One of the cultural programmes Nigerians can expect this year is a major exchange between the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) and the Kingdom of Belgium.
The Belgian Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, Mr. Daniel Dorgent, while on a courtesy call to the Director-General of the NCAC, OtunbaOlusegunRunsewe, stressed on the need for the two countries to come together and work on projects.
According to him, the cultural exchange, if successful, will be of mutual benefit to both countries through the presentation of fashion exhibitions, music and dance, art and crafts, cultural festivals, amongst other noble initiatives.
Dorgent said Nigeria is a country with great potentials adding that, “we stand to benefit from some of these interesting potentials.”
He was also quick to state that the project could involve Nigerians and Africans in the Diaspora, which would translate to more inflow of resources to the two countries and nationals who would be so involved.
On his part, OtunbaRunsewe promised to provide the necessary logistics like venue, publicity and security to ensure a successful outing.
Runsewe observed that Nigeria and Belgium have a long relationship in sports, while sharing mutually beneficial economic ties with no less than 40 Belgium companies already doing extremely well in diverse businesses across the country.
According to the NCAC boss “as far back as 1984 over eleven Nigerian professional footballers plied their trade in the Belgian league. You will recall also that in the last Olympic, Nigeria and Belgium played in the volleyball finals.”
Speaking further, Runsewe added that, “as a body, we have collaborated with India, Korea, Iran, Bangladesh and China. So for your exhibition, we will put in our best to ensure the program succeeds and meets international standards.”
The meeting ended with an exchange of cultural promotional materials between the two nations.
