By Justina Okpanku
A former Minister of Information, Culture and National Orientation, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has urged arts & craft people and other Nigerians in the creative industries to raise the bar in their efforts for desired benefits.
He said non-oil export was the game changer.
“The sector has employed millions of Nigerians and contributed substantially to national GDP, demonstrating that creativity and culture are powerful economic drivers,” he said.
He said: “We must recognise that the future of Nigeria’s prosperity lies not only beneath the ground in oil, but within the minds, talents, and creativity of our people.”
Mohammed expressed this view at the Eko Vanguard International Summit and Awards (E-VISA), an annual socio-cultural cum economic gathering of the movers and shakers of the culture and tourism ecosystem.
E-VISA is also a “powerful fusion of the creative economy, culture, tourism gastronomy, investments, partnerships, exhibitions, advocacy and awards further positioning Lagos, the entertainment capital of Africa with high-value networking and global visibility.”
It was also an occasion when the Group General Manager of Continental Hotels Nigeria, Mr. Karl Hala; Director, Sales & Marketing, Eko Hotels and Suites, Iyadunni Gbadebo; Dr. Chief Nike Okundaye aka Mama Nike and other creative people in the country were recognised for excellence having used culture to direct funds as well as create employment for thousands, skilled and unskilled, both young and old.
E-VISA is powered by Erelu Yeye Odua Foundation in partnership with Eko Tourism Foundation, the Nigerian premium public-private partnership for the tourism ecosystem under the Chairmanship of Lai Mohammed, and X -media Group.
The organisers of the E-VISA 2026 Summit/ awards in Lagos recently, stated that the creative people are recognized for coming together not only to “remember who we are but also to know our cultural economy and telling us our culture is enough to feed us.”
Lai Mohammed who was represented at the event by Mama Nike commended the organisers for creating a platform that celebrates the power of culture, creativity, tourism, and enterprise in shaping the future of our nation, with Lagos proudly standing at the centre of this dynamic ecosystem.
HRH Abiola Dosumu the Erelu Kuti IV of Lagos, the Yeye Odua who has been in the vanguard of culture for years
said the award recipients have actually brought a lot of benefits.
She thanked
Mama Nike, the founder of Nike Art Galleries in Nigeria for her pace- setting job, saying that she brought Nigerian textile, Adire to the world stage.
“Dr. Chief Nike has packaged Adire and it has enhanced our well being,” she said gleefully.
In the same vein, Erelu thanked people of Isale Eko who she said always long for Eyo festival.
She said: “Eyo cultural festival enriches, it bring a lot of benefits. People come from far and wide and everybody is buying, eating and drinking. It involves a lot of money.”
Mohammed told how ” on the 19th of May 2020, at the height of the global pandemic, when economies around the world were struggling to survive, I inaugurated a 22-member Post-COVID-19 Initiatives Committee for the Creative and Culture Industry. The committee, made up entirely of private-sector practitioners, was tasked with assessing the devastating impact of the pandemic on the sector and recommending the most effective stimulus and policy initiatives that the Federal Government could adopt to support recovery.”
The report, he said, produced by that committee has since become something of a guiding document for Nigeria’s creative and cultural industry.
According to him,
it highlighted what we already knew: that our creative ecosystem from film, music and fashion to tourism, hospitality, publishing, visual arts and events, is not only vibrant but also economically significant.
“Nowhere is this more evident than in Lagos, Nigeria’s cultural capital. Lagos is the beating heart of our creative industries, the home of Nollywood, the engine of our music industry, a hub for fashion, gastronomy, tourism, and major cultural festivals. Before the pandemic, twenty thousand events took place in Lagos every month, thus underscoring not just the city’s position as one of Africa’s foremost centres for culture, entertainment, and innovation, but also the vast business opportunities available.”
For him, the sociocultural economy represents a powerful alternative growth path, one that creates jobs for our youth, attracts global investments, strengthens our national identity, and expands Nigeria’s influence on the world stage.
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While commending the organisers for their vision and for continuing to position Lagos as Africa’s sociocultural hub,
pointed out that the vision requires strong partnerships between government and the private sector, sustained investments in infrastructure, improved access to funding, stronger intellectual property protection, and deliberate policies that empower creative entrepreneurs and cultural institutions.
“I encourage all stakeholders present, from policy makers to investors, artists, entrepreneurs, and cultural custodians, to work together to unlock the enormous potential of Nigeria’s sociocultural economy.
If we do so with purpose and commitment, we will not only build a stronger creative sector, but also create a more diversified, resilient, and globally competitive Nigerian economy,” he said.
Hala, one of the awardees, said E-VISA is not about discussion alone but about partnerships, implementation, and measurable outcomes. He called on stakeholders to move from conversation to execution, from potential to performance, and from visibility to value, pointing out that Nigeria does not need reinvention but alignment and acceleration.
He described a vision of a nation where culture is not history but industry, youth is not a challenge but the greatest asset, and tourism is not leisure but a serious economic driver.
He continued, “the power of E-VISA is not just an event but a platform of convergence where culture meets commerce, heritage meets innovation, and local potential meets global opportunity. Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groups, making it one of the richest cultural assets globally, while the creative economy already contributes over $7 billion annually and continues to grow rapidly.
With a population of over 220 million people and a median age under 19, he also stressed that this is not a challenge but an economic engine waiting to be structured.
He further explained that tourism globally contributes over 10 percent of global GDP, yet Nigeria captures only a fraction of this opportunity, while Africa receives less than 5 percent of global tourism flows despite its unmatched cultural and natural assets.
He said this is not a capacity issue but a coordination and positioning gap that must be addressed.
Nigeria, he said, does not lack potential but needs structure, alignment and execution.
“Tourism is the anchor where everything comes together. Globally one in every ten jobs is linked to the sector, yet in Nigeria it remains significantly underdeveloped relative to its potential. If properly structured, tourism can create jobs, drive SMEs, support culture, and attract foreign exchange. Tourism is not secondary but strategic.
While Nigeria receives global attention, it is not always the right narrative. Initiatives like the “Good News Nigeria” campaign are essential because perception drives investment, tourism, and partnerships,” he said.
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