A former Governor of Cross River, Sen. Liyel Imoke, has charged Nigerian youths to develop skills that will yield income from both home and abroad.
Imoke gave the charge at a career day conference organised by his foundation, the Bridge Leadership Foundation in Calabar.
The theme of the conference is: “The Creative Economy: Building Nigeria’s Future Through Youth Innovation”
The Bridge Leadership Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 2011 by Imoke to raise a community of inspired, equipped and influential young leaders.
Imoke, also a former Minister of Power and Steel, said that the new global economy was borderless and limitless.
He said it was limiting for young people to only acquire skills that could earn them income within the nations geographical borders.
The former governor stated that the conference was aimed at helping the youths to understand the opportunities within the creative industry.
“We need to know that in the creative industry, someone can be anywhere, not necessarily Lagos, London or the United States, and still thrive in their businesses.
“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, many of our youths are already globally known because they leveraged the opportunities in the creative industry to become significant,” he said.
The Keynote Speaker, Mrs Chioma Ude, the Founder, Africa International Film Festival, said that Nigeria had always been a nation of storytellers, innovators and entrepreneurs.
Ude said that such reality and the vibrancy of its markets had showed the nation’s creativity and resilience as great assets.
She said that it had become auspicious to harness those strengths in the interest of a robust and successful creative economy.
“This is important because the creative economy offers us a unique opportunity to address most of our pressing challenges as a nation.
“It is capable of tackling the challenges of unemployment, brain drain and over dependence on oil.
“To enhance our creative industry, the nation needs to upgrade its education, skills development and infrastructure. It also needs to make the right policies,” she said.(NAN
