As the National Council for Arts and Culture holds the first National Festival for Arts and Culture virtual meeting, the stake holders in the Arts and Culture sector have appealed to the Plateau state governor to consider hosting the cultural festival in November rather than December this year.
The stake holders made up of 36 state commissioners of
culture, permanent secretaries, special advisers and directors of culture and
tourism in the 36 states of the federation including Abuja said that November
was a better date as December is usually full of activities.
The meeting which was held to review the syllabus
for the festival drew participants from all the states of the
federation
The Director General National Council for Arts and
Culture Otunba Segun Runsewe in his welcome address at the technical
stakeholders visual meeting in preparation of the National Festival for Arts
and Culture told all the stakeholders/ participants that the advent of Covid 19
has made it imperative for everybody to think outside the box in order to
invent new ways of making the Arts and Culture sector busy and relevant.
Runsewe informed his audience that the National Council
for Arts and Culture in the second week of the month of May this year organized
the first ever government Drive In Theatre in Nigeria to demonstrate that even
in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic, entertainment is still possible.
He reminded the participants that the Council within
this period of the pandemic produced and distributed personal protective equipment
to journalists, frontline workers and other Nigerians to mitigate the effects
of the pandemic, keep the sector busy and reposition it for greater visibility
and relevance.
In the visual conference, the Executive governor of
Plateau state, Rt Hon Simon Bako Lalong in his welcome address to the
National Stakeholders Technical visual meeting in preparation for 33rd edition
of the National Festival of Arts and Culture tagged Plateau NAFEST 2020,
commended the Director General of the National Council for Arts and Culture,
Otunba Segun Runsewe for the dynamic, purposeful and visionary leadership he
has provided the Arts and Culture sectors since his appointment in 2017.
Governor Bako lalong expressed his appreciation to the
Director General and the management team of NCAC for initiating, facilitating
and successfully organizing the zoom meeting as an alternative to the physical
meeting initially scheduled for Jos Plateau state.
The governor added that he has followed with keen
interest the series of online meetings the Council has held with critical
stakeholders within the sectors; the virtual cultural tour of all the states in
Nigeria, several zoom meetings, the Drive in Theatre among others.
According to the governor, all these are
testimonies to the fact that even in the midst of serious Covid 19 lockdown,
the Arts and Culture sector have been kept alive and active. He assured the
participants of his conviction that 2020 National Festival of Arts and Culture
scheduled to hold later in the year is not only possible but could be made even
more spectacular in line with Covid 19 protocols.
The governor reassured the participants that Plateau
state is fully committed to hosting the 33rd edition of NAFEST 2020 in the
auspicious city of Jos and that they are working hard to put all the necessary
facility in place for a successful hitch free festival later this year.
The governor of Plateau state through his commissioner
of Tourism, Culture and Hospitality declared open the commencements of
proceedings of the National Stakeholders Technical meeting for the 33rd edition
of the National Festival of Arts and Culture NAFEST Plateau 2020 to the glory
of God.
Before going into the technical session, the Director
General of the National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Runsewe, expressed
his appreciation to the governor for his interest in the activities of NCAC and
for agreeing to host NAFEST 2020 .
Runsewe reminded the stakeholders that one of the major
reasons for this technical session zoom meeting was to discuss the template for
staging NAFEST 2020 in line with all safety protocols hence some events that
involves crowding will not be part of this year's edition of NAFEST because of
strict adherence to the principle of physical distancing.
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