Former Governor of Cross River, Sen. Liyel Imoke, has charged Nigerian youths to develop skills that would yield income both from home and abroad.
Imoke said this in his opening remarks at the 14th Career Day Conference organised by the Bridge Leadership Foundation on Saturday in Calabar with the theme, “The Creative Economy: Building Nigeria’s Future Through Youth Innovation.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Bridge Leadership Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2011 by the former governor to raise a community of inspired, equipped and influential young leaders.
The former minister of power and steal between July 2003 and January 2007 said while many Nigerians limited their income to the nation’s geographical border, the new economy of the world was global and borderless, like the creative economy.
According to him, this simply means that someone can be anywhere, not necessarily Lagos, London or the United States and still thrive in this economy.
“This conference is to help our youths understand and leverage the opportunities that exist in the creative industry.
“In today’s world, it is impossible to survive without learning; this is why we are giving opportunities to our youths to learn from some of the best in the creative industry.
“As I speak to you, so many of our youths are already globally renowned by leveraging on the creative industry that they make many of us look insignificant,” he said.
While urging the youths to translate what they learn from the conference to resourcefulness, he appealed to stakeholders from outside Cross River to support the youths in the state adding that, the foundation was available for Youths that showed capacity.
On her part, the keynote speaker, Mrs Chioma Ude, Founder, Africa International Film Festival, said Nigeria had always been a nation of storytellers, innovators and entrepreneurs.
Ude said this ability which resonated from its vibrant markets to the tech clubs showed the nation’s creativity and resilience which were its greatest assets.
She said it was time to harness these strengths and channel them into a robust and successful creative economy which was crucial to the nation.
“This is important because the creative economy offers us a unique opportunity to address most of our most pressing challenges as a nation, such as unemployment, brain drain and over-dependence on oil.
“It is however important to Note that for us to enhance our creative industry the nation needs to upgrade its education and skill development, infrastructure development and make proper policies and regulations,” she said.
The ongoing Career Day Conference which is held on 19th and 20th July 2024, has a number of resource persons from the creative industry such as Iretiola Doyle, John Ugbe of Multichoice West Africa, among others and youths from all over Cross River and beyond. (NAN)
Christian Njoku, Converseer News
