Federal Government says no less than ten thousand jobs will be created as a result of the planned renovation of the National Arts Theatre.
Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed stated this on Sunday while handing over the structure to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers’ Committee.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said upon complete remodelling, the National Theatre would attract $20 billion annually to the economy.
Speaking at the event attended by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, his Deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare; the Chairman of the Committee of Banks’ CEOs, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Culture, Grace Isu Gekpe, among other dignitaries, Emefiele said the CBN-led Bankers Committee would inject N25 billion into the Creative Industries and Financing Initiative (CIFI. Part of the fund will be spent remodeling the theatere.
“Our goal is to support startups and existing businesses across these four pillars, as well as foster the development of a Nigeria Creative Industries Centre in four major cities in Nigeria. Towards the realisation of this objective, the Bankers Committee intends to support this creative venture with about N25 billion of initial funding. The National Theatre Iganmu, Lagos is expected to serve as the initial pilot for the Nigeria Creative Industries Centre.
“The National Theatre when fully renovated will be able to support skills acquisition and job creation for over 1 million Nigerians over the next five years. These Nigerians will be empowered with funds at single digits interest rate, high level training using state-of-the-art tools, and networks, that will enable them to turn their ideas into a reality. When they are able to achieve their objective of creating a new music product, a high-quality movie, an IT software application, or a fashionable outfit, the bankers committee will work to ensure that they are able to distribute their work on a larger scale,” he said.
‘’The good news is that this project will not lead to a single job loss. Instead, it will create more. Some 6,000 jobs will be created during the construction phase, while the completed project could generate up to an additional 600 permanent and 2000 to 3000 call-on/call-off jobs. This is as good as it gets!’’ he said.
Sanwo-Olu commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his strong backing to the vision of revitalising the National Theatre.
