I as an Intellectual property lawyer can spend the whole day talking about intellectual property rights; their benefits, the rights, and damages. Although it is not yet fully developed in Nigeria or tapped by Nigerian creatives but Nigerian entertainers, those in creative spaces, content creators, etc should know that once they put an original material or content out there to the public they are deemed to have the legal right to such contents or materials.

Just like a physical property owner has the right to his tangible or physical property, a content owner also has the right to his content even though such contents are intangible but in law, they are deemed to be properties belonging to the creator or curator hence the reason why it is called “intellectual property”.

An intellectual property right is a right for the owner of the intellectual property to have and enjoy his property and be devoid of infringement by outsiders and theft. If anybody infringes on that right there will be legal consequences against that person. Any infringement on that no matter how minute it is calls for legal action. Anybody who makes use of such content without the express consent or authorization of the owner will be said to have stolen it and hence the act will be referred to as intellectual property theft.

These rights can only be enjoyed by a creative who has taken the extra step to legally reserve those rights for himself by registering those contents in Nigeria with the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investments through trademarks, patents, copyrights, etc.

When these contents have been fully registered it saves the rightful owner from controversies as to who is the lawful owner of the content. Just like a landed property owner is expected to register the property with the land registry to fully protect his rights, so also an intellectual property owner is legally expected to register his or her intellectual properties with the Ministry of Trade and Investments to fully protect his rights and shield it from theft and infringements.

Nigerian entertainers and those in the creative space need to know that intellectual property is a gold mine. It is you getting paid for your creativity and they all should take extra steps in laying legal claims to their creativities by duly registering it; trademarking, copyrighting, or patenting.

Amidst Nigeria’s rising public debt and its negative consequences for the economy, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) in the country, Dr. Muda Yusuf, has called on the Federal Government (FG) to scale down the cost of governance.

It’s noteworthy that, according to economic experts, Nigeria’s public debt is projected to hit N45 trillion by the end of 2022 with a plan by the Debt Management Office (DMO) to borrow an additional N6.39 trillion to finance the 2022 budget deficit.

Dr. Yusuf who publicly made his opinion known in a recent interview granted him, stated that the rising debt profile raises serious sustainability concerns.

He said, “When we take account of borrowings from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the stock of AMCON debt, the debt profile would be over N50 trillion.”

Contrary to the government’s claim that the challenge is not debt but revenue, he opined, “The truth is that debt becomes a problem if the revenue base is not strong enough to service it sustainably. It therefore becomes a debt problem.

“Government’s actual revenue can hardly cover recurrent budgets, which implies that the entire capital budget is being funded with loans. This is surely not sustainable.

“What is needed is the political will to cut expenditure and undertake reforms that could scale down the size of government; reduce governance cost and ease the fiscal burden.”

He also counselled that even if the government must borrow, it is important to ensure that the money is used strictly to fund capital projects, especially infrastructure, that would strengthen the productive capacity of the economy.

The CPPE boss further advised that emphasis should be on concessionary financing as opposed to commercial debts, which are typically very costly.

“The unitary character of the country is making it difficult to unlock the economic potential of the sub-nationals. It is perpetuating the culture of dependence on the Federal Government.”

“It is necessary to scale down the size of government and cost of governance. Fiscal sustainability is driven by both cost and revenue. Therefore, managing the major drivers of cost and revenue is imperative. As far as possible, the government should push back in sectors or activity areas where the private sector can deliver desired outcomes.

“We should see more accessioning and privatisation at all levels of government. This would allow for the infusion of more private capital into the infrastructure space.” he opined.

It is only a dummy that’s yet to realize that one of Nigeria’s prime plights remains the high cost of governance. Bureaucracy has over the recent years endangered the country’s economic status, that only a severe measure is needed to salvage it.

A job that could possibly or easily be done by only one person, is being carried out by a hundred individuals, particularly in the political setting. Yet the work in question would not be adequately handled as expected. The bureaucratic system herein is gradually leading the country to a doomed state unwittingly to the ignorant citizenry.

In addition, governments at all levels have abruptly adopted borrowing as a necessary tradition, thereby causing unending fiscal instability in the country’s economy at large.

This crazy and deadly practice needs to be buried headlong. This can only be achieved by overhauling the entire existing economic system in Nigeria. 

The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has commended Total Energies EP for investing not less than $30 billion within the last eight years in the country’s economy.

Specifically, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote charged International Oil Companies (IOCs) to take advantage of the investment opportunities that exist in the nation’s oil and gas sector.

According to him, the FGN was not unaware of the challenges bedeviling the sector but charged the IOCs to devise innovative solutions to turn these barriers to opportunities.

Wabote stated this during the Total Energies EP 60th anniversary gala in Lagos State on 19th May 2022.

He, however, commended Total Energies for its investment stride over the years, maintaining that the company had relentlessly continued to believe in Nigeria despite the harsh operating business environment for businesses.

In his words: “Over $30 billion has been invested in the space of eight years. This is by far more than what any other IOC has invested. There is no basis for comparison. I want to use this opportunity to challenge other IOCs to keep believing in Nigeria as the Federal Government will continue to provide the enabling environment for businesses to thrive.”

Earlier, the Country Chair, Total Energies Nigeria, Mike Sangster boasted that in the 60 years of exploration and production in the country, the company had grown from a modest beginning to be the second-largest oil and gas producing company in the country.

He added that the partnership between Nigeria and Total Energies had been a successful one, but lamented the current state of insecurity in the country, which he said was greatly reducing its onshore production.

“So, we have also had our own fair share of challenges to overcome but what I have seen personally over the past three years is that when our teams, all our teams, put their heads together, there is no problem that cannot be resolved.

“As we look to the future, Nigeria is not insulated from the global economy. As the world moves to combat climate change, we are taking a lot of steps to reduce our carbon footprint in Nigeria, and we are also very interested in developing our renewables business as well.”

“Indeed, this also emphasizes the need for Nigeria to remain globally competitive to continue to attract investment, especially in gas and LNG, to derive the much-needed revenue, and meet the developmental and economic needs of its people, while financing the energy transition.”

He said the company would continue to collaborate with the government, its partners and other stakeholders to help further develop the economy of the country while also meeting the socio-economic needs of its teeming citizens and play its leadership role on the African continent.

On her part, the Managing Director of the Deepwater Shell Nigeria, Mrs. Eloho Aiboni, disclosed that the oil and gas industry in Nigeria was begging for more investment, therefore called on local and foreign investors to take advantage of the investment space in the country.

Taking into cognizance the compelling need to revisit Nigeria’s oil and gas sector towards ensuring a better enabling environment for the country’s economic growth, the concerned authorities herein are enjoined to step up actions in a bid to do the needful.

This can only be possible by creating as well as maintaining wholesome policies in the said sector. So, as the government applauds the Total Energies, it should hesitate to live up to the expectations.