Lagos, Feb. 22, 2021 – Chief Segun Runsewe, Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), has called on Ambassador designates to promote Nigerian cultural economy in their new places of primary assignment.
Runsewe said that the country’s cultural economy was enormous, ready and waiting to be tapped.
According to a statement on Monday in Abuja, Runsewe made the call at the induction ceremony organised for the Ambassador designates and Consuls General.
The director-general rolled out the Nigerian cultural map, with detailed and focal attention on states’ cultural festivals and time of celebrations.
He also spoke on the rich Nigerian culture and its potential to diversify the nation’s economy and attract foreign investment.
Runsewe, however, urged the envoys to be in the forefront of promoting and engaging many foreign nations and their people about the robust and rich Nigerian cultural economy waiting for collaborations and partnership.
He said that all the 36 states in the country were very rich, unique and with diverse cultural attributes and contents, which could not be easily found anywhere in black Africa and the world.
According to him, the Nigerian arts and crafts sector is a goldmine waiting to be fully discovered and tapped for export and empowerment of rural people and artisans.
Runsewe expressed the determination and readiness of NCAC to partner with all the new envoys to promote and market Nigerian cultural festivals and destinations abroad as soon as they settled down.
“We have shown over the years that Nigerian culture has the capacity to enthrone peace and promote harmony to a world troubled by many irritations and uncertainty.
“It is within your call to put this attributes to the use of Nigeria and your hosts for the good of mankind.
“Our culinary skills and fashion is another strategic attraction to which most nations and people where you are posted to will want to know more and appreciate,” he said.
According to Wikipaedia, Culinary means ‘related to cooking’, are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking, and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals.
Runsewe said: “Nigerian indigenous languages, totalling over 450, spoken across the length and breath of the country, stand as veritable evidence of Nigerian uniqueness in the map of black Africa and the world in general.
“These are basic diplomatic ingredients and cultural values that can be used effectively to tell a refreshing story about Nigeria, and help change the negative narratives of Nigerians and Nigeria abroad.”
He, however, presented Nigerian branded mufflers, note pads, promotional materials, laptop bags and facemasks made from local fabrics and file jackets to the envoys after his presentation.
