The Ogun State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Honourable Muyiwa Oladipo has disclosed that culture and tourism are veritable tools needed for uniting the country at a time when the unity of the country was being put to test.
Oladipo who made this known in Kaduna, at the 30th edition of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST 2017), with the theme ‘Nigerian Peace and Unity…. Our Pride’ noted that culture especially had a huge role to play in ensuring a stronger country capable of scaling through problems deemed too difficult to surmount.
“Nigeria will be together for a long time to come, Definitely, NAFEST has shown that we can use culture and tourism, culture particularly to unite ourselves, just as sports unites Nigeria, he said.
He also noted that the country in no distant time would be on the same level with countries like Kenya and Isreal who now earn a lot from culture and tourism.
Earlier, the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai who was represented by his Deputy, Architect Barnabas Bala disclosed that the state government was putting together policies and legislative structures capable of strengthening and sustaining the conservation and preservation of key historic sites, just as Creative Arts centres are being created in the state capital and other Arts and Crafts Clusters in the local government councils.
Mallam El-Rufai noted that Kaduna State was the home of culture, tradition, and tourism, adding that plan was on the way to reduce poverty in the state.
“Kaduna State is the home of culture, tradition and indeed tourism with historical sites like, Lord Lugard House, Nok Culture, just to mention a few. We are also planning to reduce the level of poverty, improve the economy through jobs and wealth creation in the creative industry, as a lot of opportunities abound in the creative industry waiting to be tapped,” He said.
The Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe in his remarks said the unity of the country was not negotiable, adding that Nigeria would continue to exist irrespective of whatever challenges it faces.
