Stakeholders in the North-West have called on the Reproduction Rights Society of Nigeria (REPRONIG) to extend its national advocacy programme on reprographic rights to creatives working in indigenous languages to ensure they benefit from copyright protection and royalties.
The call was made at the REPRONIG North-West zonal advocacy programme held at the Federal University of Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, on October 22, 2026.
Participants from Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states urged the society to ensure that indigenous-language creatives, including traditional griots, writers, artists and publishers, are not excluded from the economic benefits of reprographic rights.
They also appealed to the National Assembly to expedite efforts to translate Nigerian laws into indigenous languages to improve access to legal and legislative information.
The appeal comes amid plans by the National Assembly Library Trust Fund to make parliamentary information available in indigenous languages as part of efforts to expand access to legislative resources.
The Executive Secretary of the fund, Henry Nwawuba, recently disclosed that the initiative was part of the Assembly’s plans to make legislative information more accessible to Nigerians.
In a message to the South-West zonal parley, REPRONIG Board Chairman, Gbadega Adedapo, commended the North-West zonal organising committee for successfully hosting the programme.
The committee comprised Professor Asabe Kabir Usman, Dr Wale Okediran and Muhammad Sulaiman.
The event attracted participants from universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the zone.
In their presentations, members of the zonal committee highlighted REPRONIG’s role in administering reprographic copyright on behalf of rights holders, particularly in the management and protection of their intellectual property.
They urged representatives of higher institutions of learning to take prompt steps to obtain licences from the society by registering through its Digital Rights Management System application.
The licensing process, they noted, is important to ensuring proper administration of reprographic rights and compliance with copyright requirements in educational institutions.
REPRONIG’s national advocacy programme is expected to continue across other geopolitical zones as the society intensifies efforts to promote awareness of reprographic rights and strengthen copyright protection in Nigeria.
