Governor Nasir El-Rufai has promised seed money to support the emergence of a hub for cultural enterprises that will provide a source of livelihood for the youth.
El-Rufai expressed hope that this significant support will accelerate the realisation of the culture hub as a centre of innovation that encourage creativity and talent development as well as boost Internally Generated Revenue in the state.
The governor who made the pledge when he hosted a delegation of performing artists who visited him at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House on Wednesday, observed that there is an obligation to expand options for young people across sectors.
“Kaduna State has a population of about 10 million people, with 70% of them being youth. The state government can only employ less than 100,000 into the civil service. This is why we are looking at other ways to create job opportunities for our youth to earn a means of livelihood, and specialize in certain skills,’’ he said.
The governor added that youth unemployment is a major cause of the vices and insecurity in the country today, therefore it has become imperative to look outside the box and create avenues for youth to be gainfully employed.
According to him, Kaduna State Government supports cultural enterprise as one of the avenues for creating jobs, developing talents and improving internal-revenue generation in the state.
El Rufai explained that the promotion of talent and enterprise ‘’is in line with the rationale for establishing the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Technology (MBIT).
‘’The mandate of MBIT includes policies and programmes to encourage innovation, enterprise, job-creation and economic diversification. The focal areas for this ambitious effort is to support talent and skills, which include enterprises in the technology, cultural and other spheres,’’ he added.
The governor appreciated the contributions of ‘’ the culture industry in terms of skills generation, job creation, promotion of our cultural values and history preservation. ‘’
Also speaking, Alhaji Ibrahim Mandawari, who led the delegation, appreciated the governor for the immense contribution he has made for the emergence of the Kaduna hub for cultural enterprises.
He assured El Rufai of ‘’the judicious use of the proposed culture hub, which would host a world class theatre, a cinema and shopping malls, all designed to boost economic activity in the State.’’
Mandawari added that the enterprises in the culture sector, including books, music, animation, movies and others, are veritable avenues for job creation, from direct jobs in studios, on sets and in the fashion industry to the other vendors in the hospitality sector, amongst others.
He appreciated the support given to them by the Kaduna State Government and assured that the industry will keep doing its best in promoting peace and unity, enlightenment and job creation.
