The director general of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dan-Azumi Ibrahim, said that the incidences of capital flight through technology have been reduced dramatically.

He said the agency was able to achieve this through its refusal to approve the importation of technology services that could be provided by Nigerian technologists.

Speaking during an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ibrahim said that most Nigerian businessmen are in the habit of awarding contracts that could be executed by Nigerians to foreigners, which has led to capital flight. He said the agency.

Highlighting various interventions by the agency in the fight against capital flight, Ibrahim said:

  • “Most of the time, when Nigerian businessmen sign a technology transfer agreement with their foreign counterparts, the agreements are written in such a way that Nigerian contractors, technologists and service providers do not benefit.
  • “Rather, expatriates will be deployed to execute jobs that Nigerian technologists are competent enough to handle.
  • “Through NOTAP interventions, such agreements do not pass unless they are redrafted to take care of indigenous technologists and skills.”

Ibrahim said these measures were taken to ensure the acceleration of Nigeria’s technological revolution by fostering local technology and stopping capital flight.

He added that for NOTAP to bridge the gap between academia and industry, it had established more than 60 Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Offices (IPTTOs) in the country’s higher education institutions.

  • According to him, by establishing IPTTO in Nigerian knowledge institutions, NOTAP had saved Nigeria many billions of Naira over the past 10 years in capital flight,” said the Director General.
  • Ibrahim said that one of NOTAP’s missions was to promote original qualitative research through awareness-raising and foster strong collaborations between universities and industry through the establishment of IPTTO.
  • He added that the establishment of IPTTO was aimed at providing patent registration, promoting sound patent policy, and driving the commercialization of patent products and innovations for sound financial rewards.