On March 6, 2026, the World Intellectual Property Organization Nigeria Office hosted the final session of the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) and Intellectual Property Bootcamp 2026 at the United Nations House in Abuja.
The session, titled “Overview of Intellectual Property Administration in Nigeria,” was organized by the WIPO Nigeria Office in collaboration with the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) through its National Plant Variety Protection Office (NPVPO), with support from Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). The session was also held in collaboration with the various intellectual property offices in Nigeria.
The program was coordinated closely with colleagues from the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), who provided valuable learning resources including access to UPOV's distance learning platform, technical webinars, and digital services for participants.
The session marked the culmination of a one-week residential bootcamp that brought together more than 30 young Nigerian professionals from law, agriculture, seed systems, and innovation sectors, selected through a transparent merit-based process combining institutional nominations and an open call.
The final session provided participants with an opportunity to explore the broader intellectual property ecosystem in Nigeria and to understand how different IP rights complement Plant Variety Protection in supporting innovation. The program aimed to strengthen participants’ understanding of how IP tools can support agricultural innovation, commercialization, and sustainable development.
Through interactive panel discussions with representatives of Nigeria’s key IP institutions, participants gained practical insights into the administration of patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright, and technology transfer. The session also introduced WIPO’s global IP systems and highlighted how Nigerian innovators can leverage international frameworks to extend protection for their innovations beyond national borders.
Director of the WIPO Nigeria Office, Mr. Oluwatobiloba Moody, welcomed and congratulated them on completing four days of intensive PVP training. He emphasized that while PVP protects the plant itself, the rest of IP protects everything around it, brand, research and technology. He encouraged participants to see themselves not only as breeders or researchers but also as agripreneurs capable of building commercially viable ventures through strategic use of intellectual property.
Dr. Folarin Okelola, Registrar of the National Plant Variety Protection Office, representing Director-General of the National Agricultural Seeds Council commended participants for their commitment throughout the bootcamp and highlighted the importance of the partnership between NASC and WIPO Nigeria in strengthening human capital within Nigeria’s agricultural innovation ecosystem.
With Nigeria's 2025 accession to UPOV, initiatives that bring together international organizations and national institutions are helping build a skilled workforce to support the country's plant variety protection framework. Graduates of the bootcamp now form a growing network of PVP and IP champions across Nigeria.
