The Creatives, Tinubu & 2027*

The Creatives, Tinubu & 2027* 

- By Concerned Creative Artistes & Entertainers Initiative 4 Tinubu (CRAETIN)

The group is made of determined professional independent minds from across the Creative sector in Nigeria as listed under the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, a ministry it took Nigeria sixty (60) YEARS to midwife! courtesy of President Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, the seventh (7th) democratically elected President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Going through the well crafted list, the following are members provided for in the ministry,: *Film, TV, and Radio* : Specifically Nollywood (film production), broadcasting, and animation: *Music and Entertainment:* Afrobeats, songwriting, and production: *Fashion and Textile* : Fashion design, ready-to-wear, and accessories: *Visual Arts and Crafts*  Contemporary arts, sculpture, painting, and traditional crafts: *Digital Media and Technology* Gaming, extended reality (XR), interactive media, IT, software development, and digital content creation: *Publishing and Printing: Literature, books* , and electronic publishing: *Design and Architecture:* Graphic design, product design, and architectural services: *Culinary Arts and Gastronomy:* Promoting Nigerian food culture:*Performing Arts:* Theatre, dance, and music performance. *Tourism and Heritage* : Cultural events, festivals, carnivals, and museums: *Advertising and Marketing:* Digital marketing and advertising.

All these practitioners becomes stakeholders in this sector, and are expected to drive their values in organized aggregation to the economy through the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy (FMACCE) in Nigeria.

This newly recognized broad base spectrum of interests are seen as part of the creative economy, defining it as an economic system transforming human creativity, knowledge, and intellectual capital into cultural, social, and economic values, while the ministry focuses on harnessing these areas for economic diversification and job creation, aiming for a $100 billion contribution to the GDP by 2030.

The fact that, almost 90% of these Creatives had all along existed for almost 60 years  (six decades) makes this ground breaking and strategic grouping by the Tinubu administration a master stroke and one that has now, given the Practitioners the needed sense of belonging.

The coming of this Ministry is not without fruits as it has produced a strong digital platform for practitioners to access funds to combat the problem of funding productions, which some have started benefiting from like Richard Mofe Damijo and others. This has no doubt provided more jobs in this sector and provide more platforms for Practitioners' of expression.

The Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme is known to have on boarded 185 founders into the inaugural cohort of its Startup Bridge initiative, marking an early milestone in the rollout of the $617 million programme aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s digital and creative economy, which the first sets were drawn from a competitive pool of over 7,000 applications received after the portal opened in March 2026, though earlier launched in 2023, as an initiative co-financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), with the Bank of Industry serving as executing agency. Its operation so simple, that from the comfort of your home and on your hand phone, you can apply.

It is good to note that, beyond the startup funding, the programme targets broader ecosystem development, including 66 innovation hubs nationwide and the training of up to three hundred thousand (300,000) young Nigerians in digital and creative skills!

Let me quote the Programme’s Steering Committee Chairman, in person of Nigeria’s sitting Vice President, H.E Kashim Shettima, who said “ _By unlocking the creative and digital potential of our youths, the Federal Government is investing in sectors that will define Nigeria’s future economy, as programmes like iDICE are creating pathways for young innovators to build globally competitive businesses from Nigeria."_ 

Going forward, the same FG under the leadership of President Tinubu has appointed more of the members of the Creative Industry to head key organizations in the Industry like Awakan, Nuhu and so on.

We are committed also to the new narratives on the €100m bond for closing Structural deficits in the industry, revealed about three months ago.

This compilation is a wake up call for those who are not aware of these developments and for them to take advantage of these many progress opportunities and tap into supporting the man that has done these much for the industry, so he can do more and to further protect these laudable effort from dying prematurely.

We in this Ministry are committed to getting these and other messages well communicated to our people so they can benefit from it too.

As time ticks, we shall release more facts on this sector, President Tinubu and connect it effectively to 2027 as we are not UNGRATEFUL FELLOWS, and we are not oblivious to the maxim that says APPRECIATE A DOER TO GET MORE, may be we are Oliver Twisting for GOOD, who says the post of a BISHOP is not good!

 _This is written and compiled by ONIBIYO Dayo, National Secretary Concerned Creative Artistes & Entertainers Initiative 4 Tinubu._