The Minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hajiya Hannatu Musawa, says the federal government will harness the arts and creative industry sector for job creation and economic diversification.
She was speaking in Katsina, shortly after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Katsina State government on harnessing the arts, tourism and creative industry in the state.
Musawa noted that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has launched the Renewed Hope Cultural Project, which seeks to harness the unique cultural and tourism potentials of each state in the country, with the aim of building on them to promote both local and international tourism.
“This MoU will cover the Renewed Hope Cultural Project which was borne out of the Tinubu administration’s passion to promote Nigeria’s cultural identity by leveraging on the peculiarities of each state.
“Every state has something unique about its history and heritage and something very unique about its creative expression, therefore we want to capture that.
“This is why we are reaching out to each state, to sign an MoU that will focus on developing that uniques about its history and heritage, this will promote local tourism and boost the national economy.
“These peculiar cultural and tourist sites are mostly represented by historic monuments, we see these monuments in terms of their economic expression and we are determined to translate them into items of economic value” Musawa said.
She pointed out that the Bola Tinubu administration is passionate about harnessing the creative talents of Nigerian youths through a series of programmes and projects to be rolled out by the ministry.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is very passionate about the youths, he wants to harness their immense creative potentials to make them more productive to themselves and to the economy, that was why he created this ministry, with emphasis on the Creative Economy component.
“We took our time to study the unique creative potentials of each state and came up with a proper structure, policy and framework for harnessing them for economic diversification in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“In Katsina State, we plan to launch a huge Cultural/Creative Hub that will be a one-stop-shop for young people, we will build their capacity in the areas of innovation, animation, arts and other aspects of creativity.
“Through this hub, young people who have not had proper education will be given another chance to excell in the arts and creative industry”, she noted.
The Minister, who toured major historical monuments in Katsina State such as the Kusugu Well, Gobarau Minaret, and Durbi Ta Kusheyi Rocks stated that the sites will be developed and preserved with the aim of earning recognition as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Earlier, the Katsina State Governor, Dr. Dikko Umaru Radda, represented by the Commissioner for Rural and Social Development, Prof. Abdulhamid Ahmed, said the state government is ready to partner with the Federal Government on its Renewed Hope Cultural Project.
He thanked the Federal Government for its decision to establish a Creative Hub in the state, which he said will promote the arts and creative talents of young people.
COV/Ismail Adamu
