Oluwatobi Adu 
ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigeria’s innovation drive gains momentum as the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion intensifies support for grassroots and non-academic inventors, offering intellectual property protection and pathways to commercialisation.
Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday, NOTAP Director-General Obiageli Amadiobi says innovation is not confined to universities or research institutes, stressing that self-taught creators play a vital role in national development.
“We run programmes that identify, protect and scale inventions from grassroots innovators,” she says. “If an idea is viable, it can be adopted by major industries, including telecommunications.”
Central to the strategy is Project NOVA—NOTAP Value Acceleration—which establishes community-based innovation hubs nationwide. At these centres, locally developed solutions undergo rigorous evaluation to determine scalability, market readiness and adoption potential.
Beyond structured programmes, NOTAP funds patent applications for independent inventors, removing financial barriers that often prevent talented Nigerians from securing intellectual property rights. The agency also runs the Inventors and Innovators Forum, enabling creators outside academia to collaborate, gain IP knowledge and enjoy protections equal to those of university researchers.
Amadiobi emphasises that all inventions are assessed using globally recognised standards, proving that formal academic credentials are not a prerequisite for patent approval or technological impact.
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