Minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the Federal Government has taken necessary steps to restore the creative industry to its pride of place to enhance its viability and contribution to the nation’s GDP.

The Minister stated this Sunday, in Lagos during a stage performance of Professor Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman at the National Theatre.

Lai Mohammed disclosed that Nigeria has signed two strategic Memorandum of Understanding in the area of capacity building and infrastructural development to propel and sustain this impending boom in the creative industry. Lack of accessible funds has over the years constituted a major challenge to development of the industry but that will soon change as the National Assembly is working on a bill for National Endowment Fund, to improve access to easy funds for artists, the Minister said.

He acknowledged that the creative industry thrives when it is firmly positioned on a tripod of Government, private sector and the creative artists. To this end the Minister said that the Federal Government is working towards creating an enabling environment and strengthening of the regulatory framework, laws and protection, to enhance the confidence of the private sector to get on board and support the creative industry.

creative industry practitioners
Ilemakin Soyinka receiving a gift from the Minister on behalf of Prof Wole Soyinka
Countries such as South Africa, Egypt and Kenya have benefited immensely from their creative industry and Nigeria should not be an exception.

The Minister decried the activities of pirates which have taken their toll on the creative industry. ” Piracy is worse than armed robbery while pirated products are as poisonous as adulterated drugs, we will start renewed campaign against piracy with the elite as they are the worst culprits”.

The Zonal Director Nigerian Television Authority, Lagos Network Centre Mr Chidi Uluka who accompanied the Minister to the event pledged the support of the NTA to the creative industry. “NTA is ready to partner with the creative industry towards achieving the goal of the ministry for the industry and the economy”.

http://www.peplnews.com/2016/11/minister-charge-committee-tourism-plan.html

Minister charges committee on realistic tourism master plan
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has challenged members of the newly inaugurated committee on the Review of Nigeria’s Tourism Master Plan, to come up with realistic policies that will drive tourism from the periphery to the mainstream of the economy.

The minister who was speaking at the inauguration of the committee recently in Abuja, said even though the Tourism Master Plan was designed in 2006, a plan of action to implement it was abandoned half way hence the need for members of the committee to review the Plan in consonance with contemporary challenges and realities and the peculiarities of Nigeria.

“This team is to review our own Tourism Master Plan and see which aspect of that Master Plan needs to be reviewed in consonance with what has happened both in terms of technology, politics and even in terms of climate change. We are talking about reasonable and sustainable tourism because what we are offering to the world in terms of cultural and natural resources are also dependent on Mother Nature, and you must make sure that we do not expend it or expose it in a manner that children unborn will not have anything to show for it,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said the administration will resuscitate the Presidential Council on Tourism (PCT) and review the Master Plan among others in its bid to make tourism one of the pillars of the nation’s economy.


He said the Steering Committee on the PCT had already commenced the drafting of the Council’s agenda, which will be handed over to the President.

The Minister also disclosed the readiness of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) to assist Nigeria in the review of the Master Plan, having contributed immensely to the drafting of the initial plan.

He underscored the need to develop a synergy among all sectors of government, the private sector and the local community in order to have a multi-sectoral approach towards the development of tourism in Nigeria.

“The thing about tourism is that it’s probably the most inclusive of all endeavours in life,” Alhaji Mohammed said, noting that in tourism, the Ministries of Agriculture Health, Power, Works and Housing and even Trade and Investment are all important, ”and until we take this on board we will not be able to transit from being a country of huge tourism potential to a country’s who’s economy will be driven by tourism and this is the beginning”.

Members of the Review Committee include representatives from the Federal Ministries of Information and Culture, Interior, Budget and National Planning, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, as well as the National Association of Nigeria’s Travel Agencies.