The Federal Government on Monday disbursed N10 million grant to ten creative artists who won the 59th independence anniversary edition of the young creative artists’ competition.
Nine-year-old, Basil Ifeanyichukwu Jnr, a Mobile Game Developer, was one of the winners of the coveted prize at the event. His latest Game is on the Google Play Store, called Mosquito Mash.
Ifeanyichukwu, who hails from Imo State is resident in Lagos State with his parents.
The cash prize was presented to the winners by the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), at the National Youth Entrepreneurship Empowerment Summit (2) as part of the programmes marking this year’s independence anniversary celebration held at International Conference Centre, Abuja.
He was represented by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo who noted that the empowerment was part of the commitment of the current administration to take millions of Nigerians out poverty.
Osinbajo expressed optimism that the funding support to the young creative artists would help them create jobs and as such contribute to the development of the economy.
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Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, speaking at the event said each of the 10 winners would smile home with N1 million.
He noted that the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was focused and determined to see young Nigerians emerge and build capacity to become financially independent and positioned to contribute to the development of the nation’s economy.
Mustapha said this second edition was designed to focus on the creative industry and has been appropriately themed “Engaging the Creative Arts for National Development”.
He said: “Nigerian creative industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, driven by emerging digital technology which supports content creation, distribution and consumption among several other factors. This among other reasons was a key driver in determining the focus of this edition”.
He further noted that beyond the usual fanfare associated with independence anniversary celebrations, the Federal Government believed that an investment into the lives of young Nigerians would go along way in actualising the dreams of not only the heroes past but also that of President Buhari.
The SGF explained that the selection process was transparent rigorous, disclosing that earlier in the month of May 2019, 10 young Nigerians had emerged winners of a similar grant on the same platform.
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