A mentorship initiative called the Nehemiah Project has been launched to support budding talents in Nigeria's creative arts and culture sector. The project, founded by Apostle Obii Pax-Harry, aims to discover, mould, and transform raw talents into national assets. The initiative is expected to boost the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to over 3 percent, up from its current 2.3 percent. The project is a 12-week talent incubation program designed to connect emerging creatives with experienced professionals.
The Nehemiah Project was introduced after a meeting with resource persons and facilitators last July, followed by an interface and discussion session with select journalists in Lagos. The project's objectives and programs were laid bare to the public during the media briefing. Eniola Akinbo-Niyola, a singer, actor, filmmaker, and presenter/TV show host, justified the need for the initiative, stating that human capacity development is a shared responsibility. The project aims to help young creatives develop their craft, professionalism, discipline, and understanding required to build sustainable careers.
Maliz Mahop, a Mentor and Global Communications and Partnership Strategist, shed more light on the initiative, stating that the Nehemiah Project grew from a conversation about the power within Nigeria's creative industry. The project recognizes that Nigeria already has extraordinary talent and global cultural influence. The question was how to intentionally develop that talent and equip emerging creatives to steward their influence with excellence, purpose, and integrity. The project is a sector-focused mentorship program for emerging creatives in Nigeria's entertainment industry.
The Nehemiah Project is a structured twelve-week mentorship journey where emerging creatives will be paired with experienced professionals based on their areas of interest, professional aspirations, experience, and development needs. The project also explores technology-assisted matching, with human oversight, to help identify areas of compatibility between mentors and mentees. Participants 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, and develop discipline.
Shawn Faqua, an Actor/Filmmaker, stated that the Nehemiah project is driven largely by Assistive AI technology and data. One huge challenge in the creative industry is the lack of structured data, making it harder to understand the sector, measure growth, identify gaps, and design effective interventions. The project aims to design 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.
The Nehemiah Project's 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. 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.
The project aims to contribute to Nigeria's economic growth by developing the creative sector. By 2050, one in every four people on the planet is projected to be African, and the Nehemiah Project has a responsibility to prepare the people who will shape that future. The project's founders are inviting pioneers, senior colleagues, industry leaders, institutions, organizations, and potential partners to be part of this work.
Key points
- The Nehemiah Project aims to boost Nigeria's GDP to over 3 percent through talent incubation and mentorship.
- The project is a 12-week mentorship program designed to connect emerging creatives with experienced professionals.
- The initiative uses AI-assisted matching to identify areas of compatibility between mentors and mentees.
