By Priscilla Osaje
Dr John Asein, Director- General, Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has urged All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) to collaborate with the commission in bringing the value of copyright system to their schools.
Asein made the call at the 176th Congress of ANCOPSS, FCT branch, Government Science and Technical College, Kwali, Abuja on Tuesday.
According to him, principals’ watch word is excellence and they play a vital role in ensuring excellence, not only in their studies but studies of their students by tapping and harnessing the creative potentials of the students under their care.
He said that ANCOPSS collaborating with NCC would help the students to tap into their creative talents, and how the copyright system would help them because it is necessary for them to begin to understand from this young age what copyright is all about.
“Remember I said you are indeed moral compasses, you are master builders and I will want us to begin to collaborate more.
“We want to collaborate more with anchors to ensure that we bring the value of the copyright system to our schools.
“We will leave our contact with the president, so that if you at any point need us to come and talk to your students. Please encourage them on why they should tap into their creative talents and how the copyright system can help them as well,” he said.
The NCC boss urged the principals to respect other person’s own right, adding that their second responsibility as principals were to ensure that they do not open their gates by allowing pirates to begin to use their platform to sell books to students.
” From the experience we have had in recent times, we now see that a lot of pirates have moved away from the bookstores and they now engage with schools.
” In some cases, the principals or heads of schools are not aware of the game. But unfortunately, in some cases, the principals and heads of schools are in sync with the pirates.
“I ask a question. If a publisher is in Abuja, your school is in the FCT and you are ordering your books from Abuja or from Lagos. How come the one from Lagos is cheaper than the one that the publisher is selling here in Abuja? It is cheep because they are stolen and pirated.
“So that should be a red flag, but because we look at the price, we think that we are making the game.
“As I earlier said you are not only molding people, you are indeed helping to strengthen this nation and the future of our creatives for tomorrow,” he added.
Asein, who described principal as a torch bearer, gatekeeper and moral compass, said without the principal major link in our growth as a nation would be missing and we would never get it right.
He appealed to the principals to desist from any act that infringes the copyright act, stressing that under the Copyright Act “it is an offence to be in possession, to sell, to and distribute pirated books for commercial purposes.
“We acknowledge the place of the principal in the education system and also as a gatekeepers, molders of characters and of course touch bearers.
“So we think that if you want to address the issues concerning the book sector , we have to talk to major role players like the principals.
“We are getting more involved in pushing copyright knowledge in schools. So we want the principal to be aware of this to help us,” he stressed.
He added that taking the copyright sensitisation and education to schools would help our children to benefit from the copyright system and also cultivate a culture of respect for copyright.
“The trend of noticing more and more pirated books being introduced through schools, because of the fights and the consistent push that we have given to our piracy drive.
“Pirates now are leaving the bookstores and they are pushing the books now through schools.
“That is the reason why we are having more inspections in schools and we are doing spot visits to all the schools. So we need to inform the principal so that when they see us they should not be surprise.
“Importantly also to encourage them on what to do and what notvto do because the more they know that anyone found with books like I told them will be arrested.
“If you are selling those books to students, we will treat them as a bookseller and if we find pirated books with you we will arrest them as a pirate,” he stressed.
Asein urged the principals to pass the message on to their members so that they would not be forced to disrupt any school by picking up their principal.
Also speaking, Mr Samuel Okpe, National Public Relation Officer of ANCOPSS, Government Secondary School Kwali, appreciated Asein for such a timely information aimed at guiding them against piracy.
” I am happy because all the principals in FCT are here, in our today’s business, We are going to discuss this issue of piracy as part of our agenda.
“We will also tell the principals what is wrong and also guide them to follow the right course in obtaining these books.,” he said.
Dr Innocent Agbanu, Chairman, Nigeria Publishers Association (NPA), said he was overwhelmed with the depth of the NCC boss presentation, which basically focused on enlightening the principals on copyright act.
Agbanu, who is also the Regional Manager, University Press PLC, said NCC boss had been very intentional person when it comes to copyright laws.
“I actually like the way he did his presentation and the consent mostly from the publishers,” he said.
Agbanu further said that they had issues with the school owners, proprietors, principals, mostly in FCT, because most times they don’t want to patronise publishers directly.
” I love the way he set the record straight, it is a good one because he has sent word of caution to the principals.
” I want to use this opportunity to tell the principals that these publishers are your friends. Most often they run away from publishers to say they want to get books that are cheaper.
“But the NCC boss was actually right to say it that we are the right owners and the publishers. No matter the price we give you, you are supposed to buy from us,” he added.
He stressed that the reason why he was at the event was to echo the fact that they should contact us directly and partner with us for good price of books at an affordable discount.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that D-G and surveillance team visited some bookshops, printing and artworks outlets in Gwagwalade to ensure compliance of copyright act. (NAN)