The art, culture, tourism, and creative economy sector is definitely the soul of any nation; it is the major ‘eye’ through which locals see themselves, while foreigners swarm countries with favourable outlook. That ‘swarming’ to the local economy means more Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), more job creations to cater for tourists, and more projection of national pride.
Ever wonder why countries like Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, among others, generate substantial part of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
through tourism? Nigeria is not doing badly in this area, but things can definitely be better.
To signify the importance of this sector, it has consistently been reported that under optimum conditions, it has the capacity to displace oil as the greatest foreign exchange earner for the country. A glimpse into this can be seen in the country’s movie and
music industry. In 2024, Nollywood generated more than N3 billion domestic box revenue, with the highest grossing, Funke Akindele’s ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa,’ raking in N1.13 billion.
Also, an integral part of this sector is the now popular ‘Detty December’ festivities in Lagos. It was reported that Lagos State generated an estimated N107.6 billion through Detty December in 2024, and when one converts that into foreign exchange, that is about $71.6 million in state revenue, fuelled by 1.2 million visitors to the state who needed short-let apartments for their accommodations, as well as those who thronged the state’s popular nightclubs.
In the area of culture, the Calabar festival, Osun Osogbo festival, Ojude Oba, masquerade festivals, among others, continue to place Nigeria on the map of global culture festivals.
Osun Osogbo and Ojude Oba festivals have both changed the face of tourism in the country. A trip to Osogbo, the Osun State capital, during the Osun Osogbo festival will reveal why ordinary people in the state capital always look forward to August. From the
hotel owners, to transporters, food vendors, sellers of artistic materials, everybody benefits from the millions of people who troop into the state capital for the festival. The same is also said of the Ojude Oba festival in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, when sons and daughters of Ijebu from all over the world return to pay homage to the Awujale of Ijebuland (king) on the third day of the Heya festival. There are other festivals across the country that if well harnessed, would go a long way in stimulating the local economy through the creation of jobs. Now, having pointed to the good things about promoting arts and culture to project die image of the country and also boost the economy through the creation of jobs, these positives would not have been recorded without the main driver of the sector, the Economy.
The ministry, with the Renewed Hope Action Plan, has created two million new jobs in the creative industry; increased contribution to GDP of arts, culture and creative economy, foster strategic partnerships and collaborations with international institutions and stakeholders for the promotion of Nigerian arts, culture and entertainment, establish comprehensive human capacity building/professional training, programmes across die
creative economy value chain. It has also initiated and implemented quarterly citizens and stakeholders’ engagement sessions to communicate government activities and serve as feedback mechanism.
Now, delving into specific policies of the ministry, a great initiative is the Creative Economy Development Fund (CEDF), which primary focus is to deliver
funding to creatives. There is no denying the fact that the biggest challenge of practitioners in the sector is raising fund for their projects, and this is what this initiative addresses.
Apart from funding, however, a secondary objective of this is to provide a strategic solution to leverage IP assets as collateral and financial products in the creative and digital markets. One good about this step is that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the CEDF.
To further project the cultural potentials of Nigeria, the Destination 2030: Nigeria Everywhere, was created. It is to establish Nigeria as a global hub for art, culture and tourism by 2030. The results of this initiative, although years long in the making before the advent of the Tinubu administration, is the now global-acclaimed Detty December celebrations in Lagos.
There is also the NGAs art exhibition and collaboration with the Enugu State government to promote visual art and artists’ artworks. This collaboration has, therefore, established a platform for upcoming artists to showcase their artworks in order to create opportunities for wealth generation and promotion of visual art.
With Lagos and Abuja being the major heartbeats of the country, the ministry also established the Creative Lagos and Abuja Initiative, and this is primarily to focus on boosting Nigeria’s creative economy and empower creative entrepreneur. To achieve this, the ministry has hosted art, film and cultural exhibitions and facilitated funding for creative
startups.
Now, as this government marches into the final two years of its first term, the Federal
Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy is not taking its feet off the throttle in its Renewed Hope Agenda Goal. It has listed key promises and it is already achieving success in such areas such as Governance and Leadership in creative industry, financial incentives and entertainment infrastructure. In the area of Governance and Leadership in creative industry, the ministry has been reviewing the existing legislative and regulatory framework, as well as reviewing the legislative and enforcement for copyright and intellectual property. It is known that piracy is a big challenge in the industry and collaborations with relevant government agencies, especially the Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC), will go a long way in protecting creatives from intellectual property theft.
A good step in this direction is that the National Tourism Policy is awaiting adoption from the National Council of Art Culture Tourism and Creative Economy. The FEC has also approved the Intellectual Property (IP) Monetization Pilot to promote financial expansion
and the use of IP assets within the creative sector, enabling creators to use IP as collateral for funding.
To signify the importance of this sector, it has consistently been reported that under optimum conditions, it has the capacity to displace oil as the greatest foreign exchange earner for the country.
In the area of financial incentives, the goal is to establish a Media City, modelled on the Dubai Media City, as well as the establishment of special investment
fund to inject grants and affordable loans to young entrepreneurs and businesses in the creative industries. In entertainment structure, apart from the Media City being proposed, there are also plans to upgrade existing entertainment venues across the country to world-class standard.
The ministry also aims to equip select universities in each of the six geopolitical zones to function as centres of excellence for students of humanities, fine arts and film, while hospitality training programmes will also be established to give young Nigerians the knowledge and skills required to create a high quality workforce for the tourism and hospitality industry.
Now, going by the laudable initiatives of the ministry, it is also important it collaborates with security agencies towards enhancing security, especially at hotspots of the country’s cultural sector, because more people would only embrace Nigeria’s cultural, entertainment and tourist potentials when they are sure of their safety
