NCC to transform youth creativity into economic power, Asein says

…as the commission celebrates World IP Day

The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) is ramping up efforts to unlock the economic potential of the country’s vibrant youth population by turning creativity into a viable source of wealth.

John Asein, the director-general at NCC, speaking on the occasion of the 2026 World Intellectual Property Day, said, “With a significant proportion of Nigerians under the age of 30, the country is uniquely positioned to harness the creative and innovative potential of its youth.

Young Nigerians must therefore be empowered to connect their creativity with the legal and economic structures that enable value realisation.”

Asein emphasised that this year’s commemoration is significant for Nigeria, as it is the first since the approval of the country’s inaugural National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy by the Federal Executive Council.

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“This milestone affirms the central role of intellectual property (IP) as a strategic driver of innovation, youth empowerment, and sustainable wealth creation. The theme for this year, “IP and Sports: Ready. Set. Innovate”, is both timely and compelling.

“It reflects the growing importance of sports as an economic sector and underscores the role of IP in transforming talent into tangible value. It also resonates strongly with Nigeria’s national character, defined by energy, resilience, discipline, and ambition, qualities that are most evident in our youthful population,” he said.

Besides, he revealed that contemporary sports have evolved beyond physical performance into a sophisticated, IP-driven ecosystem. “Broadcasting rights, trademarks, merchandising, digital content, and technological innovations now constitute the backbone of the sports economy. The protection and proper management of these rights are essential to ensuring that athletes, investors, and other stakeholders derive fair value from their contributions.

“However, this ecosystem faces significant challenges. Piracy, counterfeiting and other forms of intellectual property infringement, particularly the unauthorised streaming of live sports content, continue to undermine legitimate markets, discourage investment and threaten the long-term sustainability of the sector,” he noted.

To mitigate these challenges, he said that the commission has intensified its enforcement efforts to combat digital piracy and related infringements.

“Leveraging the provisions of the Copyright Act, 2022, the NCC is deploying modern enforcement mechanisms to address illegal streaming, cable piracy, and unauthorised public exhibitions,” he stated.

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Toyosi Alabi, the partner in charge of Olaniwun Ajayi LP’s intellectual property practice, one of the partners, who organised the ‘Walk Against Piracy’ as part of the activities for the 2026 World Intellectual Property Day, said that the firm partnered with NCC to sensitise the public on the negative impact of piracy.

“We believe that the law would be easy to enforce if people were aware as consumers of the fact that the way they use people’s brands may lead to misuse, which could be violations under the law, infringement of copyrights, to be precise.

“We’re partnering with NCC to create that awareness by going on this walk to show that piracy and copyright infringement, whether digitally, physically, or in relation to any types of works, should not be done,” she said.

Alabi explained that the focus of the 2026 event is on sports; hence, the march is basically marching against copyright infringement in relation to sports.

“A lot of sports brands are being infringed in one way or the other; we’re going on a walk to sensitise Nigerians against misuse of the rights, particularly broadcast rights of sports,” she said.

Participants from NCC, Olaniwun Ajayi LP, and the Nigerian independent DJs were seen marching from Costain to National Stadium, carrying posters with inscriptions ‘Piracy is theft, piracy kills dreams, buy original, and authors work hard, buy legit.’