Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed has inaugurated an implementation committee for the post-COVID-19 initiatives on the creative industry, charging it to design a plan that will catalyse the growth of the industry.
Inducting the committee virtually in his office in Abuja on Tuesday, the minister listed the terms of reference for the committee as including the design of an implementation plan on the immediate and short-term relief for the creative industry in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
Others, he said, are to design a policy framework for tax relief for the various sectors in the creative industry, if it is identified as one of the measures aimed at achieving immediate and short-term relief for the industry; and to work out a detailed implementation plan for a long-term intervention for the overall development of the creative industry in Nigeria.
Mohammed described the creative industry as the second biggest job creator in the country after agriculture.
He urged members of the committee to approach the assignment with a great sense of duty, as the development and growth of the creative industry are crucial to the nation’s economy.
He also commended the committee on post-COVID-19 initiatives on the creative industry for producing a “phenomenal” report.
In his remarks, chairman of the implementation committee who is also the director-general of the National Council for Arts and Culture Segun Runsewe pledged his committee’s readiness to come up with robust recommendations for the overall benefit of the creative industry and the nation in general.
The committee which has six weeks to submit its report also comprises ace comedian Ali Baba (deputy chairman), Anita Eboigbe, Baba Agba and Joe Mutah (secretary).
