Oyo targets global arts market to diversify revenue, boost exports
By Adejayan Gbenga
The Oyo State Government has unveiled plans to diversify its revenue sources by harnessing the economic potential of arts, crafts, cultural festivals and tourism to attract foreign investment, generate foreign exchange and create employment opportunities.
The government said it was repositioning the creative economy as a driver of economic growth by transforming the state’s cultural heritage into commercially viable products for the international market.
The initiative will be driven through the Oyo State Business Forum 2026, themed “Investment and Export Promotion of Arts and Crafts Business in Oyo State”. The forum is expected to bring together investors, artists, craftsmen, exporters, policymakers and development partners to explore investment opportunities and expand the global market for Nigerian arts and crafts.
Speaking at a press briefing in Ibadan, the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr. Wasiu Olatubosun, said Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration was determined to transform culture from a heritage-preservation tool into a productive economic sector. He described Nigeria’s cultural wealth as an underutilised resource with significant export potential if properly researched, documented and marketed.
Olatubosun said the government was also working to transform cultural festivals from annual celebrations into internationally competitive tourism and entertainment products. He cited the inscription of the Sango Festival on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as a major boost to Oyo’s international cultural profile.
The commissioner also highlighted the growing appeal of the World Egungun Festival, which was repackaged in 2024 to attract tourists and increase its economic value. He said attendance rose from between 6,000 and 7,000 in 2024 to more than 17,000 in 2025, while over 19,000 people attended the 2026 edition, with more than half coming from outside the state.
He further disclosed that 25 foreign visitors interested in traditional initiation rites were expected in the state later this year. According to him, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is collaborating with the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, to document Oyo’s cultural assets, while engagements with the Office of the Special Adviser on the African Continental Free Trade Area are expected to help local artists and creative entrepreneurs access international markets.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the Oyo State Investment and Public-Private Partnership Agency, Tilewa Folami, represented by the Director of Public-Private Partnerships, Adebisi Ajayi, said the forum was designed to showcase investment opportunities in the arts and crafts industry and attract private-sector participation. The forum’s consultant, Lawal Akolade, identified inadequate research, poor documentation and the absence of proper valuation of cultural resources as major obstacles to the sector’s growth.
Renowned visual artist and cultural ambassador, Chief Tunde Odunlade, called for increased investment in the creative economy, describing art and culture as Nigeria’s unique finished exports. Odunlade, who has practised in New York for more than 50 years, argued that unlike crude oil and other raw materials exported for processing abroad, artistic products could be exported as finished commodities, urging the government and private investors to support local artists and craftsmen to maximise opportunities in the global market.
