The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has charged the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) to prepare for the emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI), streaming platforms, and other digital technologies that are rapidly reshaping Nigeria’s copyright landscape.
Speaking at a special send-off party organised by the NCC for its past directors-general and retired directors in Abuja over the weekend, the minister also called for forward-looking laws and effective enforcement to tackle the new normal brought about by the AI revolution.
Fagbemi, who was represented by Director, Legal Drafting, Federal Ministry of Justice, Dr. Patrick Etta Oyong, said the rapid transformation of the creative and knowledge economy was creating both opportunities and challenges for copyright administration, requiring the commission to strengthen its regulatory and enforcement capacity.
According to him, “digital technologies, streaming platforms, artificial intelligence and new models of creating, distributing and exploiting creative works are changing the copyright environment. This demands institutions capable of responding to the emerging realities.”
Fagbemi said these developments demand stronger institutions, forward-looking laws and policies, effective enforcement, innovative regulation and sustained engagement with creators, investors and users of copyright works.
The minister said the growing economic significance of creativity, innovation and intellectual property means that the commission’s work would become increasingly important to national development.
Urging the NCC to draw on the experience of its former leaders and senior officers as it confronts emerging challenges in the sector, Fagbemi said institutional experience remained an important resource and added that the NCC should maintain appropriate channels to harness the knowledge and expertise of former leaders.
He said the strength of a public institution should be measured not only by the years spent in office but also by the policies advanced, systems developed, people mentored, and institutions strengthened.
In his welcome address, the Director-General of the NCC, Dr John Asein, admitted that the formal recognition of former directors-general and directors had come much later than ideal.
He disclosed that the five former directors-general being honoured left office between 2000, when the pioneer director-general, Moses Ekpo, completed his tenure, and 2018, when his immediate predecessor, AfamEzekude, left office, with none accorded a formal send-off by the commission.
Apologising on behalf of the commission, the DG said “some had devoted the most productive years of their lives to the commission and retired without the opportunity to hear the institution formally say ‘Thank you’. Asein noted that the institution’s progress was built on the courage, patience, perseverance and conviction of those early officers.
Meanwhile, Asein said the NCC had commenced efforts to preserve the contributions of its former leaders through portraits, publications and other legal projects.