Nigeria committed to curbing piracy —Yar’Adua

PRESIDENT Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has expressed Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening relevant government agencies in order to curb piracy and the violation of copyright laws.

Receiving a delegation of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) led by the Director General, Dr. Francis Gurry in State House, Abuja yesterday, the president also stressed that “Nigeria is fully committed to the ideals of WIPO and the protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights.”

President Yar’Adua said that the Federal Government would continue to encourage the use of intellectual property to drive creativity and production.

A statement by the President’s Special Assistant on media and Publicity Mr. Attah Esa said the president expressed Nigeria’s appreciation to WIPO for appointing a Nigerian, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, as Deputy Director-General of the organization and urged the body to establish a training institute in the country in partnership with the Nigerian Government which would serve the capacity-building needs of the African region.

Dr. Gurry who described Nigeria as rich in human resources and rated its film industry as the second largest in the world, commended the Nigerian government’s Vision 20:2020, while noting WIPO’s resolve to make intellectual property an efficient investment instrument for economic development.

He also indicated WIPO’s drive to expand the scope of intellectual property to a more universal system that would cover non-Western traditional knowledge and culture.

The director-general was on his first official visit to the country as the head of WIPO, and delivered the keynote lecture to commemorate the 25th Anniversary celebration of the Nigerian Copyright Commission.