The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) is set to partner with Cypher Crescent, a petroleum asset management, software development, and engineering consulting company, on its NOTAP-Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship (NITTF) scheme.
Speaking while playing host to the company representative in a crucial meeting at NOTAP Corporate headquarter yesterday, the Director General of NOTAP, Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, represented at the meeting by the Deputy Director in Technology Acquisition and Research Coordination of NOTAP, Engr. Enoch Moughalu said that the Office was established to regulate the inflow of foreign technologies but also has the responsibility to encourage the development of local technologies.
She said the NITTF was one of the programmes initiated by NOTAP to ensure the development of critical skills in Science, Technology and Innovation to make the nation more competitive and sustain the economic development of the Country.
Dr. Amadiobi stated that the NITTF programme was a child of necessity when the Office in carrying out its statutory functions, realized that there was no synergy between the academia and the industry. She noted that Nigeria knowledge institutions were undertaking research that were not useful to the industry while the industry depended on foreign solutions each time they face challenges, hence the urgent need to bridge the gap.
The DG reiterated that the programme is a voluntary sponsorship of young and intelligent Nigerians who have finished masters Degrees and are desirous of undertaking PhD programmes in Nigerian Universities on topics that will be determined by the sponsoring companies.
In a Press Statement signed by Raymond Ogbu of the Public Relations and Protocol Unit of NOTAP, the NOTAP boss informed the company that the first beneficiaries were three, sponsored by three companies and when other companies saw potential benefits of the programme, they declared interest.
She encourages the company and other multinational companies operating in the country the join the scheme as a way of contributing the technological cum economic development of the country. She added that the scheme is beneficial to both the candidates and benefactors.
In his remarks, he company representative, Dr. Kingsley Okafor who is a consultant with Cypher Crescent, said that the company specializes in provision of engineering solution with the mission to provide cost-effective innovation in energy and have offered engineering solutions to Oando, and other oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria to provide critical energy solutions
He stated that when the company heard about some flagship projects and programmes initiated by NOTAP, especially the NOTAP-Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship, the company decided to show interest because of their unwavering commitment to the development of indigenous capacities and also to see if some of their operational challenges could be addressed through the scheme .
Dr. Okafor noted that the company have decided to take two sponsorship slots in energy and gas, as well as Mathematics and will be glad to join immediately if the recruitment process for 2025 hasn’t closed. He added that the company has funds available for such research projects and will be willing to start as soon as research candidates are identified and recruited for the programme
