The University of Nigeria has hosted the third WIPO–Nigeria Summer School, the first time the programme has come to the South East. Run with the World Intellectual Property Organization, it brought more than 70 participants to the university’s Enugu Campus from August 31 to September 11, 2026.
Earlier editions were held at the University of Lagos in 2021 and Baze University, Abuja, in 2023.
What participants learned
The two weeks covered patents, copyright, trademarks, traditional knowledge, technology transfer, emerging technologies, and the link between intellectual property and human rights. It ended with group presentations where participants applied what they had learned.
Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, linked the school to Nigeria’s national intellectual property policy. Dr Nkem Itanyi, who heads UNN’s Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office, chaired the organising committee.
Ideas as wealth
For participants, the message was practical. Covenant Yusuf, a final-year law student at Prince Abubakar Audu University, summed it up: “intellectual property is business.” Oluchukwu Nwakor, a lawyer, said the programme “doesn’t just teach IP — it teaches you how to think ahead of it.”
For creatives, inventors and small businesses in Enugu and Nsukka, understanding how to protect an idea can be the difference between being copied and being paid. If you run a local business or creative project and want to know more about protecting your work, tell us what questions you have.
