From Bello Wakili (Abuja)
The Federal Executive Council has approved the execution of a memorandum of understanding between the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and the Central Bank of Nigeria worth N21 billion for the renovation of the National Theatre Iganmu, Lagos.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed revealed this while briefing Journalists on the outcome of the federal executive council meeting held at the presidential villa Abuja.
The Minister said the execution of the project would help address unemployment in the country, as it would generate up to a million jobs in the next three years as well as boost investment in the creative industry.
Mohammed said the MoU has a life span of 21 years before it will be reverted back to government.
He assured citizens that no job would be lost as a result of the execution of the project and its subsequent management by the private sector.
Lai Mohammed also disclosed that the council approved the sum of N9.43 billion to complete the digital switch over, which Nigeria had previously missed the deadline set for implementation.
He stated that the ITU had two cut off dates, one in 2017 and another in 2020 where the nations were supposed to complete their movement from analogue to digital but unfortunately the country couldn’t make it.
He however assured that with the approval of the memo, the country would be striving to switch from analogue to digital.
He noted that they will now agree on a date for a launch of the digital switch off in the biggest cities like Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt.