By Their Knowledge, We Shall Know Them By Olowogboyega Oyebade

Do you know that the Governor of the State of Osun, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola was at the launch of “Operation ‘Puff Adder’ by the State Command of the Nigeria Police in Osogbo last week? Do you know that he promised the police more assistance and urged the people of the State to be security-conscious?   The words of the Governor interlude:

“Since development and progress of any State could be measured by security of such society, hence the need for the support given to security agencies by the state government. We are committing resources to advance the security architecture of the state having realised that peace is condition precedent to inviting investors and development partners to the State.”

Do you know that a few years ago, the Minister of Interior, Lt Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd) hosted in his office the EU delegation led by  Richard Young?  Are you aware that he announced that Nigeria would collaborate with the European Union (EU) on how to apply technology in securing the country’s porous and vast borders to fight terrorism, strengthen  border security,  manage  migration challenges and general insecurity in the country? Do you know that this approach is the true way to go?  Do you know Sri Lanka? You care to know it? Come along, please.

Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean.  It became independent in 1948.  Its  26-year civil war ended in 2009 when the Sri Lanka Armed Forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.  The Sri Lankan Constitution accords Buddhism the “foremost place”, although it does not identify it as a state religion. The island is home to many cultures, languages and ethnic  groups. The majority of the population are from the Sinhalese ethnic group.  The minorities include the Tamils,  Moors, Burghers, Malays, Chinese, and the indigenous Vedda  groups.  Are you aware that on Easter Sunday this year, on 21 April, 2019, some unfortunate incidents happened in that country?  Do you know that eight bombs with devastating payloads were detonated in hotels and churches during Easter service, killing three hundred and fifty people and wounding five hundred other people?  What were the aftermaths?  Come along.

The first was that the Head of State addressed the country on the incident. He disclosed to the people that the police had intelligence reports on the matter but failed to act.  Do you know that forty-eight hours after, on Tuesday 23 April, 2019, eight of the nine people behind the attacks had been identified, including their family backgrounds, and the schools they attended?  Do you know that by 24th April, 2019, the President booted out the Minister of Defence and the Inspector-General of Police? Do you know that on that same Wednesday, the security agencies released the video footages of the attacks, the moments the attackers entered the churches and the hotels, the  place where the attacks were planned and the real masterminds of the attacks? That is technology for you, a new vogue in knowledge economy.       ​Do you know that Sri Lanka does not have crude oil and it is able to deploy technology to bring the culprits to book? Shall we depend on other nations for our internal security for ever? Do you know that this is the time for all our Universities of Technology to prove to us that they are truly our intellectual property? Do you know that knowledge economy defines a nation, not oil nor gold?  A voice interrupts: “By their knowledge we shall know them.”

Hurray! The World Intellectual Property Day 2019 is here with us with a bang.  Since its inception in 2000, every year on April 26, World Intellectual Property Day highlights, through the lens of a specific theme, how Intellectual Property  rights encourage innovation and creativity. Do you know that this year’s theme is “Reach for Gold: IP and Sports.” Do you know that there are other events to mark the day further? Do you know that Intellectual Property is now applied to promote sports? Are you aware that widely used wearable tech – smart sports equipment embedded with sensors enable athletes to avoid injury and better monitor and improve their performances?

Do you know that in the sports stadium, huge investments in innovative technologies ensure fans have access to a high resolution digital experiences that connect them more closely with the on-field actions? Do you know that as we apply Intellectual Property Rights to sports, we need it to drive the issue of internal security of our country?  Do you know that this rising profile of kidnapping and banditry is a reflection of our low level of culture in technology?  You want to know that?  Come along, please.  The  2019 message of the Director General Francis Gurry of WIPO cut in:

“This year’s World Intellectual Property Day campaign celebrates the positive role that intellectual property plays in encouraging sports,… Intellectual property rights underlie and empower the financial model of all sporting events worldwide. ”

Do you know that the Sultans of the Middle East  sitting on billions of Dollars being revenue from crude oil have been displaced to the rear positions on the billionaires ‘  list, courtesy of Intellectual Property?  Do you know that Bill Gates is the richest man on the planet earth, courtesy of his most-valuable Intellectual Property, a product of his brain and not oil or gold deposits at his backyard?  Have you heard the news?

Do you know that Microsoft Company passed a market cap of $1 trillion market price during NASDAQ day trading hours last week? Do you know that this is the third US company to join Apple and Amazon in hitting the $1 trillion valuation ahead of rival Google?  Are you aware that the value of Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Google is higher than the economy of all countries in the continent of Africa?  Come along.

​Have you heard the news?  Do you know that China has evolved a new foreign policy regime that is based on knowledge economy?  Do you know what is called Belt and Road Initiative?  Are you aware that this is a novel development strategy adopted by the Chinese government to network development and  infrastructure through knowledge economy and investments in 152 countries in  Europe, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Africa?  Are you aware that the initiative was announced by Chinese leader. Xi Jinping during official visits to Indonesia and Kazakhstan in 2013?  Do you know that the initiative is to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future along that corridor? Do you know that the initiative is to promote international prosperity through capital inflows, talent pool, and technology database to create a new agenda for the world?

Are you aware that the initial focus of the idea of Belt and Road Initiative has been huge investment in infrastructure, education, construction materials, railway and highway, automobile, real estate, power grid and iron and steel, thus creating a new history in international geo-politics?  Do you know that projects of the scheme now cover more than 68 countries, including 65% of the world’s population and 40% of the global gross domestic product?  Do you know that knowledge economy has catapulted the profile of China in the world and it is making the United States of America very uncomfortable, business-wise?

Do you know that the Initiative addresses an “infrastructure gap” across the Asia Pacific area, Central and Eastern Europe?  Do you know that in  March 2019, Italy, a stakeholder in European Union and a founding member of NATO could not resist the economic urge as it signed an infrastructure plan with China, as the first European power to join the Initiative?  Do you know that China has committed trillions of Dollars for the initiative, the fund put together through its knowledge economy? Do you know that Ethiopia and Kenya are parts of the group benefitting seriously from this initiative?  Do you know that by the demonstration of this sixth sense, China is teaching a new lesson in knowledge economy?

 

Do you know what is called knowledge economy, the use of knowledge to generate tangible and intangible economic values? Have you read “The Age of Discontinuity” by Peter Drucker? Do you know that knowledge resources such as trade secrets and expertise are as critical as other economic resources like oil, gold and diamond and they can be inherited, too?  What is knowledge economy?  You care to know more?  Come along, please.

The year was 1966. The author was Peter Drucker.  The title of the book is “The Effective Executive”.  In the book, Drucker compares a manual worker with a knowledge worker. While the manual workers work with their hands and produce goods or services, the knowledge worker works with his head, not hands, and produces ideas, knowledge, and information. Do you remember what we call absolute advantage and comparative advantage?  Do you know that if we follow these old schools, we shall get to nowhere in the country/?  Do you care to know?  Come along, please.

​Wait a minutes! Are you aware that between 1991 and 2012, Africa consumed on the average  over 11.5 million tonnes of rice per year and that  33.6 percent of it was imported from other continents?  Do you know that Nigeria was one of the countries using its  foreign exchange to import rice?  Hurray!  Are you aware that we are enough good news as far as rice production is concerned now?  Dr Harold Roy-Macauley, the Director-General, Africa Rice Center, Benin Republic has declared that Nigeria is now the largest rice producer in Africa, overtaking Egypt which had held the title, in the last one year. The Center covers  26 African member states. Do you know that the current rice production has saved Nigeria $800m in two years as declared by Niyi  Akenzua, the Executive Director, Finance and Risk Management, Bank of Agriculture in its report on Wednesday 29thAugust, 2018? Do you know that the success of rice production has saved us from food insecurity? Do you know that our new  feat in rice production does not clear our subscription into absolute or comparative advantage to produce rice? What is absolute advantage and what is comparative advantage?  Enjoy this time-out.

​We remember Adam Smith (16 June 1723 – 17 July 1790).   He wrote “The Theory of Moral Sentiments” (1759) and “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” (1776). Are you aware that he introduced the theory of absolute advantage in his book “The Wealth of Nations?” The principle of absolute advantage refers to the ability of a country to produce a greater quantity of a  product, or service than competitors, using the same amount of resources. The fallacy of his position was that he only focused on comparing labour productivity to determine absolute advantage and did not give any consideration to the benefits of comparative advantage.

The year was 1817.  David Ricardo published his book titled “On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation.” He used the book to counter Smith. He encouraged countries to specialize in products over which they have comparative advantage over others.  Are you aware that it was Ricardo himself that discovered that he made some mistakes about his thesis when he realized that the theory only applies in situations where capital is immobile and that it falls flat where capital is mobile?  Do you know that knowledge capital is mobile and cannot be contained by borders nor limited by long distances, zip codes and State lines?  Do you know that knowledge economy defines a nation? What is the pride of Japan and Singapore today?  Human capital, of course!  The words of  Michael Porter cut in: “Knowledge is the catalyst and connective tissue in modern economies.”

​Do you know that the knowledge economy taking place in  Silicon Valley in California; aerospace and automotive engineering in Munich, Germany; bio-technology in Hyderabad, India; electronics and digital media in Seoul, South Korea; petro-chemical and energy industry in Brazil and the miracle of the driver-less cars on our streets are pointers to what technology can offer in global  competition?  Do you know that digital tools are democratizing access to knowledge?  Do you know that rather than the absolute advantage or comparative advantage principles, the  knowledge economy is now creating network economy, where the relatively localized knowledge is now being shared among and across various networks for the benefit of the entire world?  Do you know that we are having evolutionary trend in   inter-connected economic order,  concentrating on the passion of individuals to compete to make a difference?  Do you know that knowledge economy can convert misfortune to fortune and disasters to national pride?  You care about it?   Come along, please.

​Notre-Dame de Paris is a medieval Catholic cathedral in Paris, France and was once considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. Its colourful rose windows, and the abundance of its sculptural decoration made it a signature of excellence, beauty and culture.  The cathedral’s construction began  in 1160 and was largely completed by 1260.  The cathedral hosted the coronation of  Napoleon I and was used to host the funerals of several presidents of the Third French Republic. It served as a university centre for some old philosphers and an epi-centre of civilization.  As a tourist centre, it accommodated the supposed Crown of Thorns which Jesus wore prior to his crucifixion and a piece of the cross on which he was crucified.

Are you aware that the French police arrested two persons on 8 September 2016 after a car containing seven gas canisters was found near Notre-Dame?  Do you know that on 10 February 2017, French police arrested four persons in Montpellier already known by authorities to have ties to radical Islamist organizations on charges of plotting to travel to Paris and attack the cathedral? Are you aware that on 6 June,2017,  visitors were shut inside Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris after a man with a hammer attacked a police officer outside?  Despite all these precautions, do you know that while undergoing renovation and restoration, the roof of Notre-Dame caught fire on the evening of 15 April 2019 and burnt for 15 hours, causing the near-death of a heritage? Do you know that the knowledge economy, the human capital in France rallied round within 24 hours to estimate the cost of the renovation and the time –limit?  Do you know that the technology used by the firemen and their competence curtailed the spread of the inferno? Do you know that knowledge economy is the issue?

​Do you know that there are some challenges facing developing countries including Nigeria in knowledge economy? The United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development Report (UNCSTD) concluded that for developing countries to successfully integrate ICTs and sustainable development in order to participate in the knowledge economy, they need to intervene collectively and strategically.   Do you know that we need urgently effective national ICT policies?  Do you know that you can be gainfully compensated if you key in into serious knowledge economy? Do you know that your knowledge is your property that can fetch you billions?  Do you know what we call Intellectual Property?

These are  intangible creations of the human intellect. Intellectual property encompasses two types of rights; industrial property rights (trademarks, patents, designations of origin, industrial designs and models) and copyright. This field was popularized in the 19th century and became pronounced in the  20th century.   The  purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the creation of a large variety of intellectual goods.   To achieve this, the law gives people and businesses property rights. This gives economic incentive for their creation  because it allows people to profit from the information and intellectual goods they create. These economic incentives are expected to stimulate innovation and contribute to the technological progress of countries, which depends on the extent of protection granted to innovators.

Are you aware that copyright in literary and musical works  guarantee the exclusive right of the owner to reproduce, publish, perform, adapt, distribute, sell and broadcast An artistic work will also guarantee the owner the exclusive rights of control of the reproduction, publication and adaptation of the work. In the case of a cinematographic film the copyright owner has the exclusive control to make copies, record and distribute copies. In respect of sound recording, the copyright owner can exclusively control the direct or indirect reproduction and distribution. Lastly, the copyright owner of a broadcast can also exclusively control the recording and communication of the work?

It has some problems.  While tangible goods can be fenced, intellectual property has no clear cut boundaries. piracy is common.  That is the reason that the law attempts to draw  boundaries around the property so as to benefit the owner of the property and punish the pirates.  Do you know that the first regulation on Intellectual Property was The Statute of Monopolies of (1624) which regulated the history of patents?  Do you know that this was  followed by  The Statute of Anne in 1710? Do you know that any letter you write,  poems that you compose, songs you compose and  books  that you write, even in any language are your intellectual property?  Do you know that they are gold mines that can change your life on the ladder of greatness?

Do you know that the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was established in 1967?  This was followed by Berne Convention?  Indeed, with the Development Agenda adopted by WIPO in 2007, a set of 45 recommendations to  reduce distortions especially on issues such as patients’ access to medicines, Internet users’ access to information, farmers’ access to seeds, programmers’ access to source codes or students’ access to scientific articles. It is against these backgrounds that the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement require members of the WTO to set minimum standards of legal protection.

Are you aware that Intellectual property rights include patents, copyright, industrial design rights, trademarks, plant variety rights, trade dress, geographical indications, and in some jurisdictions trade secrets?    Do you know that the main purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the creation of a wide variety of intellectual goods for consumers? The WIPO treaty and several related international agreements underline that the protection of intellectual property rights is essential to maintaining economic growth. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) interludes:  “effective enforcement of intellectual property rights is critical to sustaining economic growth across all industries and globally”.

Do you know that intellectual property is a fundamental right?   Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights interludes: “Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author”.

Do you know that violation of intellectual property rights, called “infringement” with respect to patents, copyright, and trademarks, and “misappropriation” with respect to trade secrets, may be a breach of civil law or criminal law, depending on the type of intellectual property involved, jurisdiction, and the nature of the action?  Are you aware that the Nigerian Copyright Commission is the regulatory body for copyright administration in Nigeria?  Do you know that the Commission is an agency of the Federal government under the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Industry?  The Commission establishes Collecting Societies which are authorized to collect dues, royalties and fees of Copyright owners of the particular specie of work for which they are set up. An example of this is the Musical Society of Nigeria (MCSN) which collects dues on behalf of their members for the use, license and assignment of their works.

Do you know that the agency has Copyright Inspectors whose primary duty is the protection of copyright against infringement in Nigeria?  Do you know that the law does not mandate the registration of copyright in Nigeria.? Are you aware that the law only requires that publishers, printers, producers and manufacturers of works should keep records of all works produced by them showing the name of the author, title, year of publication and the quantity of the works produced?  Do you know that the agency maintains data bank on authors and their works?   Do  know that the Commission registers copyrights as soon as it is notified by the copyright owners under the Copyright Notification Scheme and stores the information in the centralized copyright database?  Do you know that failure to notify or register does not vitiate the copyright of any work?

Do you know that this is the time for all our Universities of Technology, Polytechnics to put together the products of their researches for the use of Nigerians?  A situation that we rely on China to give us everything, from roads to equipment, from ICT to knowledge economy, from drugs to malaria vaccines calls for urgent review.  We must be denominated by our knowledge.  We rejoice with the government of Osun for its keen interest in promoting knowledge economy in our youths through the integrated programmes of skills and ICT in all our Technical Colleges.

We salute the vision of Mr Adegboyega Oyetola for his further interest in the programme of Life Academy of the Technical Colleges.  We urge all the youths of the State to key in to the programme.  Equally, we salute the commitment of Mr Adegboyega Oyetola for pursuing serious agricultural programmes in partnership with the International Institute for  Tropical Agriculture to promote new innovations in agricultural practices in the State of Osun.  As we celebrate the World Intellectual Property Day 2019, we must key in to its theme, saying:  “ Reach for Gold…” This is the time for all our youths to reach for gold in knowledge and sports.  We must note the injunction that says:  “By their knowledge we shall know them.”  Do you know that it can be done successfully?  Come along.

Do you have a special talent?  Have you developed it or you are allowing it to lie in waste?   Do you know that you can convert that talent to opulent wealth and make a difference in the world? Are you an egg-head or you are good in sports? Do you know that you can be the best of everything?  Do you remember George Weah? Do you know that he used his talent as a footballer to promote Liberia, his home country?  Do you know that after he retired from football, he contested for the Office of the President in2005 at the age of 39 and lost? Do you know that it was after this loss that he polished himself up by enrolling for Senior School Certificate in 2006 at the age of 40?

Do you know that he entered the University and graduated in 2011 at  the age of 45. ?  Do you know that he did his Masters degree and completed it in 2013 at the age of 47?  Do you know that he won election into the Senate of Liberia in 2014 at the age of 48?  Do you know that he won the presidential election in Liberia in 2017 at the age of 51? Do you know that passion is branding? What exactly are you selling to the world?

Can you sing or you are a jester that can amuse people?  Are you aware that just six days ago, a comedian with no political experience won a landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election held last Sunday?  Do you know that the exit polls dealt a stunning rebuke to the country’s political establishment as  Zelensky won with landslide,  in all regions of the country, defeating Poroshenko, the incumbent even in the capital? Can you see knowledge economy on display, fetching Zelensky, a comedian,  a presidential seat in his country?  What talent do you have? Do you know that every person, including the physically challenged has one or two talents to showcase and grow rich?  The words of Plato cut in:

“No two individuals are exactly born alike.  Each differs from the other in natural endowments…one good for one thing and another for another.  Every thing will be produced in superior quality and quantity when individuals are put in the occupations that agree with their natural gifts.”​