By Emmanuel Ogungbile
More than 3,000 participants are expected to attend the maiden edition of the Ibadan Creators Summit, as organisers seek to equip Nigeria’s digital and creative talents with practical skills to build sustainable careers and businesses.
The summit, themed “Build. Monetize. Scale.”, is scheduled to hold on Saturday, September 5, 2026, at 3–5 Harvesters Drive, Ring Road, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The Convener, Amb. Dr Adesola Adeyemi, disclosed this on Friday at a press conference in Ibadan, where he explained that the summit was designed to address some of the major challenges confronting creators, including poor access to information, limited business opportunities and difficulties monetising their skills.
Adeyemi said the summit would bring together creators, brands, agencies and platforms in a bid to create stronger connections within Ibadan’s growing creative ecosystem.
According to him, Ibadan has continued to produce talented young people in content creation, photography, videography, writing, presenting and other creative fields, but many are compelled to relocate to Lagos, Abuja and other cities when they begin to gain recognition.
He said the situation was not necessarily because the city lacked talent, but because creators had not had sufficient access to the structures and opportunities required to turn their skills into sustainable businesses.
“They are not leaving because Ibadan lacks talent. They are leaving because for a long time, Ibadan lacked a table. No room where the deals happen. No structure. No place where a brand and a creator can sit across from each other and do business properly.
“The Ibadan Creators Summit exists to build that table,” Adeyemi said.
Explaining the theme of the summit, the convener said the word “Build” was targeted at creators who were still developing their skills and personal brands, while “Monetize” would focus on helping creators turn their skills and audiences into income.
He added that “Scale” was designed for creators who were already earning and wanted to grow from individual operations into structured businesses.
“Build, because too many creators are chasing virality when they have not built anything that lasts. A viral video is an event. A brand is an asset.
“Monetize, because passion does not pay school fees. If you are doing this full time, it has to feed you.
“And Scale, because the goal is not to remain a one-person operation forever. The goal is a studio, a team, a business that runs whether or not you feel inspired that morning,” he said.
Adeyemi said participants would receive practical insights into areas including pricing creative services, pitching to brands, running advertisements, building audiences, monetising content and structuring creative ventures as sustainable businesses.
He also disclosed that the organisers deliberately made the summit free to attend, noting that charging a fee could prevent young creators who needed the opportunity most from participating.
“The creator who needs this the most is usually the one who cannot afford a ticket. Charging at the door would have filtered out exactly the people I built this for,” he said.
The convener further expressed concern over the lack of reliable city-level data on Ibadan’s creator economy, saying the situation could affect the ability of brands, government and institutions to adequately recognise and invest in the sector.
“When I went looking for data on the Ibadan creator economy, there was none. Nothing at city level. Nigeria has numbers. Lagos has numbers. Ibadan does not exist on paper,” he stated.
Adeyemi said part of the summit’s broader objective was to increase the visibility of creators operating in Ibadan and contribute to documenting the city’s emerging creator economy.
“The creator economy is an economy. It employs people. It moves money. It exports Nigerian culture to the world and brings foreign currency back into homes in Ibadan.
“What we are doing on the 5th is economic development work,” he said.
Adeyemi also called for a shift in the perception that young creatives must relocate to Lagos before they can achieve significant success.
He said, “Ibadan should be a place a creator moves to, not a place a creator leaves.
“I want a young person here to see somebody who looks like them, talks like them, still lives here, and is earning properly from what they make. Then the question stops being, ‘How do I get to Lagos?’ and becomes, ‘How do I get to that level?’”
The summit will feature speakers including Saleem King, Stella Matthew, Balogun Danjuma, Tessy Olota, Kemi Deborah, Folashade Ogunyemi, Hon. Seyi Adisa, Samuel Okike, Folakemi Mighty, Adebayo Ibrahim, Alamu Akinkumi, Ajoke Lasisi, Victoria Ajiboye, Ayo Adams, Babatunmise Agboola, Olivia Umeh, The Coach and Hon. Akinsete.
