Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, has vowed to ensure a better budget for the ministry.
She asserted this on Friday in Abuja at a one-day management retreat for permanent secretaries, directors of the ministry and director generals of agencies and the ministry.
She admitted that the ministry has a paltry budget and promised to harmonise it to reflect the responsibility and the expectations that will provide the infrastructure they needed.
“I am working very hard, I promise you. When the envelope comes out, we are going to be happy. And then, the other thing I am doing in my ministry, and I know with the tourism as well, we are looking for investment coming in from outside.
“As you would know, my ministry has been able to secure $200 million from Afreximbank to invest in the tourism industry. Now, that money is coming straight in and it is a great thing,” Musawa said.
She urged the ministry’s top echelon to add value to ongoing efforts to grow the industry and see the vision ahead.
The minister also decried the unfair way arts and culture is perceived by sub nationals that tend to merely reduce everything in the sector to dancing.
“But culture is the new oil because not everybody in Nigerian villages has the ability to access that oil resource, but everybody in every single village in Nigeria has the ability to benefit from culture and creativity because they can even create content on their phone, and that is a huge resource. So, these are part of the structures and the policies that we are trying to put in place,” Musawa said.
Musawa boasted that by the time they convince governments and international investors to invest into culture, creativity, tourism, by the next cycle of election in 2027, every politician is going to be lobbying to be a minister in the ministry or the Ministry of Tourism.
She described her recent visit to United Nations General Assembly (UNGA79) in New York as groundbreaking, noting that she spoke to the Saudi, the UAE and Qatari authorities, who had expressed interest to invest in the infrastructure that will set up culture, creative arts and creative industry and part of tourism as well.
One of the discussants at the retreat was the former Director-General Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Dr. Joe Abah.
His lecture shed light on the roles and limitations of ministers, permanent secretaries and Special Advisers/ Assistants in public service.
Follow us on:
