IP is the new Oil: a new Nigerian generation enters the conversation

As Nigeria’s creative and technology sectors become a more significant part of the country’s economy, intellectual property (IP) rights are increasingly being recognised as a critical tool for protecting and monetising the ideas, innovation, and creativity driving that growth, says Nigerian law student Oluwanifemi Oladosu, Editor-in-Chief of the recently launched Stellar IP Journal.

“IP plays a very important part in the protection and monetisation of the creativity that fuels the economy,” says Oluwanifemi, noting the creative and technological sectors already generate several billion dollars annually, employing millions, and their influence is set to grow. “Saying ‘IP is the new oil’ is not an overstatement.”

A notable example of that shift is the launch of the Stellar IP Journal at the Creative Conference 3.0, hosted by the International Property Law Club at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria on 27 April. Oluwanifemi says its creation arose from a gap that he and other aspiring IP scholars encountered firsthand.

“They say necessity is the mother of invention, and that was certainly true in this case,” he says. “I really got into the writing of articles early last year and one of my favourite areas of law to write on was IP. I also realised how important it was for students to build a scholarship profile early in their academic journey. But in the field of IP, there were no reputable academic student journals.”

Students seeking to build academic credibility in the IP space often found themselves submitting work to publications that were either too broad in scope or lacked visibility. The Stellar IP Journal was created to bridge that gap, providing an academically rigorous, peer-reviewed platform for scholarship on the development and state of IP law in Nigeria.

The inaugural volume honours leading Nigerian IP scholar Professor Bankole Sodipo, SAN, whose involvement helped lend credibility to the project from its earliest stages, underscoring the founders’ ambition to position the publication within the broader development of IP scholarship on the continent.

The publication also reflects a broader shift taking place across Nigeria and Africa. While the continent is often viewed through the lens of its abundant and valuable natural resources, Oluwanifemi believes creative and technological enterprise will increasingly define Nigeria and Africa’s future.

“Take the entertainment industry, for example,” he says. “Nigerian, and African, musicians are moving at an unprecedented scale on the global stage.”

For Oluwanifemi, IP rights provide the legal infrastructure that allows creativity and innovation to become sustainable economic value. “In a very few years, the creative economy could be one of the largest economies in Nigeria and Africa.”

His own attraction to the field is both intellectual and personal. Drawn to complexity and problem-solving, he sees IP as one of the most dynamic and far-reaching areas of legal practice. “IP law seems easy on the surface,” he says. “But it’s quite complicated, quite technical when you go beneath all of that.”

He is equally fascinated by its reach.

“IP is perhaps one of the most pervasive areas of law,” he adds. “You can always pivot to technology, sustainable development, economics, academia, entertainment – all from the study and practice of IP law.”

The creation of The Stellar IP Journal was a collaborative effort.

The idea was first raised by Intellectual Property Law Club President Ayedun Pelumi Daniel, with Oluwanifemi later leading the project as Director of Research and Academics. The club’s Vice-President Abdul-Salam Zainab serves as Deputy Editor-in-Chief, and a 22-member editorial board and strong group of faculty reviewers has helped turn the concept into reality. “It certainly wasn’t a one-man job,” says Oluwanifemi. “The editorial board, our reviewers and everyone involved showed tremendous commitment to making it happen.”

Alongside student and recent graduate scholarship, the team invited contributions from leading academics, professionals, and scholars for the first volume to establish credibility from the outset. The significance of The Stellar IP Journal lies not only in its novelty as Nigeria’s first student-led academic journal dedicated to IP, says Oluwanifemi, but in what the journal

“It is, in many ways, a statement that Nigerian students are no longer waiting for senior practitioners to define the conversation around IP in this country, we are now entering that conversation,” he says. “In an era defined by AI, changing business models and evolving creative industries, the journal represents an important step towards building a platform where student and practitioner scholarship on these IP issues can be developed, refined, and shared.”

For Oluwanifemi as Editor-in-Chief, the Stellar IP Journal’s ultimate significance will be measured not by its inaugural edition but by the legacy it leaves for future generations of scholars and practitioners.

“I hope it outlives every single one of us involved,” he says. “I hope it becomes a reference point for IP scholarship in Nigeria and the larger continent, and serves as the platform that launches the next generation of Nigerian IP scholars.”