Nigeria's Creative Industry Is the Country's "Next Oil," Says Lai Mohammed

Former Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed has described Nigeria's creative industry as the country's "next oil," as the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) partners with the Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy to help drive President Bola Tinubu's target of a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

"I have always said it when I was a minister that our next oil is actually the creative industry — it's our films, music, gastronomy, fashion, publishing, sports," Mohammed said, noting the sector is Nigeria's second-largest employer of labour after agriculture.

The partnership centers on an upcoming National Summit and Exhibition on the Orange Economy, organised by NIPSS to bring together stakeholders and develop strategies for unlocking the sector's economic potential. NIPSS Director-General Prof. Ayo Omotayo said the institute had deliberately aligned its research agenda with the president's economic goals, describing the creative sector as "the last of the sectors" it identified as having enough leverage to meaningfully push Nigeria toward the trillion-dollar target.

Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy Hanatu Musawa said the ministry was deliberately repositioning the sector as an engine of economic growth under the government's Renewed Hope Agenda. Omotayo added that despite its potential, the creative industry has historically received limited policy research attention — something the summit is intended to help correct.