Nigerians, especially youths, have been asked to take advantage of the N300m grant which the Bank of Industry has promised to fund the business of arts and craft in the country.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who gave this challenge says the grant is capable of generating two hundred thousand jobs in the sector.

The bank of industry at the weekend signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Council for Arts and Culture, to support Nigerians who are in the arts and craft business to grow their businesses.

According to Mohammed, the MoU, can ensure the growth and development of the craft industries.

He said, “I am reliably informed that top on the list of benefits that will accrue from this landmark MoU is that it will create about 200,000 jobs. This is indeed epochal and is in line with one of the cardinal programmes of this administration, which is job creation and empowerment.

“The MoU will also act as a catalyst for the development of the country’s craft industries, create a finance window and make available loanable funds to be accessed by all in the arts and craft industry, as well as assist in capacity building for this people.

“In a nutshell, the MoU will enable producers of cultural products and services to work towards the attainment of global practices in the packaging of our cultural products to enable them compete favourably in the global markets and earn our artists a decent living.”