Story By Jude Njoku

A London based Estate Surveyor and Valuer, Mr Emeka Chigozie Emeka has threatened to drag the Nigerian Government to court for allegedly infringing on his intellectual property rights on the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, now before the National Assembly.

In a petition and pre-notice addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President, David Mark and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, Mr Emeka who is also a Lawyer both in Nigeria and England, claimed that the Petroleum Industry Bill was created from his research work on the “Road Map to Peace and Development in the Niger Delta” .In the petition dated April 28, 2010, Mr Emeka stated that “I strongly believe that my intellectual property right has been infringed upon by the Petroleum Industry bill presently before the National Assembly”

Continuing, Mr Emeka who in 1999, formulated the Mekadolf Formula 3, a mathematical formula in the real estate profession however noted that he has no intention of placing his personal interest over and above our collective overriding national interest. “However there must be a balance between an individual’s interest and national interest so that the individual who deserves honour for his contribution to the nation will be duly honoured while the nation benefits from the individual’s contribution”.

The England -based realtor posited that Nigeria has suffered tremendous setbacks due to the lack of recognition of highly skilled professionals in the country. This scenario, according to him, is responsible for the prevailing brain-drain.

Mr. Emeka Chigozie

He maintained that the “creative idea of compelling the oil companies by legislation to go public and sell some of their shares to the people from oil-producing areas is my idea published in my research work delivered as a conference paper on Niger Delta Crisis in 2006”.

“My research document is one of my humble contributions to the well-being of my country, Nigeria and humanity in general. It is not out of place or a misplaced plea that my humble effort should be acknowledged and rewarded by my country. I sincerely believe that it will not be good in the sight of God and Man for Nigeria to forget me while using my creative ideas and research work to proffer solution to the Niger Delta crisis,” he said.

Mr Emeka who last year invented Mekadolf Formula 7 to solve the problems of compensation valuation and dispute that arose from the sewage pollution caused by Southern Water Company Plc in Kent, England, alleged that before he relocated to London in 2008, his research document was handed over to the then Presidential Adviser to the Niger Delta, Mr Timi Alaibe through Mr Ezra Tietie, a Port-Harcourt based lawyer.