Geoffrey Nnaji, the Minister of Innovation Science and Technology, said Nigeria can only derive maximum economic benefits from patents when translated into services for economic growth.

He stated this during his official presentation of patent certificates to researchers and inventors facilitated by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) in Abuja

The minister explained that since 2010 till date NOTAP has secured 340 parents for indigenous inventors and researchers. “I am reliably informed that from 2010 to date, NOTAP has been able to secure about 340 patent certificates for inventors and researchers of tertiary and research institutes and individuals.

“Let me also congratulate the recipient of these certificates facilitated by NOTAP. I equally wish to emphasise that this is just the first step in reaping the economic benefit of your inventions. The nation can only derive maximum benefit from your efforts, if your patents translate into products/services for economic growth.”

“Intellectual property in the form of technological innovation has today become the basis of international power structure. The speedy industrialisation of the country and its economic growth depend largely on the efforts of our researchers.” he emphasised

Earlier speaking, Dr. Oby Amadiobi, the Director General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), reaffirmed that the agency is committed to technology and innovation advancement in the country

She added that since inception, NOTAP has remained committed to this goal, and have successfully facilitated the issuance of over 340 patent certificates.

“Our intervention in this space is driven by a clear purpose; to reduce the financial burden on academicians and researchers so they can focus on the essential tasks of research and innovation.

“We recognize that the process of securing intellectual property rights can be costly and complex, and this often poses a significant challenge for many inventors, especially within the academic community.

So, stepping in to support this process through assisting in evaluation and drafting of patent applications, payment of necessary patenting fees, NOTAP ensures that our researchers can channel their energy and resources into creating solutions that address societal challenges and contribute to national development.

The DG celebrated the awardees, saying their creativity, resilience and commitment are shining examples of what is possible when talent meets opportunity.

NOTAP secured a total of 21 patent certificates for some individuals, groups and the academia, which they promise to monitor and commercialise their products or services to improve the nation’s economy.

One of the recipients, the founder of Horizon International University, Efon Alaaye, Ekiti State. Prof. Ajibade Abiodun who spoke, said they “patent owners” need protection because their inventions and Innovations will not be welcomed by market forces.

By Sola Odumosu

 History was made on the evening of Monday, January 27, in Lagos at the colourful Thisday Awards ceremony when serial digital entrepreneur, Leo Stan Ekeh, shared the same podium with his son, Prince Nnamdi Ekeh, as winners in different categories of the much-coveted awards. The awards commemorated the 30th and 12th anniversaries of Thisday Newspapers and Arise News, respectively.

While the father, who is the Chairman of Zinox Group, was honoured as CEO of the Year, his Oxford-trained son, Prince, the CEO of Konga Group, was decorated with the Young Global Leader Award for his transformative role in navigating Konga as a foremost composite e-commerce giant in Nigeria and Africa. It was historic, being the first time ever that a father and his son would be honoured on the same night in the nation’s Infotech ecosystem.

Who is This Prince?

Prince Ekeh was 19 and a student at University of Lancaster, United Kingdom, when he birthed the idea of Yudala, a brutally ambitious e-commerce outpost. Majoring in Economics/Politics with a minor in Entrepreneurship, young Ekeh was not going to leave the idea merely as a paper concept. He was in a hurry to birth it to life. And while back home to serve his fatherland under the auspices of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Yudala was born, becoming a place of activity employing over 250 staff at that time. And ever since, he has navigated the company to the crest of e-commerce players in Africa. He would later top up his academic kit with an MBA from Oxford and numerous entrepreneurial certifications from Lagos Business School, Leysin American School, Switzerland, and Harvard, among others.

Yudala was the first composite e-commerce outpost in Nigeria (a hybrid of the online-offline one-stop-shop). This idea has caught global attention and is now being replicated across the continent. Smart and endowed with bullish strength and uncommon intuition to sniff the next opportunity, Prince in 2018 achieved what many thought impossible. His start-up, Yudala, acquired Konga, a top player in Nigeria’s e-commerce space, in a landmark merger that became effective May 1, 2018. The young whiz has since expanded Konga to a leading e-commerce house in Africa, retaining the composite character of Yudala. He has creatively expanded the market share value and networth of Konga by building its business verticals to include logistics, fintech, travel, and leisure.

Young Prince Ekeh is not new to awards. He had been nominated for the prestigious Future Awards for Business Excellence, and featured as Top 100 Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) in response to the proclamation by United Nation’s General Assembly Resolution 68/237, and had been awarded Icon of Human Transformation by the National Association of Nigerian Students. The Thisday award is, therefore, another feather to the decorated cap of the savvy entrepreneur in a hurry to make his mark.

Leo Stan, a Peculiar Breed

His father, popularly called Leo Stan, was honoured with the CEO of the Year Award in the private sector, the only CEO in the highly competitive and sometimes treacherous private sector to be so honoured. The historical and symbolic moment was not lost on him. He recognised the honour of sharing the same platform with his son, both being rewarded for their peerless contribution to Nigeria, nay Africa, digital economy. It was a rarity, more so, as they shared the same podium with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was voted Thisday Man of the Year for his bold reforms and leadership exemplum on the African continent.

Leo Stan deserves the honour, and he has seen many in his over three decades of entrepreneurship and unrelenting promotion of digital democracy in Nigeria. It was no coincidence that when Thisday turned 30 years, it could not find any Nigerian more worthy than Leo Stan for the award of CEO of the Year. It’s both instructive and divine especially when you consider that Leo Stan was the man who computerized newspaper houses, advertising agencies, and printing presses in Nigeria in the late 80s and early 90s when many Nigerians were still in awe of the computer and all its magical, even mythical, wand.

Since returning from the United Kingdom to start his entrepreneurship odyssey in IT over 30 years ago, Leo Stan has stood out as a bustling serial digital pioneer with an elephantine ambition to computerize Nigeria — a mission he has achieved on many fronts.

His zeal and passion have placed him at the cusp of the competition with many firsts to his badge. The first internationally certified indigenous computer brand in West Africa and the first computer brand in the world to incorporate the Naira sign (₦) on its keyboard. First Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in sub-Saharan Africa to receive Microsoft Windows Hardware Quality Lab Certification (WHQL); first Microsoft Prime Production Online Automation Partner in Sub-Saharan Africa with the OA Version 3.0; first Intel Premium Partner; first OEM in West Africa to attain the ISO 9001-2015 Certification; first to acquire the Google Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA) in West Africa; first OEM in Nigeria to introduce renewable energy and lifestyle products and attaining the status of Intel Platinum Partner in sub-Saharan Africa.

When he launched the Zinox brand in 2001, it was not just an addition to the crowd of indigenous-branded computers. It was a fitting counterfoil to the dominance of foreign computer brands in Nigeria. Zinox has since become an African brand.

Zinox has proven both competence and capacity at home and in other parts of Africa. It was the preferred technology that powered several mega projects including the 8th All Africa Games codenamed COJA 2003; the 18th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Nigeria in 2003; the All-Africa University Games held in Bauchi in 2004; the 7th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Africa Union (AU) held in The Gambia in 2006. It has also undertaken critical interventions by transforming the Nigeria and Guinea Bissau electoral systems from analogue to digital. The conduct of Nigeria general elections in 2007 and 2011 using digitally produced voter register for the first time in Nigeria was because of Zinox. It has also fully provided the technology for the postponed first ever national digital census in Nigeria.

Leo Stan is an intentional family man who has built a digital family. His wife, Lady Chioma Ekeh, a mathematician and chartered accountant oversees the biggest tech distribution company in sub – Saharan Africa, TD Africa. His first son and co-awardee, Prince Nnamdi Ekeh leads Konga Group. His first daughter, Mrs. Gozy Ajogun (nee Ekeh), an alumnus of London School of Economics (LSE) oversees Task Systems, an ICT solutions firm under the Zinox Group. The second daughter, Miss Chidalu Ekeh, with a Masters in Digital Marketing from Imperial College, London, is a Fintech whiz. At the same time, his other two younger sons also play in the tech space. He has added digital value to Nigeria and Africa. He deserves his award and the historical honour of being garlanded with his son. It’s double congratulations to Africa’s dominant digital family. It was indeed their night.

Odumosu, an ICT media connoisseur, writes from Lagos.

Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has expressed concern over the proliferation of unethical advertisements on Meta-owned platforms, including Instagram and Facebook.

The regulator criticised individuals and organisations promoting unverified health claims, warning that such practices endanger public health and violate advertising laws.

In a statement signed by Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, its director-general, ARCON, announced plans to sanction those responsible for these misleading advertisements.

The agency highlighted that many of the claims lack scientific or clinical validation, putting Nigerian consumers at risk.

“Investigations reveal that these products are not certified by relevant regulatory agencies and may be unsafe for use. Advertisers exploit the unregulated nature of online platforms to circulate these unapproved ads,” ARCON stated.

The agency further explained that the ads were neither submitted to nor approved by the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP), a statutory body tasked with ensuring compliance with the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria Act No. 23 of 2022.

The ASP’s role includes vetting advertisements for ethical standards and adherence to Nigerian laws.

Some of the products include, Hookup Kit Runs Girl Package (It brings only rich and wealthy men to you), Nancy Secret Kayamata (Come and lock ur stubborn clients with us), Extreme Control Set (It comes with attention, love, control/command products to make your man grant your heart desires), Nancy Secret Kayamata (Very effective result is guarantee…) and Big Girls Soap (This is a special product for ladies that are expecting rich men & also favour from them and contractors can use it as well).

Dr. Edheba Trado Medical Centre also made two claims (We specialize in all bones dislocations, fractures, all spinal injuries; and Absolute treatment for all cases of high blood pressure)

While five claims were made by Billz Herbal Wellness (Bring all your ‘gbola’ issues to bills … I can help you get rid of that stubborn infection as well; Na ‘gbola’ wey sweet woman de fight for; Make it stronger, longer and last longer in bed; Meet the infection terminator; and Stop scratching and treat infection).

Jinja Herbal Extracts also has five claims (For treatment of infections, diabetes and others; The solution for all kinds of infections; Stabilises blood sugar level; Don’t let this lucrative opportunity pass by; and Boost your health with our super unique Jinja Herbal Extracts).