The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
urged the Corporate
Council on Africa (CCA) to scale up its investment promotions in
Nigeria to facilitate more
investments in the country by CCA member-companies, at a time the
government is working
hard to develop other sectors of the economy.
“Your coming is very timely because as you know this new
administration is determined to wean
Nigeria from the addiction to oil. Fortunately we had already made up
our mind that we are going
to cure ourselves of the addiction to oil even before the price of
crude oil crashed to $38 per barrel,''
the Minister said while receiving some members of the CCA in Abuja on Tuesday.
''We had always been very convinced that any country that relies on a
mono product is leading
herself to the vicissitude of any volatility in that particular
industry. There is no better time to
partner with us than now when we are looking to new ways of
diversification of the economy especially
in agriculture, which is an area where the US has achieved tremendous
success, solid minerals, the
arts, culture and tourism,'' he said.
Alhaji Mohammed also urged the CCA, which promotes business and
investment between the United
States and the nations of Africa, to partner with the Ministry of
Information and Culture in the area of
culture and tourism, while restating the plan to develop the creative
industry, especially in the area of arts
and craft, as a deliberate strategy, to empower the people,
particularly women and the youth.
He said with the nation's rich cultural heritage, an all-year-round
calendar of cultural activities will be
developed by the ministry to showcase the nation's cultural richness
and diversity to attract tourists.
“We believe that the country is so blessed in the area of culture that
if we decide today to have a festival
per day in Nigeria, it will become a reality. It will simply be a
matter of reaching out to each state to give
us ten cities or ten communities that will showcase their culture,
arts and craft and then we will have a
calendar whereby every visitor will know exactly which festival is
going on and at what time,” the Minister
said.
He also solicited the CCA's support for the Ministry's impending
campaign for social re-orientation, saying
a discipline and committed workforce would contribute to increased
productivity, from which the Council's
member-companies will also benefit.
“We must go back to our time-tested values because no nation in the
world has ever developed without very
sound values, ethics and behaviors” Alhaji Mohammed said.
Earlier, the leader of the CCA delegation, Mr. Ekenem Isichei, had
said the organization was committed to
improving trade relations between the US and Nigeria.
He said because trade policies and investment required a lot of
communication, the CCA would like to partner
with the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture so as to
communicate the right messages about Nigeria,
as against the stereotypes being put out there.
CCA's membership comprises more than 180 companies, which represent
nearly 85 percent of total U.S. private
sector investments in Africa. The Council represents a diverse pool of
industries from Africa's most promising
sectors, including agribusiness, capacity building, energy, finance,
health, ICT, infrastructure and security.
Segun Adeyemi
SA to Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
Dec. 16th 2015
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