The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has revealed that his ministry will collaborate with the state governments to leverage on the cultural industry of the nation to employ many people, especially the youth.
He spoke during the inauguration of the “One Lagos Fiesta’’ at Agege Stadium, Lagos on Sunday night.
“I can assure you that by January 2016, when we will start rolling out our programmes, we will be able to mop up as many unemployed youths as possible using the cultural platform,’’ he said. He said that the Federal Government had earmarked N500 billion in 2016 budge to help young people who wanted to acquire skills and trade.
“What we have decided to do is to cooperate with all states and ask each state to give us 10 cities in their state, 10 festivals and 10 cultural industries. “With this, we can have 360 festivals plus another five in Abuja making 365 festivals in Nigeria. “This will mean that for every day, there will be festival taking place in one part of Nigeria,’’ he said.
Mohammed said that the idea would enable Nigeria to have a compendium of cultural festivals and dates. He added that the compendium would be sent abroad to intimate people with the festivals available in the country at a particular time.
Also Speaking, Gov. Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos State said that the fiesta was part of his administration’s efforts to bring governance to the communities and to have a government of inclusion. According to him, the fiesta is about the people living in the state. The highlights of the fiesta included live performance by musicians, including Seun Kuti, Dbanj and Sasha, among others.
The fiesta is organised by the Lagos State Government to enliven the New Year crossover celebration. The festival-like event is scheduled to hold simultaneously in five different locations of the state from Dec. 27 to Jan.1, 2016.