Lagos partners Temple Company to empower 200 young creatives

To further accelerate the impact of its capacity development drive on talented youths in the state, the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led Lagos State administration has unveiled the Gidi Creative Centre. The program is a partnership with a full-service creative agency, The Temple Company.

The initiative targeted to empower 200 youths across 10 skill areas was launched by the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf at a ceremony that was held at state-of-the-art Ogidi Studios, Lekki, Lagos.

Similarly, Gidi Creative Centre has received a strategic partnership from United Kingdom-based Henley Business School, and the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

Spanning 11 weeks, successful applicants will be trained using a robust 11-weeks module that covers specialisations including filmmaking, creative writing, animation, audio engineering and music production, graphics design, multimedia design, film and screen production design, project management for creative professionals, fashion design and media studies.

Declaring registration for participation opened, Idris Olorunnimbe, Group Chief Executive Officer of The Temple Company disclosed that registration to enrol into training is accessible till September 8 to youths who are residents of Lagos State. To register, interested persons were advised to visit www.gidicreativecentre.com and apply for their preferred courses.

Idris explained, “The creative industry is the future of the world and Nigeria cannot be left behind. The Lagos State Government under the leadership of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu recognizes this and has decided to take the front seat. This is not the first training embarked upon by the Lagos State Government but I dare say that it would be the best they have done so far. I predict they would keep coming back to us for more because we are doing it differently. We partnered with two global tertiary institutions, the University of Lagos and Henley Business School, University of Reading, United Kingdom.”

“The most important thing that has brought together The Temple Company, facilitators of Gidi Creative Centre, and Lagos State Government together to forge this partnership is a common goal to equip the young people of Lagos to be the best they can be within the creative industry.”

On her part, Uzamat noted that the initiative aligns with the vision of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu under the Lagos State Creative Industry Initiative (LACI) Programme. She also made a case for partnerships such as with The Temple Company as a critical plank that can help the government to make an impact. Describing Ogidi Studios as one of the best of its kind in Africa, she affirmed that the facility would enhance learning.

Often described as a creative industry campus, Ogidi Studios houses a fully-fitted animation studio, post-production studio, adaptive studio for set creation, four audio recording and production studios, green screen, live rehearsal spaces, dance studio and apartments for cast and crew among others.

Speaking furthermore, the Honourable Commissioner disclosed that almost 3,000 youths had been trained in similar capacity development platforms in partnership with Ebonylife Academy and DelYork Creative Academy. Aiming for inclusiveness and wider reach, Lagos recently partnered African Film Academy to equip about 600 youths in development that covers Alimosho Local Government and two other cities on the outskirts, Epe and Badagry.

While expressing high expectations from the project, she disclosed: “The end product that comes with this Partnership is to open up spaces for new ideas, identities, and perspectives to flourish in the creative sector and support the tourism vision of making Lagos State one of the top-five urban tourism destinations in Africa as well as being recognized as the face of art in Africa for its multiple creative and innovative tourism products and experiences.

“I am certain that at the end of the training period, these participants would have become better, more creative, and innovative versions of themselves who will be able to stand tall and independently to effect and influence change in the larger society, ” she concluded.

To help achieve self-sufficiency, Director of Strategy Funding and Stakeholder Management, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, Sheila Ojei, assured access to finance post-training for participants. She disclosed:

“In partnership with the ministry of tourism, we have the LEAP tourism loan. This is accessible to businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector including players in the entertainment industry. It is a loan with a 5% single-digit interest rate per annum. You will not get this anywhere else because it is an intervention fund where you can have access to loans to be able to establish your creative business and grow. The maximum is N5 million, with a tenure of 10 to 24 months. We have confidence in the training that participants at Gidi Creative Centre would receive.”

On his part, Director, Entrepreneurship and Skills Development Centre, University of Lagos, Professor Sunday Adebisi, noted that with projects such as Gidi Creative Centre, the shortfall of job opportunities in Africa would be solved easily. The university Don disclosed that Africa’s youth population of 798 million need 12.3 million jobs yearly in Africa to close the unemployment gap, but sadly, only 3.1 million jobs are produced leaving a huge deficit of 9.2 million jobs yearly.