Wake Up, Runsewe Tells Arts, Culture, Tourism Commissions

 Director-general of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, has charged state commissions for arts, culture and tourism to rise to their responsibilities in the culture and tourism sector, to ensure the industry’s contribution to the nation’s economy and promotion of Nigeria’s image abroad.

Runsewe gave the charge at the two-day National Conference reviewing Nigeria’s National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) held on December 6-7, 2023. Established in 1970, post the Nigerian Civil War, NAFEST aims at enhancing unity amongst Nigeria’s diverse cultures. However, since its creation the festival had never been reviewed, and had lost its original purpose to become a mere jamboree for states.

With the conference, NCAC aims to not only restore the original purpose but improve upon it to ensure that state commissions of arts and culture proactively promote their individual culture and tourism products and services locally and globally.

Speaking at the event, Runsewe noted that one of the major reasons for governments’ disinterest in arts and culture is the absence of documentation in the sector. This, in addition to inadequate funding of the sector contributes to the sector’s irrelevance.

“NAFEST is the key to changing our stories. The state commissions are here to contribute, provide their observations, after which we will come up with a communique to be submitted to the government,” he said.

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Runsewe added that the conference will address the issue of funding for the industry.

“Funding is a part of the paper we are launching today. There are some potential funds that are available for this sector that we are yet to tap into. And with this conference we can start to tap into them,” said Runsewe.

However, dialogue is cheap, and documentation does not guarantee implementation despite the DG’s assurance of the strength of its current strategy.

Photographer, archivist and gallery founder, Dayo Adedayo, is of the opinion that documentation is the first of the many steps to building a sustainable creative industry.

Dayo is working with the NCAC to document all of Nigeria’s arts and culture and history photographically.

“Let’s document first. Let’s know what we have because neither the federal government nor the state governments know what they have. Only the local governments that know what is in their local governments. Once we do know what we have and are not promoting, then, we can strategize.

“The truth is, if someone gives me a million dollars every year. I won’t have any business going round the country and risking my life to take pictures. That is what is happening with Nigeria. We are getting money from oil majors. We are not the one extracting and we don’t even know how much oil they are extracting. But if those opportunities are not there, states will be more creative. Nigeria and Nigerians must be hungry for success,” he said.