One of Nigeria’s popular musicians, Oladapo Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’banj has advocated the use of intellectual property as collateral for obtaining bank loans.
A statement issued on Friday, by Chief Damian Okoroafor, D’banj’s Manager, quoted the artiste as saying this in Abuja, at the inauguration of Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank’s Women and Youth Export Fund (WAYEF) platform for easy access to funds.
Okoroafor quoted D’banj as saying that the creative industry was a bigger exporter of Nigerian products than the country’s crude oil and as such it deserved all the attention it needed to enable it grow.
“Our creative industry is a bigger and better export than the oil industry. So, there is the need for more access to stress free funds for those in the creative industry, using their intellectual property as collateral.
“When you look around the world, one of our biggest exports is the creative sector, thanks to our music, movies and photos.
“So, WAYEF is another opportunity to fully throw some weight behind the creative industry, through capacity training or access to funds,” Okoroafor quoted D’banj as saying.
It would be recalled that D’banj, had on March 26 rewarded five young talented Nigerians, in different fields, with one million naira each to develop themselves.
He extended the gesture through his foundation “CREAM Platform”, Nigeria’s premiere creative reward platform, supported by Heritage Bank’s YNSPYRE Initiative.
The monthly reward comes through draws organised for participants wishing to develop their talents in the creative industry. The next edition of the draws is scheduled to hold on April 30.
