By Idu Ogagba
The National Council for Arts and Culture has unveiled a Virtual Cultural Tour of Nigeria, aimed at promoting the nation’s cultural ensemble.
The cultural tour held on Saturday, was the seventh in the series of zoom meetings the Council has held since the Covid-19 lockdown.
Speaking during the programme, the Director-General Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, said that the essence of the weekly virtual meetings was to keep stakeholders engaged and the sector busy at this period of global health emergency.
He said that rather than keep the sector idle, the virtual meetings were evolved to get the views and opinions of experts, members of the diplomatic community and industry players on emerging trends, and how to reposition the sector to mitigate the effects of post Covid-19.
Runsewe said that the virtual cultural tour was held to give opportunity for participants worldwide to tour Nigeria from the comfort of their homes and to mark the end of the first series of online meetings of the Council.
He noted that Nigeria has diverse cultural manifestations which offer great opportunity for investment in Tourism and other recreational services.
“Covid-19 is like rain falling and it gives us an opportunity to think outside the box and to come up with this virtual cultural tour which serves as a therapy and rain jacket for the pandemic”.
The online cultural tour is made up of two parts, the Executive Summary and an array of cultural manifestations across the states of the country.
The Executive Summary showcases Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom state, South-South Nigeria; Tafawa Balewa Tomb in Bauchi State, North-Western Nigeria; Ikogosi Warm Spring in Ekiti State, South-South Nigeria.
Others are Leje Iron Smithing Kingdom in Enugu State, South-Eastern Nigeria; Kanta Museum in Kebbi State, North-Western Nigeria and Military Cemetery in Zugeru, Niger State in North-Central Nigeria.
The NCAC-DG said that the virtual cultural tour shall be used as a template for the forth-coming National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) slated to hold in Jos, Plateau State in October.
Plateau State shall be the first state to experience NCAC Drive-In Theatre with all the Covid-19 protocol, Runsewe added.
Otunba Runsewe said that a link shall be provided to enable Nigerians view the complete package from across the country.
