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Prof. Armstrong Idachaba, Director-General (DG), National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), on Sunday called on Federal Government to come up with a structured policy framework, with clearly articulated visions for the creative industry.
He said that the structured policy should be able to also quantify in material economic terms, those benefits or the actual derivables and positively affect the economic well-being of the nation.
Idachaba made the call in an address at a three-day TMJ Live Events Creative Conversation with the theme: “The Creative, His Productivity and the Economy” which ended on Sunday in Lokoja.
He said alongside the policy, there was “strong” need for institutional collaborations between the Government, Private sector and Academia, to converse on the creative industry issues and brought them to the front burner.
“Serious countries deliberately create creative youth policies, creating avenues for them to experiment positively, to reconstruct some of their dreams and express themselves in very constructive manner.
“That way, they more or less re-identify some of their own personal aspirations and they are also more able to articulate what their value should be in the society as a culture generally.
Also, speaking, Dr Kashim Akor, DG, National Productivity Centre, called for participation of the Organised Private Sector in the promotion and sustenance of the creative industry in Nigeria.
Akor, in an address titled: “The Creative Industry and Productivity: Implications for National Economy” said talents for creative industry must be harnessed to create productivity as a way to address social vices.
“If you create jobs and people are engaged, the vices will fizzle out,” he said.
Idachaba said that Creative Industry stakeholders should make concerted efforts to promote not only productivity and self-reliance, but advance Corporate Social Responsibility to reach the general public.
Dr Babatunde Irukera, DG, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), urged the youths to discover their talents and pursue it, be passionate about it and display acceptable character.
He said the Commission was working with other regulators like NBC to provide level playing ground and ensure that all entertainers who had content, to air them on pay-television stations and to protect their intellectual properties.
The Convener, Thompson Makolo Jr (TMJ), a creative artist, who used the occasion to launch the Makolo Talents Foundation, said the effort was aimed at providing a platform for the Youth in creative industry to maximise their potentials.
Makolo who centred his conversation on Talent, Passion and Character, said without the right attitude driven by the three words, creative efforts would only amount to a waste.
He said that Nigeria was blessed with abundant human resources who could hold their heads high anywhere in the world, but lacked the appropriate attitude to launch them to success and stardom.
The movie actor however appealed to the government, corporate organisations and individuals to invest in the creative industry, saying it had the potential to generate “huge employment” to reduce youth indulgence in vices.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the occasion was chaired by Abdulrahman Khalifa Okene and graced by the state Commissioner for Culture and Tourism.
Others present were former Commissioners in the state and youths from all walks-of-life.
