The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has said that 90 per cent of technologies currently powering the Nigerian economy are imported. The Director-General of NOTAP, Dr. DanAzumi Mohammed Ibrahim, who frowned at this development, said Nigeria should encourage and develop indigenous technologies. Speaking at a One-Day Patentees Forum in Bauchi organised by the agency for researchers, inventors and innovators, the DG decried the situation, noting that the tide must be stemmed to save the nation’s scarce foreign exchange. He argued that the world has fast moved away from resources to a knowledge-based economy and Nigeria must not be left behind. While admitting that the numerous efforts made by Nigerian researchers, inventors and innovators do not translate into products and services, the NOTAP DG, stated that the forum was organised to provide the needed synergy between researchers and funding institutions to create the necessary impetus that would ensure that Research & Development (R&D) outputs from the nation’s knowledge centres are moved to the market as products and services.
