{"id":14449,"date":"2025-05-28T16:11:56","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T16:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/?p=14449"},"modified":"2025-05-28T16:11:56","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T16:11:56","slug":"lagos-spends-over-n8-billion-on-143-festivals-to-boost-creative-sector-and-job-creation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/28\/lagos-spends-over-n8-billion-on-143-festivals-to-boost-creative-sector-and-job-creation\/","title":{"rendered":"Lagos Spends Over N8 Billion on 143 Festivals to Boost Creative Sector and Job Creation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">In a bid to strengthen the creative arts sector and provide a more conducive environment for growth, the Lagos State Government has announced that it spent over <\/span><span class=\"s1\">N8 billion<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> on <\/span><span class=\"s1\">143 festivals<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> in the last year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">According to the state government, these investments have led to new local and foreign inflows into the tourism and entertainment industries, expanded value chains, and created more jobs for residents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">The State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Toke Benson-Awoyinka<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, revealed these figures during the <\/span><span class=\"s1\">2025 Ministerial Press Briefing<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> held in Alausa. She emphasized that each initiative significantly contributed to <\/span><span class=\"s1\">cultural preservation<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, <\/span><span class=\"s1\">economic stimulation<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, <\/span><span class=\"s1\">job creation<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, <\/span><span class=\"s1\">tourism inflow<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, and <\/span><span class=\"s1\">global media visibility<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, further cementing Lagos\u2019 image as <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Nigeria\u2019s creative capital<\/span><span class=\"s2\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cLagos is now recognized as one of Africa\u2019s most vibrant cultural and tourism destinations,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">The Commissioner also disclosed that <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Endorsement Letters<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> were presented to <\/span><span class=\"s1\">124 creative stakeholders<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> to support sponsorship efforts for various cultural and artistic initiatives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">In addition, she noted that the Ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, is working on the <\/span><span class=\"s1\">regulation and registration of beach operators<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> across the state. This initiative aims to enhance <\/span><span class=\"s1\">safety<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, promote <\/span><span class=\"s1\">environmental sustainability<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, and ensure <\/span><span class=\"s1\">improved service delivery<\/span><span class=\"s2\">along Lagos\u2019 waterfronts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">As part of the government\u2019s youth empowerment drive, over <\/span><span class=\"s1\">10,000 Lagos youths<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> have been trained in various industry-related disciplines, including <\/span><span class=\"s1\">filmmaking<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, <\/span><span class=\"s1\">production management<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, <\/span><span class=\"s1\">cinematography<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, and <\/span><span class=\"s1\">digital media<\/span><span class=\"s2\">. These efforts are geared towards reducing youth restiveness and curbing social vices in the metropolis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">Benson-Awoyinka also announced the <\/span><span class=\"s1\">call for entries<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> for the upcoming <\/span><span class=\"s1\">African Music Next Talent Hunt<\/span><span class=\"s2\">. She added that, in the past year, the <\/span><span class=\"s1\">J. Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> in Onikan and <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Freedom Park<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> collectively received over <\/span><span class=\"s1\">50,000 visitors<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> during major festival celebrations.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a bid to strengthen the creative arts sector and provide a more conducive environment for growth, the Lagos State<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-grassroots"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14451,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14449\/revisions\/14451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}