By Ozolua Uhakheme, Assistant Editor (Arts)
Ever been to some of Nigeria’s wonderful heritage sites such as Ogbunike Cave, Yankari Games Reserve, Ikogosi Warm Spring, Tinapa Resort and Obudu Mountain Resort for vacation or leisure? You can undertake such tour right at the comfort of your home by visiting culturalvirtualtour.ncac.gov.ng.
The link, which was unveiled to critical stakeholders by National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) on Saturday at a virtual conference, is made up of two parts, the Executive Summary and an array of diverse cultural manifestations from different parts of country. The virtual conference is the seventh in the series of zoom meetings the council has held since the COVID-19 lockdown
Director-General NCAC, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe said that the essence of the weekly virtual meeting was to keep stakeholders abreast, engaged and the sector busy at this period of global health emergency.
He said that rather than remain 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 stated that the virtual cultural tour was held to give opportunity to participants worldwide to tour Nigeria from the comfort of their homes and 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.
READ ALSO: How culture can be used as therapy against Covid-19, by Runsewe
“COVID-19 is like rainfall and it gives us an opportunity to think outside the box and come up with this virtual cultural tour, which serves as a therapy and rain jacket for the pandemic,” he added.
The online cultural tour is made up of two parts, the executive summary and an array of cultural manifestations across the states of the federation.
The executive summary showcases Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State, Southsouth; Tafawa Balewa Tomb in Bauchi State, Northwestern; Ikogosi Warm Spring in Ekiti State, Southwest.
Others are Leje Iron Smithing Kingdom in Enugu State, Southeastern; Kanta Museum in Kebbi State, Northwestern and Military Cemetery in Zugeru, Niger State in Northcentral.
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) holding 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.
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