Apparently worried about the stifling environment that confronts most of the budding talents across the different verticals of the creative arts and culture sector, a group under the aegies of the Nehemiah Project has set machinery in motion to turnaround the fortunes of the practitioners.
The initiative, a brainchild of
Apostle Obii Pax-Harry, founder of the Nehemiah Apostolic Centre, for starters, has set in motion a 12-weeks talent incubation project with plans to discover, mould and transform raw talents to national assets and ultimately boost the Gross Domestic Product to over 3 percent up from its current 2.3%.
Following a meeting with some of the resource persons and facilitators last July, this culminated in an interface and discussion session with some select team of journalists in Lagos, recently, where the programmes and objectives were laid bare to the public.
Speaking separately during the media briefing, the trio of Eniola Akinbo-Niyola, Maliz Mahop and Shawn Faqua not only shared interesting insights on the modus operandi but the thematic areas of the initiative.
Firing the first salvo, Akinbo-Niyola, singer, actor, filmmaker, presenter/TV show host, who justified the need for the initiative, said human capacity development is shared responsibility, hence the Nehemiah Project is the immediate response to the clarion call to support the budding talents.
‘It is a structured mentorship initiative designed to connect emerging creatives with experienced professionals who can provide guidance, knowledge, access and practical industry experience.
‘The aim is to help young creatives develop not only their craft, but also the professionalism, discipline and understanding required to build sustainable careers and contribute meaningfully to the creative economy.
‘By 2050, one in every four people on the planet is projected to be African. We have a responsibility to prepare the people who will shape that future. So today, we are inviting our pioneers, senior colleagues, industry leaders, institutions, organisations and potential partners to be part of this work. Nation-building can begin in many places. Sometimes, it begins when an experienced person sits with someone coming behind them and says, ‘I’ve walked this path before. Now, Let me show you the way.’ That is where the Nehemiah Project begins.’
While shedding more light on the initiative, Maliz Mahop, Mentor, Global Communications and Partnership Strategist, said, ‘The Nehemiah Project grew from a conversation about that power within Nigeria’s creative industry. We recognised that Nigeria already has extraordinary talent and global cultural influence. The question was: how do we intentionally develop that talent and equip emerging creatives to steward their influence with excellence, purpose and integrity? These questions became the seed of the Nehemiah Project which is what I’ll be talking about today. The Nehemiah Project is a sector-focused mentorship programme for emerging creatives in Nigeria’s entertainment industry. It is a nation building tool through talent development.’
At the centre of the programme is a structured twelve-week mentorship journey, she stressed, adding that, ‘Emerging creatives will be paired with experienced professionals based on their areas of interest, professional aspirations, experience and development needs. We are also exploring technology-assisted matching, with human oversight, to help identify areas of compatibility between mentors and mentees.’
Participants, she emphasised, ‘will have the opportunity to learn from people who have already walked the road on how to navigate the industry, build professional relationships, understand the business of their craft, develop discipline, protect their work, manage opportunities and build sustainable value from their creativity.
‘Our mentorship pipeline model is for twelve weeks where we’ll take the creatives from Talent to Professionalism and from Professionalism to National assets. Lagos is already a major creative hub, attracting talent and professionals from across Nigeria and beyond.
‘As Nigeria’s creative economy continues to grow and Africa’s population and creative markets expand, we must also think about the infrastructure required to develop and accommodate the talent that will come.
‘Our longer-term vision includes an academy and appropriate accommodation and learning infrastructure where creatives from outside Lagos, across Nigeria and eventually from across Africa can come to learn, live, collaborate and develop their craft in a structured environment an ecosystem that requires mentors, institutions, investors, industry professionals, technology partners and organisations willing to contribute their expertise and resources. The vision is to develop ethically grounded creatives who are capable of building sustainable careers and enterprises that contribute to Nigeria’s national identity and creative economy and we are inviting you to join us to build that pipeline together.’
On his part, Shawn Faqua, Actor/Filmmaker, said, ‘The Nehemiah project is driven largely by Assistive AI technology and data. One huge challenge in our creative industry is that we still do not have enough structured data both experiential or numerical without which it is harder to understand the sector, measure growth, identify gaps and design effective interventions.
‘This also makes it more difficult for investors and institutions to properly understand where opportunities exist. With the Nehemiah Project, we are designing a technology-enabled system that will use AI-assisted matching to identify areas of compatibility between mentors and mentees, while retaining human oversight in the final process. ‘Participants will provide information about their creative disciplines, experience, aspirations, goals and development needs which will be matched to the corresponding mentees. ‘The technology helps us organise the information but the relationship remains human. And importantly, this system allows us to begin building a more reliable picture of the creative ecosystem that supports better decision-making, accountability, collaboration and future investment.
‘We also believe we need to move more deliberately from an informal creative economy towards a more structured and formal ecosystem. That means better records, stronger professional networks, clearer pathways, measurable outcomes and systems that can give investors, institutions and partners greater.
‘We acknowledge that we cannot build that system without the people who built the industry in the first place. So our invitation to the older generation is very simple: come and build with us. By bringing your experience, and wealth of knowledge you can become a mentor and help us create the systems that will allow the next generation to go further and to take what they receive and build what comes next. The Nehemiah Project is about creating that connection between generations, between talent and opportunity, and between creativity and the systems required for it to thrive.’
In the view of Eliora Eberechukwu, Head of Business Lifestyle, Entertainment, T2 Mobile (formerly 9Mobile), ‘The Nehemiah Project is bigger than a twelve-week mentorship programme.
‘It is the beginning of a sustainable pipeline for African creative talent, bringing together mentorship, technology, institutional support and marketplace opportunities to develop the people who will shape our creative future. There is a role for everyone in this room, and there is a role for everyone watching. So I want to leave you with one question: What can you bring to the table? Your time. Your knowledge. Your platform. Your resources. Your network. Your investment. Your talent. Whatever it is, we invite you to bring it. If you are interested in becoming a mentee, mentoring, partnering, funding or supporting the project, we want to hear from you.’