Mutfwang’s Orange Economy Push: Turning Plateau’s Culture Into Jobs and Prosperity

By Chris Ishaku

For decades, Plateau State has worn the celebrated label, “Home of Peace and Tourism.” Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s administration is now attempting something more ambitious: converting the state’s tourism, culture and creativity from largely celebrated assets into productive economic resources capable of creating jobs, attracting investment and broadening the state’s economy.
That is the significance of the Orange Economy strategy recently presented by the Plateau State Government at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru.
The concept encompasses economic activity built around culture, creativity and intellectual property — including film, music, fashion, performing arts, tourism, digital content and design. Significantly, this is also the subject of NIPSS Senior Executive Course 48, whose participants are spending 10 months examining how Nigeria can harness the sector for sustainable development.
For Plateau, the opportunity is unusually compelling.
The state possesses a combination of natural attractions, cultural diversity and creative institutions that few states can replicate. Its more than 50 ethnic groups provide an extensive reservoir of festivals, cuisine, crafts, music, dance and traditions. Jos also hosts the Nigerian Film Corporation and National Film Institute, institutions capable of supporting the development of a larger film and entertainment ecosystem. NIPSS participants themselves identified Plateau’s tourism assets and creative ecosystem during an earlier tour of the state.
The encouraging aspect of the Mutfwang initiative is that the government is beginning to look beyond merely promoting festivals. It is attempting to construct an economic architecture around them.
The administration’s ₦4 billion MSME matching fund with the Bank of Industry, for example, could help address one of the perennial problems confronting young entrepreneurs: access to capital. Executive Order No. 10 of 2024, providing a framework for public-private partnerships, could similarly help bring private capital and expertise into projects government cannot sustainably finance alone.
Equally important is the proposed revival of Hill Station Hotel, Plateau Hotel and Jos Wildlife Park. These are not merely nostalgic landmarks. Properly redeveloped and professionally managed, they can become economic assets supporting hospitality businesses, tour operators, restaurants, transportation providers and hundreds of other enterprises.
The declaration of December as Plateau’s official tourism month also has considerable potential. Tourism thrives partly on predictability. Establishing a recognised annual season gives airlines, hotels, entertainment promoters, tour operators and visitors something around which to plan.
There is also a wider opportunity. Jos has long enjoyed an important place in Nigeria’s creative history. Building a modern ecosystem around film, music, fashion, digital production and entertainment could help retain young talent that might otherwise migrate to Lagos or Abuja.
Indeed, Mutfwang had already told NIPSS in February that the Orange Economy represented a pathway towards economic diversification and sustainable development. The latest blueprint therefore suggests an attempt to translate that proposition into specific interventions rather than leaving it as rhetoric.
There are, nevertheless, hurdles that will determine whether the ambition succeeds. Study Group 4 of NIPSS identified funding, security and legal frameworks among the issues Plateau must address to realise its potential. Security is especially consequential because tourists and investors require confidence in their destinations.
Implementation will consequently be the ultimate test.
The Mutfwang administration should now establish measurable targets: tourist arrivals, private investment attracted, creative businesses financed, jobs generated, hotel occupancy, internally generated revenue and the number of tourism facilities restored. Publishing those figures periodically would allow Plateau residents to judge whether the Orange Economy strategy is delivering tangible results.
What Mutfwang has got right is the direction: Plateau’s mountains, weather, cultures, films, festivals and creative talents should not exist merely as objects of admiration. They are economic assets.
If the administration can provide security, infrastructure, financing and credible private-sector partnerships around them, the familiar description of Plateau as the Home of Peace and Tourism could acquire a more economically meaningful dimension — a home of tourism, creativity, enterprise and jobs.

*Ishaku writes from Jos