FG INCLUDES CREATIVE INDUSTRY IN ECONOMIC GROWTH, RECOVERY PLAN ….Lai Muhammed

The Federal Government has included the Creative Industry in its
Economic Recovery and Growth Plan in order to underscore the political
will to harness the immense potential of the sector for economic
empowerment.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday in a paper he presented at the 2016
Nigerian Tourism Investment Forum and Exhibition, with the theme
“TOURISM: A TOOL FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT.”

He said Culture and Tourism, a sub-sector in the Creative Industry,
will play a significant role in the Economic Recovery Plan following
the crash in oil prices with debilitating effects on the nation’s
economy.

“In this regard, there are two key initiatives. The first is the
initiative to grow the tourism industry through a strong value
proposition that include improved security to encourage domestic and
international mobility, the review of existing tourism legislation to
eliminate overlapping functions among agencies regulating the
industry, the strengthening of the Nigerian Tourism Development
Corporation through better funding and capacity building, the
promotion of a national calendar of festivals, the launch of an
awareness campaign within and outside Nigeria and the promotion of the
building of world class hotels and conference centres.

“The second initiative is the need to support the Creative Industry as
a whole. This involves encouraging the development of a special
funding window for the industry, provision of incentives for private
sector investment in the sector and the strengthening of intellectual
property rights regime to make the protection of the intellectual
property of Nigerian artists a matter of priority,” Alhaji Mohammed
said.

He said the Tourism Sub-sector has emerged as one of the key
instruments for employment generation, poverty alleviation and
sustainable human development worldwide and that the global trend
should be enacted in the Nigerian experience, particularly in the face
of dwindling resources from oil.

The Minister observed that the tourism industry generally is assuming
increasing importance in most countries of the world because of its
many facets which serve as tools for economic recovery,
diversification and development, especially in enhancing women’s
economic opportunities, promotion of their effective control over
resources and offering of safe spaces for women and girls to develop
support networks and life skills.

“Also, for individual countries, the advantage of the tourism sector
lies in its employment-creating potential and the challenge it
presents for the enhancement of the quality of the environment.
Through the development of the tourism sector, a country could become
well placed to promote the development of its traditional cottage
industries, tourist attractions and even the people’s life style and
heritage,to the world at large,” he said.

The Minister said the Federal Government has placed priority on the
development and maintenance of infrastructural facilities, human
capital development, wealth creation and environmental stability as a
deliberate effort to promote tourism in Nigeria.

“At present, the areas of investment opportunities with bright
prospects for economic recovery and development abound in the country
for investors to key into, although there is need for proper packaging
of the tourism sites to attract international and local investors.

”It is with this motive in mind that I was prompted to embark on a
visit to the UNWTO in Spain to seek for collaboration with the world
body on meeting the competing needs within the Tourism, Hospitality
and Culture Sector Industry. I must state that the outcome of the
visit was tremendous, involving a package to send some experts to
assist Nigeria in capacity building, policy review, tourism sites
development and more expectations. The first of such experts is due to
arrive in Abuja on December 5th, 2016,” he said.