Nigerian Universities poor in copy rights compliance- Barr. Adekola

By Kayode Abdulazeez


The blame for the continuous rise in copyright infringement has been put on Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions, an expert in intellectual property law, Barr. Tolulope Adekola, who identified this weakness, noted that it is not only reducing the integrity of academias work, it is one of the major factors that have contributed to the low ranking of Nigerian universities among their counterparts in other parts of the world.

Adekola who teaches at the Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara state, while charging tertiary institutions authorities in Nigeria to take copyrights seriously said, those who abuse intellectual property and copyrights laws in their research works should not awarded certificates.

According to him, the high rate at which people abuse copyrights law is stifling the socioeconomic development of the country. While appealing to relevant stakeholders to be proactive in addressing the menace in the system, he also stated that plagiarism has remained a cancerous tumour on the paths of educational development in the country.

He said, "Plagiarism has become a common tread in the Nigeria educational system. It is indeed a cancer that has plagued the academic integrity of our ivory towers.

"In developed countries plagiarism is a serious offence with grave academic consequences levied on the perpetrator. But in Nigeria, it is only normal for researchers to "copy and paste" other peoples work without acknowledging same. Persons have obtained degrees up to Ph.d and even become professors using plagiarized research works in Nigeria" he noted.

Adekola urged stakeholders in Nigeria to adopt the international best practices in using several ICT devices to track down those who violate intellectual property law in their research works before it can be accepted as being original.

"Defaulters have to be punished to serve as deterrence and to help in stemming the tide of plagiarism in our ivory towers. It is important to note that no Nigerian university is among the best 1000 universities in Nigeria except for University of Ibadan which ranks 801" he added.

He however, expressed hope that Nigerian Universities will change the fortune of academic excellence if they draw lessons from international best practices on copyrights and intellectual property enforcement

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