Why Ekiti State Is Hosting NAFEST – Gov Fayemi; As 52nd Technical Meeting Opens In Ado Ekiti

By Ayodele Oni

Stakeholders and Chief Executives of Culture in Nigeria began a four day meeting in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday.

The meeting, is the 52nd National Technical Stakeholders’ Meeting of the Chief Executives of Culture in Nigeria.

In attendance are the Director General of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, State Directors of Culture and other delegates from the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory.

A statement by the Special Assistant, Media, to the deputy governor of Ekiti state, Mr Odunayo Ogunmola explained that the meeting is in preparatory to this year’s NAFEST, which the state is hosting.

The festival, which is coming up between November 13 and 20, has as its theme, Celebrating National Unity in Diversity.

Addressing delegates at the opening ceremony, Governor Kayode Fayemi, represented by his deputy, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, listed benefits of hosting the festival to the state.

According to him, it will, among others, showcase the Ekiti cultural heritage to the whole world and for investors to tap into its abundant economic potentials.

Dr. Fayemi said his administration also accepted to host the national cultural fiesta in November to further encourage creativity in the tourism sector and to create a viable platform and market for young people in creative enterprises.

Describing the State as the most suitable place to host a national programme of such magnitude, Dr. Fayemi noted that Ekiti was awarded the hosting right because of its reputation as one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria which has one of the most hospitable people in the world.

The Governor, who noted that his administration has always given attention to culture and tourism, expressed delight that NAFEST would provide the opportunity for Nigerians to appreciate the role of culture in promoting national unity and integration.

He charged stakeholders to use the meeting as a preparatory ground for  eventful festival which would create windows of investment opportunities for the economic growth of not only Ekiti State but Nigeria as a whole.

“As a nation, we need to appreciate the dynamic nature of our cultures and acknowledge NAFEST as veritable platform to further celebrate our unity in diversity.

“I, therefore, urge you to focus more on how we can redirect cultural activities towards revenue generation. We need to effectively tap into the economic potential of our cultural heritage and improve our grassroots development.

“It is important to say at this juncture, that our government is encouraging creativity in the tourism sector of the state. We now have young people in tourism businesses as well as creative enterprises.”

The DG of NCAC, Otunba Runsewe,  described the festival as one of the measures to cement the unity and harmony of the country as it is an avenue to showcase cultures and traditions of the various ethnic groups spread across the 36 states of the federation.

“In Brazil, for example, people pay for what we have seen in Ekiti State today. We will take Ekiti Cultural Troupe to sell our culture outside our country. We should market our cultural heritage to the world, we must value what we have.

“Our country can be great again and culture is one of the platforms we can use to make it great.”