‘Entertainment is important to Lagos State and we will continue to support it’ – Ambode

Lagos State governor Akinwunmi Ambode has reiterated his administration’s commitment to developing the state’s entertainment and tourism potentials with a view to creating an increase in GDP.

He said this while meeting with artistes who were part of the One Lagos Fiesta that held during the last week of 2016. The retinue of stars included Falz, Tiwa Savage, Patoranking, MI Abaga, Jaywon, Adekunle Gold, Humblesmith, Dammy Krane as well as legendary musicians like Queen Salawa Abeni, Sir Shina Peters and Adewale Ayuba.

According to him, the entertainment industry is poised to increase the economic strength of the state as witnessed during the One Lagos Fiesta

This is an area I love which is underutilized for the societal development of the country. Government is now willing to use your industry to grow its GDP because so far entertainers are working, we would have more visitors coming to Lagos; they will stay in our hotels; they will buy clothes; they will go out in the night and buy our drinks and the ultimate thing is that more taxes come in for the state,’ he said.

However, he maintains that entertainment practitioners also need to come up with a framework for government to intervene and provide required infrastructure and ecosystem for the industry to thrive. ‘There is a concentric cycle around the energy of entertainers and so what I want is a structured framework. What is it that we should do as government to grow the industry? Why should we go and be doing video shoot in South Africa for instance? I want a win-win partnership not just to use artistes and dump them till another December. I want a year-round partnership that is built around a framework. The challenge for our artistes now is to come up with a framework of how government can intervene. We are willing to support and we are willing to draw up a programme to support you,‘ he concluded.

The One Lagos Fiesta held over the course of eight days from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day and saw millions of Lagosians enjoy the yuletide celebrations from five different locations across the state.