Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Segun Runsewe has been made chairman of the Implementation Committee for the Post Covid-19 initiatives on the creative industry.
Other members of the committee inaugurated by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed on Tuesday in Abuja are Ali Baba (deputy chairman), Anita Eboigbe, Baba Agba and Joe Mutah (secretary).
Speaking during the virtual event, the Minister asked the body to design an implementation plan that will catalyse the growth of the industry.
The committee’s terms of reference are the design of an implementation plan on the immediate and short-term relief for the creative industry.
Design of a policy framework for tax relief for the various sectors in the creative industry–if identified as one of the measures aimed at achieving immediate and short-term relief.
The last is a detailed implementation plan for a long-term intervention for the overall development of the creative industry.
Mohammed, who described the creative industry as the second biggest job creator in the country after agriculture, urged the committee to be diligent because the creative industry’s growth is crucial to the nation’s economy.
The Minister didn’t fail to commend the Committee on Post Covid-19 Initiatives on the creative industry for producing a ‘phenomenal’ report.
Reacting, Runsewe pledged the committee’s readiness to come up with robust and beneficial recommendations.
He also noted that Nigeria had taken the lead in West Africa in thinking out of the box to address the challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The implementation committee has six weeks to submit its report.
Mohammed inaugurated the Post-COVID-19 Initiatives Committee on the Creative Industry on May 19 to assess the expected impact of the pandemic on the creative industry in general and advise the government on how to mitigate job and revenue losses.
The body also had the task of suggesting the taxation and financing model most suitable for the creative industry in the COVID-19 season to encourage growth and recommend additional measures to support the sector.
The committee submitted its report to the Minister on July 3.
He had, however, tempered expectations by stating that the recommendations would be implemented within the realms of available resources.
“Let me assure you that we will study the report with the same seriousness that you employed in preparing it, to ensure its full implementation, within the realms of available resources,” Mohammed said.
