Dr Femi Adeluyi, the National Coordinator, National Talent Export Programme (NATEP), says Nigeria could become a global talent pool because of the quality of talents and skills it exports.
Adeluyi said this when the Managing Director, Gallery of Code, Mr Oscar Ekponimo, led a delegation of experts alongside winner, STARTS4AFRICA in Nigeria to pay him a courtesy visit Tuesday in Abuja.
STARTS4AFRICA is an initiative that will allow artists to address regional challenges around food and water, digital mapping and speculative landscapes, culture, among other thematic areas.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NATEP was launched by the Federal Government in 2023 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to catalyse job creation by exporting local talents.
‘Nigeria has a lot of niche export areas and one of our greatest exports is our talents.
‘In the next couple of decades, Africa and Nigeria will become a talent hub because we are getting closer to becoming third largest continent in the world.
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What NATEP is focusing on is to not just jobs inside Nigeria but we are focusing on jobs that are outside the country.
‘The idea is to create jobs that can bring in foreign exchange into Nigeria that can strengthen the economy thereby using NATEP to change the Nigerian narrative”, he said.
He said that what virtual artist, Jibril Baba, was doing with the sponsorship from STARTS4AFRICA was a welcome development because it could help in strengthening food storage system in Nigeria.
‘This is a really good model which can be enhanced and elaborated on.
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‘What Gallery of Code is doing with the STARTS4AFRICA programme is interesting, I also like the STARTS initiative”, he said.
Ekponimo said the visit was meant to bring home one of the three winners from the STARTS4AFRICA challenge and seek inputs and areas of collaboration with NATEP.
According to him, the programme, a science, technology and arts-driven initiative, is a dedicated version
of STARTS for Africa, an EU-led intervention with the Gallery of Code serving as the umbrella body for the initiative in Nigeria.
‘This is the first phase and the first time this is coming up in Africa and a Nigerian has been selected from among 300 applicants.
‘Jibril Baba, a visual artist, has just been awarded a grant that will support his project – a smart technology that will address food storage challenges and boost food production in Nigeria .
‘We look forward to your mentorship and collaborations and we are open to push further discussions forward on the ‘niche areas’ that we can leverage on for future stakeholder collaborations.
‘Jibril will be showcasing his final exhibition in Nigeria and also Austria. He was selected among the winners to exhibit at an Arts festival in Austria from Sept 4-Sept 8”, he said.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria