Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has announced plans by the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism, and Creative Economy to establish historic sites to be named Renewed Hope Creative Villages.
The governor explained that the initiative aims to create hubs for culture and tourism as part of the Tinubu administration’s agenda.
Speaking to reporters, Sanwo-Olu stated: “The whole idea is for the ministry to collaborate with sub-national governments to identify these sites and historic locations and integrate them into the creative villages as one-stop shops.
“We’ve discussed the enormous opportunities within the creative industry, particularly leveraging our rural historic sites and monuments. The presentation by the ministry aims to bring this vision to the forefront and encourage sub-nationals to identify locations that can become thriving cultural hubs.
“We recognise that this sector has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of jobs.”
In a related development, Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, disclosed that the indebtedness of states to the Federal Government stands at N16.6 billion.
He also provided an update on the nation’s financial accounts as of December 10. He said the Excess Crude Account amounts was $424 million; Stabilisation Account, N33.3 billion; and Natural Resources Account, N23 billion.
Edun added: “Additionally, states’ surplus positions with the Federal Government currently amount to N363.4 billion, while their deficit stands at approximately N16.6 billion.”