Lack of access to skills, tools limiting Nigerian artists' creativity, income

A former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Emeritus Peter Okebukola, has described the lack of access of Nigerian artists to skills and tools that can help boost their creativity and income.

He said that in the bid to address this deficit, the Institute for African Culture and International Understanding operated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) will train no fewer than 500 young Nigerians on financial stability, particularly on the use of Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in 2023.

This was disclosed at Agunbiade Victory High School in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital during a workshop themed ‘Utilising Digital Platform to Enhance the Creativity of Artists for more Revenue’, organised by the institute to encourage the promotion of cultural works in the digital environment, generate more revenue for themselves as well as become self-reliant.

Okebukola who heads the institute located at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) said: “It is common knowledge that technology is one of the key drivers of economic growth of all countries and regions. The digital environment is constantly evolving. Every day, new platforms, applications and updates are being introduced.

“The lack of access to proper skills and tools on the part of these artists is a limiting factor that has hindered their ability to enhance their creativity, hampered access to platforms to promote their goods and services and limited their ability to reach more people and generate more income.

“It is based on this premise that the UNESCO Institute for African Culture and International Understanding is organising this programme to teach artists how to navigate the world of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) so as to generate more revenue.

“In 2023, the institute is planning to train over 500 young people on how to be financially stable with the use of NFTs and this programme is the first step towards realising this goal,” he added.

The convener of the workshop, Dr Ayo Tella disclosed that the essence of the programme was to educate participants on how to get good value for their creativity through increased income generation which can be made possible through the effective, efficient and judicious use of the internet.

Tella appealed to Nigerian youths to take advantage of the training as well as the internet and the many opportunities it has made available to them so as to get equal value for their work.

He said: “Gone are the days when you had a work of art like painted pictures and lock it up somewhere without taking full advantage of the income one could make from it. Opportunities are now available to place it on the internet, sell it and make a profit.

“I want to tell those who have creativity in terms of music, artwork, anything created with their skills that they can get good value for that skill by utilising the internet to its full potential.”

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