The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, has said the creative industry, which encompasses television, music,
film production, advertising, arts and culture, is capable of creating 1 million
jobs in the country in the next three years, if properly harnessed.
The Minister made the assertion when he received a delegation
from the African Music Awards (AFRIMA), led by the Head of Culture Department
at the African Union Commission (AUC), Ms Angela Martins, in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting,
which requires each of the 24 million TV households in the country to have a Set
top Box or Smart TV, will create thousands of jobs by the companies licensed to
produce the boxes.
Alhaji Mohammed said hundreds of thousands of jobs will also
be created from television production for at least 180 state channels, 30 regional
channels and at least 10 National channels, catering for local music, news,
film, children programming and sports that will be created once the country
fully digitizes its broadcasting in 2017.
Other sources of job creation, according to him, are the
production of local content; the exponential increase in the production of
movies, since Nollywood will move to Push and Subscription Video On Demand on
the STB and online; the increase in the number of writers, lighting, sound,
camera and editing professionals as well as actors; the need for wholesalers,
retailers, electricians, installers to supply the market with STBs, TV sets and
dongles; the massive increase in television and online advertising, as well as
the need to create Apps to offer goods and services and for interaction and
entertainment at every level.
The Minister said the knock-on effect of the booming
production business would grow Nigeria's capacity to meet the quality demand
for fully indigenous content creations, which will bring back the millions of
dollars currently being exported to South Africa, Europe, USA by Nigerian
producers.
''The creative industry has turned around the fortunes of
California, India, Turkey, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Australia, etc and can
do the same in Nigeria,'' he said. ''The industry can redress the economic
malaise of Africa as a whole, and is the panacea to youth unemployment and a
tool for unity and peace.''
Alhaji Mohammed said the Ministry of Information and Culture
has no option but to support AFRIMA, since part of its (Ministry's) mandate is
to promote and showcase the nation's culture.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Ms. Martins, said the
visit was to solicit the Minister's full support for the 2016 AFRIMA, to be hosted
by Lagos State in November.
She said the AU had been partnering with AFRIMA since 2014
because it offers a platform to recognize talents across Africa and also to
celebrate African values and culture through music.
0 Comments