Open Access to Knowledge in Nigeria

A Framework for Developing Countries

Kunle Ola

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780429822766
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Intellectual Property Law
• Index: Law

This book provides an analysis of the legal and policy dimensions of open access to research, education and public sector information with a focus on Nigeria. Kunle shows how open access has evolved across the world and how such initiatives could be implemented in Nigeria and other countries in the developing world.

The author argues for a platform where Nigerians are able to freely connect to the 'global library', through the open access dual platforms of self-archiving and open access publishing, thereby providing access to knowledge. The importance of connecting local works to the 'global library' to increase visibility and impact of such works is also underscored. This book furthers our understanding of open educational resources as alternative avenues to accessing education and seeks to foster citizenry participation, good governance, accountability, democratic values and spur creativity and innovation through open governance and access to public sector information.

Providing a framework for open access in developing countries, Open Access to Knowledge in Nigeria is an important read for scholars interested in knowledge production in Africa, development of the knowledge economy and the open access and Access to Knowledge movements.

1 Introduction^*

1 Introduction

Content is King,¹ and Knowledge is Power.² This is the knowledge dispensation, the knowledge economy. This generation and probably the next one will be dominated by knowledge. Acquiring knowledge is therefore imperative for development, and the currency for acquiring knowledge is “access”. If there is no knowledge, there is no development; if there is no access, there is no knowledge.

The importance of development through access to knowledge is imperative because Africa is the second-largest continent in the world, and Nigeria has the largest population in Africa.³ It has been estimated that the continent’s current 1 billion population will more than quadruple over the next 90 years. This will no doubt make Africa more important than ever.

And it’s not just that there will be four times the workforce, four times the resource burden, four times as many voters. The rapid growth itself will likely transform political and social dynamics within African countries and thus their relationship with the rest of the world.⁴

This work therefore seeks to provide a framework that enables access to knowledge to all Nigerians, and if this is achieved, it will bring about multiple platforms for development in Nigeria. The book holds an important key to Nigeria’s development. It is a key that provides opportunity for development to all Nigerians. If Nigeria attains true development via open access to knowledge, the spread of development to all of Africa becomes tangible, and the journey to African development becomes easier.

2 Background

We all live on the same planet, but definitely not in the same world. Global inequality is on the rise, and whereas it has been postulated that all men are equal, it is however apparent that some are more equal than others.⁵ A world where billions of people live on less than two dollars per day, while others live in luxury and wastefulness, a world where some have unlimited access to power supply, good water, good roads and quality education, while others live in squalor, without power supply, good roads, pipe-borne water, and access to quality education, information and knowledge.⁶ We live in a digitally divided world with those on the advantaged divide being able to maximize the benefits of information communication technology, while those on the other divide struggle to make sense of it and are mostly cut off as a result of the inhumanity of men and the many societal inequalities.⁷ There are many challenges facing humanity with no current concrete solution.⁸ The challenge of access to knowledge, the closure and locking up of knowledge are some of the fundamental challenges facing humanity today, but fortunately these problems can and are being addressed.⁹ The open movement (open access, open educational resources [OER], open government, or public sector information and other such initiatives) is taking active steps to open what has been hitherto closed.

Open access to knowledge is the central focus of this work, and as the open movement is dynamic and has a wide spread, this work narrows down its analysis and discussions to three fields, namely, open access to journal articles (Chapter 4), OER (Chapter 5) and public sector information (Chapter 6). These three areas play a vital role in any society, and they are of particular interest to Nigeria as they form the bedrock of scientific and academic research, socio-economic and political development.¹⁰ This work draws attention to the creative and innovative abilities of Nigerians but also notes that Nigerian authors are facing accessibility, visibility and impact challenges with respect to scholarly works. It also showcases the growth in Nigeria’s higher education institutions, particularly her universities and discusses OER as a tool for addressing several challenges in Nigeria’s educational system. The work discusses the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria as part of Chapter 6 where public sector information is discussed. It highlights their similarities and differences and discusses the importance of public sector information in Nigeria. The work discusses several strategies the open movement has adopted in addressing challenges of accessing knowledge. These strategies include self-archiving, open access journals, open access mandates, aggressive public enlightenment, lobbying and licensing.

3 The position in Nigeria

Lack of access to knowledge and information is a fundamental challenge to the average Nigerian, and it is a key determinant for development.¹¹ The fact that there is a wealth of information freely available but mostly inaccessible and that at the same time 57 percent of Nigerians are rated as illiterate without any formal education or access to education, 40 million of whom are adults, with approximately 7 million children not in school is worrisome and should be of great concern to the Nigerian government and the international community.¹²

In an article written in furtherance of the 2012 World Literacy Day organized in Nigeria, it was noted that

The United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation lists [sic] Nigeria as one of the nine countries with the largest population of illiterate people. The nine countries, namely: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan, account for 53 per cent of the world’s illiterate population. These nations account for the world’s largest population of illiterate adults and over half of the world’s population of out-of-school children.¹³

If the illiteracy level in Nigeria is to be tackled, there must be access to knowledge, and it is imperative that strategies be put in place to effectively address the barriers to accessing knowledge.¹⁴ High illiteracy levels affect virtually all sectors, in the sense that an illiterate community is often an unhealthy, sick, poor and disadvantaged community, and this is not unconnected to their lack of general and specific knowledge.¹⁵ The former Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon captured it succinctly when he noted that “Illiteracy exacerbates cycles of poverty, ill-health and deprivation. It weakens communities and undermines democratic processes through marginalization and exclusion. These and other impacts can combine to destabilize societies.”¹⁶

The illiteracy level is one challenge, but other issues around information management, distribution and sharing also exist in Nigeria. There are problems associated with poor visibility, lack of access, low impact and utility of works authored and published by Nigerian academics, researchers and writers.¹⁷ The private and public sector in Nigeria are also faced with challenges of accessing, using and reusing government-held information. The difficulties associated with cultural beliefs, terrorism (Boko-Haram), high cost of school fees, school/educational textbooks, and other teaching aids and materials, as well as access, use, and reuse of research and educational materials by students and researchers are serious challenges to access to knowledge in Nigeria.

Other issues both in the private and public sectors are beginning to emerge from the steady growth of Nigeria’s higher education institutions (HEI),¹⁸ to the growth in the software industry,¹⁹ to the dynamism of Nigeria’s entertainment industry and the fast growth of the telecommunication industry.²⁰ These four industries constantly make use of knowledge products and hence the constant need to access, use and reuse contents. These knowledge products often enjoy proprietary rights, and the proprietary issues around the contents accessed, used and reused need to be addressed within a legal, policy and/or regulatory framework to achieve balance. This balance is meant to provide a system that enables sharing in the interest of users and the general public, and at the same time, it incentivizes right owners to continue creating and innovating.²¹ Achieving ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Theory of open access
• 3 Framework for open access in Nigeria
• 4 Open access journal articles
• 5 Open educational resources
• 6 Public sector information
• 7 Guidelines for developing a framework for access to knowledge in Nigeria
• 8 Conclusion
• Index