and inter-agency coordination group would establish the country’s intellectual property landscape as a globally competitive asset.

Launched last month in Lagos, the minister said the government is moving from policy formulation to active and immediate execution and implementation.

Speaking at the formal inauguration at the weekend, she noted that over the past five years, the ministry has undertaken a rigorous, inclusive process to audit its intellectual property ecosystem, ensuring that national priorities align with evolving continental and global intellectual property frameworks.

“It is up to us now to drive swift institutional reforms and deliver tangible benefits to Nigerian innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, creators, farmers and businesses,” she said.

Structured around specific programmes and projects, she noted that the policy was sequenced across short, medium and long-term horizons with five key priority areas, including legal and regulatory reform.

This covers patent review, designs and trademarks legislation. It also covers the development of new frameworks for trade secrets, geographical indications and traditional medical knowledge, she said.

“Second area is institutional modernisation, particularly automation of IP registration systems, strengthening of examination and technical capacity across registries, operationalisation of the Plant Variety Protection Office and development of a roadmap toward an integrated Nigerian Intellectual Property Commission.

“Third area is commercialisation and technology transfer, through a National IP commercialisation framework, strengthened technology transfer offices, structured industry–academia linkages, IP valuation mechanisms and support for MSMEs and startups to validate and scale innovations.

“The fourth area is sector-specific interventions, including strengthening of the Nigerian Copyright Academy, improved enforcement coordination, capacity-building for collective management organisations, sub-national creative economy frameworks and commercialisation pathways for agricultural innovations and traditional knowledge.

“The fifth will cover awareness, capacity and sustainable financing, through nationwide IP awareness programmes, public-private partnerships, training for judges and enforcement agencies and mobilisation of development finance and alternative funding mechanisms,” she said.

Noting that delivering these reforms requires alignment across multiple Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) whose mandates intersect across innovation, trade, justice, agriculture, education, digital economy and creative industries in a bid to ensure coherence, discipline and accountability in execution.

Oduwole said the Inter-Agency Coordination Group (IACG)will harmonise agency workplans and timelines with the National IP Implementation Roadmap; coordinate technical inputs on legislation, digitisation, institutional reform, enforcement, commercialisation, awareness, and capacity-building; track agency-level deliverables and milestones; prepare consolidated technical progress reports and support monitoring, evaluation and stakeholders engagement.

She said the policy will ensure Nigerian ideas become Nigerian enterprises; research translates into industry; creative work is protected and monetised and innovation supports trade, exports and competitiveness.

“Our goal is that the work we begin today will gradually translate into regulatory reforms, strengthened digital systems, improved enforcement, and meaningful commercialisation outcomes. With the policy phase now complete, our collective focus turns to delivering the economic phase,” she said.