Gift Olivia Samuel, The Sight News
ABUJA-As the 11th edition of the International Arts and Crafts (INAC) Expo kicked off in Abuja, stakeholders have called on governments at all level to harness the potentials inherent in the creative sector to grow the economy.
The International Arts and Crafts expo which is a flagship programme of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), is geared towards empowering the masses, stimulating rapid socio-economic growth and contributing to the Gross Domestic Product of the nation.
Speaking at the Official Opening Ceremony of the Expo on Monday, the Special Guest of Honour, Publisher, Leadership Newspaper, Sam Nda Isaiah, emphasized that it is about time governments at all levels see the sector as one that can set the country afire, if well organized, polished and well harnessed.
He stressed also, that the creative sector if well developed, will be a source of foreign exchange to the government, urging Nigerians to stop seeing arts and crafts as mere decoration for the adornment of their homes, but to see them as foreign exchange waiting to be earned.
“When you look around, some people see articles that adorn homes but I see dollars, I see foreign exchange, I see a lot of forex. Nigeria’s art and crafts are probably our country’s best top secret, our people are super creative and resourceful and we can see that from the quality of our crafts” he said.
The Special Guest further advised the NCAC DG to work with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to look into the possibility of creating specific intervention funds for the Art and Craft sector.
This intervention he said, “Will boost employment for our creative youths and add more Forex for our country. More importantly, exporting our arts and crafts is an important way of positively driving our country.
“As Nigeria moves to shake off the course of a mono product economy, a civilized world of multiple streams of income, Nigerian arts and crafts are some of the very low hanging fruits we must start to look at. What are we waiting for, there is a lot to harness here”, he remarked.
He urged the Ambassadors present to take full advantage of these resources and encouraged the youths to take the creative sector advantage Nigeria has over most other countries serious.
Also, the Chief Host and the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the creative industry has become an intensive strategy sector to boost competitiveness, productivity, employment and sustainable growth in Nigeria and the world at large
The Minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Deaconess Grace Gekpe, disclosed that the Sector contributed 2.3 percent, about N239 billion to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP) in 2016 and also recorded growth of 3.72 per cent in 2016 and 4.72 in 2017.
He commended NCAC, for sustaining the tempo of the event, which has been upscaled to an international brand and also urged corporate bodies to invest in the creative sector for sustainable growth .
Earlier, the Director-General, NCAC, Otunba Runsewe, stated that the 11th edition of the International Arts and Crafts Expo is a dream fulfilled for him and NCAC.
He further noted that the exposition has lived up to its expectation of bringing about regional integration, continental unity as well as unveiling the economic opportunities in the Arts and crafts sector.
“Until now, the exposition had been known as African Arts and Crafts (AFAC) Expo, with public and private sector players in the Arts and Crafts sector in Africa as its primary target. The decision to change the name to International Arts and Crafts(INAC) Expo, was taken last year. Having consolidated itself at the regional level, it became imperative to launch into the global arena in order to network with the world” he said.
He further commended the spirit of creativity, commitment and entrepreneurship of the participating countries, states and stakeholders, and solicitated the support of all participants in ensuring the sustenance and depth of the expo.
The week long International expo with the theme, “Networking Nigerian Arts to the World”, will climax on the 24th of October 2018.
