As part of its contribution towards the eradication of poverty and unemployment in the country, Church of God Mission, Oniru, Lagos, has concluded plans to hold the third edition of the Roundtable Lekki conference where the unemployed will learn about business opportunities in the Nigeria entertainment industry.
The conference, which comes under the theme “The Nigeria entertainment industry; opportunities and trends” will also educate the participants on the current trends and new developments in the sector.
Speaking at a press briefing heralding the event, convener of the conference, Chris Ubamadu, a reverend, said the church decided to tackle the issue of unemployment because of its impact on the prevalent poverty.
According to Ubamadu, “We have looked at the entire economy and entire value chain, we have chosen to attack just one malady in Nigeria, the issue of unemployment because of its impact on the prevalent poverty. So when we conceived the idea of Roundtable Lekki, it was for us to have a platform that would enable people to exchange ideas and information that would help to increase employment.
“So, every year, we pick a sector in the economy and we bring experts and participants. We dimension it, in the last two years we focused on real estate. We look at the value chain, we dimension it with practitioners, with experts, with enthusiasts, people who are investors among others. The reason for dimension is to help people see where they can get employed in the sector.
“This year, the Roundtable Lekki is focusing on the Nigerian entertainment industry, and this is an industry that is driven by individuals because the sector itself is private sector, not a lot is being done by the government. But it is a very huge industry.”
To him, many people are not aware of the investment opportunities in the entertainment industry, which cuts across the movie, music, the comedy, the social media entertainment among others.
In addition, he said that the conference, which is scheduled to hold on May 1, 2023 will have senior participants in the industry and that they include; Ali Baba, Joke Silva, Momodu Inu Noah, BasketMouth, among others.
While drawing a connection between the theme of this year’s conference and the church, chairman of the Roundtable Lekki 2023, Ogbeneochoko Pedro, said: “One might be surprised why the church should be behind an initiative regarding entertainment. Entertainment is enjoyment, amusement, fun, anything that helps you get a point of happiness. The purpose is very clear, the pursuit of entertainment is man’s task, endeavour to gain happiness. So, when you choose entertainment you are trying to make people happy’’.
On her part, Toluwanimi Uduebor, creative lead at XTREME Mindz Solutions Ltd, the official media sponsors for the Roundtable Lekki, described the Nigerian entertainment industry as the largest in Africa, generating about $1 billion in revenue annually.
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According to her, the growth of the industry has led to the emergence of new businesses such as streaming platforms, event planning, and marketing agencies, which also contribute significantly to the Nigerian economy through taxes and other revenues.
Stating that the industry also provides employment opportunities for thousands of people, including actors, directors, producers, sound engineers, she added: “With an unemployment rate of 37 percent, these facts demonstrate the enormous potential of the Nigerian entertainment industry and the opportunities available for anyone looking to invest or start a business in the sector.’’
