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FG Unveils Plan To Generate $100 Billion, Create 2 Million Jobs Annually From Creative Economy

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The Federal Government has announced an ambitious plan to harness Nigeria’s creative economy, aiming to generate at least $100 billion and create over two million jobs annually.

Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, revealed the government’s strategy at a roundtable discussion with local and international investors, presenting her ministry’s comprehensive Plan and Roadmap.

According to Musawa, successful implementation of the plan has the potential to achieve these lofty objectives, transforming Nigeria’s creative sector into a significant contributor to the nation’s economy.

The plan’s key goals include: generating at least $100 billion yearl, cCreating over two million jobs annually.

  • The Current State Of The Industry

She lamented that despite its huge potential, Nigeria’s creative industry currently contributes just $5 billion to the economy, with its different sub-sectors at various stages of development.

The sub-sectors include music (sound recording, live performances and music videos), visual media (movies, TV shows, comedy shows, podcasts, content creation), visual arts & crafts (canvas painting, design, sculpturing, woodwork, and other craft works), heritage & museums, culinary arts, fashion, publishing (books, literary arts, poetry, magazine, etc), and video gaming.

  • Strategic Plans

To achieve its ambition, Musawa said the ministry has identified 14 pivotal initiatives that will drive the sector’s growth and significantly boost government revenue.

She grouped these initiatives under four unique pillars: Technology, Infrastructure and Funding, International Culture Promotion, and Intellectual Property Monetization.

Under the Technology pillar, the Minister said the Ministry intends to launch a digital content creation tool accessibility program to provide improved and discounted digital tools for Nigerian creatives.

Others include the launch of the Nigeria content distribution initiative to increase the nationwide adoption of digital tools for content distribution, the launch of a study to estimate the size of the creative industry in Nigeria including a framework to size the market going forward, and the expansion of internet accessibility in underserved regions in Nigeria to expand the reach of the other digital initiatives.

For Infrastructure and Funding, she said, this entails cataloguing existing infrastructure for the Arts, Culture and Creative Economy and its current state, developing the appropriate infrastructure needed to the industry and leveraging public-private partnership to fund development, providing incentives to stakeholders in the creative economy to boost investment and adoption of strategic initiatives, and launching a creative accelerator program to provide capital, and capacity building to creative companies.

“Under International Culture Promotion, the Ministry will establish a culture promotion office collaborating with Nigerian embassies abroad, to promote Nigerian arts, culture and creative economy, and leverage AFCTA to boost Nigerian creative output export regionally and globally.

“For Intellectual Property Monetisation, the Ministry will seek to establish Globally standardized CMOs (Collection Management Organisations) for most of the sectors, launch a Copyright Oversight Initiative in partnership with the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) to enhance tracking, monitoring, and enforcement of copyright standards, ensuring CMOs’ adherence to CISAC standards.

“It will also develop and implement the intellectual property framework and operationalize Nigeria’s IP licencing framework,” she said.

Musawa said that Nigeria’s Creative Economy has the potential to grow by 400% by 2027, positioning the sector to leapfrog in the long term and deliver the vision for the sector.

To aid in the realization of the government’s job creation target in the creative industry, the Minister disclosed that the Ministry has entered a partnership with BigWin Philanthropy, a major international development partner, to deliver a transformative capacity-building and job creation strategy.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s creative economy has a very low contribution to overall GDP in comparison with benchmark countries, with the industry contributing just 1.2% to Nigeria’s GDP in 2022, the least when compared to other African countries like Morocco (2.7%), South Africa (3.0%), and Egypt (4.3%).

It also ranks low (1.0%) in its ability to earn government revenue from the sector, compared to South Africa’s 12.5%.

 

Credit: Nairametrics

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Tinubu Receives Catholic Archbishop Kaigama In Aso Rock [PHOTOS]

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President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday held a meeting with the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Ignatius Kaigama, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The purpose of the archbishop’s visit was not immediately disclosed, as officials close to the presidency had yet to comment on the engagement.

The meeting came days after United States President Donald Trump alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria and threatened possible US military action if the violence continued.

Trump’s genocide allegation sparked public debate, with the Nigerian government rejecting the claims and maintaining that Christians and Muslims live peacefully in the country.

Last Friday, Trump announced that he had redesignated Nigeria as a “country of particular concern (CPC)” over alleged Christian genocide.

He further warned that the Nigerian government must “better move fast” or face the suspension of all US aid to the country.

The US President also threatened to deploy the “department of war” against terrorists “that attack our cherished Christians.”

In response, the Nigerian presidency stated that President Tinubu and Trump would engage on the issue of alleged Christian genocide in Nigeria.

Photographs released after Tuesday’s meeting showed Tinubu receiving Archbishop Kaigama at the Presidential Villa.

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Sowore Still Wanted, We’ll Do Everything To Get Him Arrested — Lagos CP

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The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Jimoh, has reiterated that his declaration of activist Omoyele Sowore as wanted remains valid, stating that the command will pursue all lawful steps to apprehend him.

Jimoh had earlier declared Sowore wanted for allegedly “causing a disturbance of public peace and acts to commit a serious felony by planning to obstruct traffic on the Third Mainland Bridge.”

During an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, the Commissioner disclosed that Sowore had not reported to the police since the declaration, insisting that the law will take its course.

“My declaration that Sowore is wanted is still in force,” CP Jimoh said on the programme.

He noted that Sowore’s lawyer contacted him via text message on Monday while he was attending to a riot situation and that the message was forwarded to the Officer-in-Charge of Legal at the Nigerian Police Force for further action.

“They agreed that Sowore will turn up at the CID because that is where the investigation is being carried out. The normal practice in investigation is to conclude inquiries before going for arrest,” he said.

The CP explained that despite the communication, Sowore did not show up as agreed.

“Throughout yesterday he has failed to report, and we are going to do everything within the ambit of the law to get him arrested, investigated, and prosecuted for these offences,” he added.

Jimoh maintained that he acted within his authority in declaring the activist wanted, stating that anyone who disagrees should seek redress in court.

‘No order to shoot at sight’

Responding to claims by Sowore that the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, instructed that he be shot on sight, Jimoh dismissed the allegation and described it as “a major misinformation.”

He stressed that the IGP would never issue such a directive and argued that the statement was aimed at inciting unrest.

“I think that is a great misinformation to the general public and to Nigerians at large, which no organisation will take lightly. The Inspector General of the Nigerian Police will never give such an order and has never given such an order,” CP Jimoh said.

“For what reason will he give such an order against anybody across the country? That is where people will know that Sowore, in all ramifications, is planning, and has even begun to put plans in place, to cause mayhem across Lagos. That is why I went all out to declare him wanted.

“So, for him to say that the IGP has ordered that he be shot on sight is a big misinformation and mischievous, which he is known for.”

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Court Orders Interim Forfeiture Of Pretty Mike’s Night Club

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Justice Musa Kakaki of the Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the interim forfeiture of Proxy Lagos Night Club, owned by Lagos socialite Mike Eze Nwalie Nwogu, popularly known as Pretty Mike, over allegations linked to drug-related offences.

The property, located at No. 7 Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, was directed to be forfeited temporarily on Tuesday after the court considered an ex parte application moved by Barrister Buhari Abdullahi, counsel to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The motion, marked FHC/L/MISC/1161/2025, sought the forfeiture order pending investigations.

Listed as respondents in the matter are Mike Nwalie, also known as Pretty Mike, and Joachim Hillary.

Barrister Abdullahi informed the court that the request was made under Sections 3 (c) & (f), 31(a), 32(a)(d), 33, 34 and 36 of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation 2004; Section 44(2)(k) of the 1999 Constitution; and Order 26, Rules 8 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2009, as well as the court’s inherent jurisdiction.

He asked the court to grant “an order of interim forfeiture in favour of the Federal Government of Nigeria and in Custody of The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency of a property situates at No. 7 Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos (Proxy Lagos Night Club) used as an instrumentality of drug dealing and drug abuse of 169 cylinders (384. 662 kilograms) of Nitrous Oxide (Laughing Gas) a dangerous substance of abuse and 200 grams of Cannabis Sativa, narcotic drug pending the conclusion of investigation.”

He further requested “an order suspending all activities of Proxy Lagos Night Club situates at No. 7 Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Logos, pending the conclusion of drug investigation. And for such further or other orders as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the Circumstances.”

The NDLEA counsel explained that the club was being used as a facility for storage, concealment, and abuse of 169 cylinders (384.662 kilograms) of Nitrous Oxide and 200 grams of Cannabis Sativa.

He also told the court that the substances were prepared for a large-scale drug-party event, which prompted the agency’s action. According to him, the club served as an instrumentality for drug crime and was therefore subject to forfeiture under existing laws.

Abdullahi stated that an interim forfeiture order was a statutory requirement to secure the property while investigation continued.

He added that the motion was supported by a 22-paragraph affidavit sworn to by Deputy Commander of Narcotics, Nasiru Garba Bungudu.

After reviewing the motion, affidavit, and legal argument, Justice Kakaki ruled that the application had merit and granted the interim forfeiture order. The matter was adjourned to January 28, 2026, for report on investigation progress.

Part of the affidavit stated that intelligence received in October 2025 revealed preparations for a large drug-related gathering at the club. Surveillance allegedly confirmed the plans, leading NDLEA operatives to storm the venue on October 26, 2025, at around midnight.

The affidavit noted that during the raid, “169 cylinders (384. 662 kilograms) of Nitrous Oxide (Laughing Gas) dangerous substance and 200 grams of Cannabis Sativa were recovered.” Over 200 individuals, including the first and second respondents, were arrested.

It was further alleged that the seized cannabis tested positive and weighed 200 grams, while the Nitrous Oxide weighed 384.662 kilograms. The affidavit stated that the second respondent had been involved in drug distribution at the club and acted with the knowledge of the club’s owner.

According to the affidavit, “the landed property, was being used as an instrumentality for committing drug offence is liable to forfeiture to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

The document asserted that the respondents’ actions constituted offences under the NDLEA Act, adding that the interim attachment was necessary to secure the property and prevent continued illegal activities. It also claimed that granting the application would not prejudice any party and served the interest of justice.

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