The federal government, on Thursday, announced plans to establish creative villages of arts in all states of Nigeria.

Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos shared this information during a briefing with the press after the 147th National Economic Council meeting, chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, in Abuja.

Mr Sanwo-Olu explained that the ministry of arts, culture, tourism, and creative economy had proposed the creation of historic sites to be named “Renewed Hope Creative Villages.”

He said the ministry would collaborate with state governments to identify historic locations and transform them into creative hubs.

“The idea is for the ministry to work with the states to identify these historic sites and integrate them into creative villages as one-stop shops.

“We believe the creative industry, particularly with our rural historic sites and monuments, holds enormous potential.

“The ministry aims to prioritise this initiative and collaborate with states to identify thriving sites that can generate hundreds of thousands of jobs,” he said.

In addition, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Wale Edun, disclosed that states’ indebtedness to the federal government currently stood at N16.6 billion.

He also provided updates on various government accounts: the excess crude account had 424 million dollars as of December 10, the stabilisation account had N33.3 billion, and the natural resources account held N23 billion.

“Regarding the surpluses states have with the federal government, that figure is currently N363.4 billion, while the states’ deficit position with the federal government is approximately N16.6 billion,” Mr Edun stated.

(NAN)