Category: Life – The Midweek Magazine

OCTOBER 24 every year is significant to members of the Inner Wheel Club Nigeria (IWC), Onigbongbo. It is the day the club was chartered in 1983. But this year’s is more significant. It marks the 36th anniversary of the club.

The event, which held at Starland Vocational Centre, Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos, was attended by many members of the association. The District 911 Chairman (DC) Adejumoke Anike Odulaja’s presence at the ceremony added colour to it.

Past District Chairman, Lanre Olomofe, who was described as the doyen of the club, said the club had come a long way. ”Three decades is by no means a joke or a short journey. We thank God for bringing us to this point. The club is now senior to many in the district,” she said.

She recalled their good old days with their husbands in Rotary Club. “Our husbands really wanted unity,” she added. She paid tribute to the first president of the club, Mrs. Funmi Thompson, asking all to observe a minute silence in honour of the late leader and other departed members of the group.

Its President Abimbola Benson listed some of the projects being executed by the association as:  a building for a blind man at Idafa-Maya, Ikorodu, Lagos, an over-10 year sponsorship of two indigent students, Samuel and Hannah Ajayi, its health programme, which includes cervical and breast cancer screening.

At the event, she said three widows and two indigent women would be empowered. The widows were Mrs. Christiana Owaseye,  Alhaja Mufuliyat Ajibola and Mrs. Fasilat Olaniyan while the indigent were Mrs. Kudirat Ayinde and Mrs. Fausat Adeyemi. They received cash to start businesses.

She thanked members for their commitment over the years, adding that they have made her proud.

Mrs. Odulaja, who started with the song: ”My life time. I will give God my life…” said she was glad because ”Onigbogbo Club is 36. I am also the 36th District Chairman.” She said clubs are the ambassadors of the district as they carry its image, adding that strong clubs make a strong district.  She thanked the members for their steadfastness and contributions.

”You have done so well,” she said, urging them to bring more members.

Specifically, she praised Benson for her hard work and Olomofe for the use of her facility for the club’s activities and support over the years. She decorated Benson as an Ambassador of IWC with a charge: ”Go out and continue to project the image of 911.”

At the event,  Adeyemi Johnson, a PDC, Funmi Ajose, a Deputy National Representative (DNR), Dr Bimbo Sowande, Past National Representative (PNR), Osenike Ajadi, PNR, Dupe Oyedutan, chair, extension service, Meg Adegoke, District Secretary, Kemi Akintilo, president, INW, Gbagada, her Surulere counterpart Remi Onafuye, among others.

 

 Oyebola Owolabi

 

ENVIRONMENTALISTS have advocated up-cycling and recycling as the way forward if Nigeria must achieve goal number 11 (sustainable cities and communities) of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by member-states of the United Nations (UN).

There is the fear that Nigeria might not attain this goal, despite the 2030 timeline, going by the waste management issues plaguing the country. These advocates are, therefore, insistent revising and recycling, if practised wholeheartedly, will benefit the country in no small measure.

Sola Adekanye, a sustainability expert and researcher, said: “Recycling is an effective way to capture material inputs to the market. This makes recycling a control measure and not preventive. Consumption is likely not to reduce, therefore, waste will not reduce significantly, even if Nigerians reduce and reuse, because waste correlates with population density. This is why recycling is an effective way to decrease waste piles at landfills.

“Proper waste disposal will create an income-generating venture for the state, private entities and citizens. Many unemployed will gain work. The health benefits to be derived from pollution control, especially recycling, are also enormous; our waterways will be cleaner, which will encourage activities like water sports, transportation, among others.”

Sade Nubi of the Works and Physical Planning of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) also identified population explosion and industrialisation as a major cause of pollution.

She believes that the benefits in proper waste disposal are enormous. To her, proper waste disposal will ensure a cleaner environment, better health for the people, raw materials for local industries and employment opportunities.

Olamide Ayeni-Babajide, founder and chief executive, Pearl Recycling, said recycling and upcycling remain the two major escape routes if Nigeria must meet the goal of sustainable cities and environment. Pearl Recycling is a social enterprise that remodels solid waste into sustainable eco-friendly products.

She said:  “Pearl recycling started from a place of anger. I attended a conference in Dubai in 2012 where I got a wall decor made from corn husk and I realised we could also explore such in Nigeria and make useful products from waste as other countries are doing; and that was how Pearl Recycling started. I realised we could do same thing in Nigeria and replicate the same process.

“We saw a gap in environmental issues in Nigeria. There is a lot of waste that is not being used properly, waste in the drainages, landfills, etc.  We can explore the situation and make useful products from waste as other countries are doing.”

Unlike recycling, which involves the chemical or technological breakdown of waste, Ayeni-Babajide is more inclined towards upcycling, a process she described as transforming something from one condition to another, which might not necessarily involve technology or chemicals. A product is converted to something else entirely at the end of its life, something not connected to its original status.

‘’Tyre is one of such materials, which Ayeni-Babajide converts to furniture. She turns tyre to eco-friendly furniture for every occasion and use, especially furniture which she donates to schools. She also makes ottoman seats and tables which are used in homes and offices.

‘’The tyres are covered with foam and three layers of fabric for the indoor use but just painted for the outdoor use. The fear of fire is also taken care of since tyres will not burn unless doused with flammable substance such as petrol.

Aside tyres, Ayeni-Babajide works with other wastes. She makes wall decors from wine corks and some  plastic.

‘’To underscore the importance of recycling and upcycling to the environment, Ayeni-Babajide also teaches others, especially women and girls, to empower them and indirectly benefit the environment. The centre has taught about 250 persons, 90 per cent of who are women and girls. “We focus more on women and girls because we want to empower them to be useful to themselves.  Our chairs can be made at home. We also partner organisations to train people and these organisations pay for the trainings.  We are working with the United States (U.S.) government to train 800 public school pupils but we have trained more than 500 so far.  We are expected to train 40 in each school but then we have gone to some schools and trained 75 because the pupils are eager to learn and when they come, we can’t send them back,” she added.

 Bola Olajuwon, Assistant Editor

 

THE Africa Positive, an organisation which focuses mostly on Africans in Germany and seeks to promote a positive coverage of Africa through its magazine, Africa Positive, has launched Ubuntu Series animations aimed at sensitising people of African descent about behaviours that disrupt the countries’ growth.

Cameroonian computer scientist and journalist Veye Tatah founded the Africa Positive in 1998.

The magazine is based on African-German collaboration and represents a counterpoint to the predominantly negative media coverage of Africa.

 

From media training on Illegal migration to animations

In Europe, migrant crisis reached a peak in 2015, when rising numbers of people arrived in the European Union (EU), travelling across the Mediterranean Sea or overland through Southeast Europe. EU’s policies to engage with the countries, where illegal migrants pass through to Europe, media reports on death and the global outcry over the open sale of migrants as slaves in Libya have assisted in reducing the carnage on Sahara Desert-Agadez and the Libyan-Mediterranean Sea migrants’ routes. While the number of migrants to Europe might have reduced, the illegal migrants and traffickers have become daring in their operations.

The migrants, including asylum seekers as well as economic migrants as well as Islamic State militants, who disguised as refugees or migrants have reshaped the joint responsibility of EU states for asylum procedures and how to tackle illegal migrants. No thanks to the rise of national populist movements in reaction to rising numbers of refugees in Europe, attendant crimes and terror attacks’ rate, pressure on housing and infrastructural facilities in the face of economic and financial pressure facing the block. The relative economic and political climates in the home countries of the asylum seekers have also necessitated a programme of action to send them home.

Media coverage of the migration crisis, according to experts, frequently overlooks the economic and socio-political realities driving Africans to leave their countries for other parts of the continent and for Europe.

Positive Force, along with the Robert Bosch Foundation (Germany) and Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism at Technical University Dortmund and the African Media Initiative (AMI), had in the past organised media training for journalists in Senegal, Nigeria and other countries.

A week-long Spring School was organised in Senegal last year to connect and empower journalists from African and European countries to promote the quality of reporting on all aspects of migration in Africa and Europe.

The Dakar workshop involved media practitioners and scholars from 20 nations. The scholars were chosen from the fields of development studies, demography and political studies and they provided diverse perspectives into migration issue.

 Sensitising people of African descent about disruptive behaviours

Ubuntu Series animations, therefore, is an extension of tackling illegal migration and other predominantly negative report about the African continent. The Ubuntu Series aimed at “sensitising people of African descent about behaviours that disrupt the development of our countries.” Armed with the belief that change in attitudes can empower Africans to find homemade solutions for the challenges they face, Africa Positive started producing animations.

The first episode of the Ubuntu Series titled: “We Turn the Page”, has four characters, representing young Africans on the continent who see the West as their escape route. While educative, the episode is equally a clamour for Africans to refocus their energies on the continent. The episodes are both in English and French.

The misconception of Africa as a continent is still a huge issue around the world and Ubuntu Series was geared to correct the delusion. According to Tatah, “global media predominantly highlight the negative about the African continent. They generally project Western countries in a most positive light. The youth in Africa, consuming this information, believe everything and are ready to risk their lives for perceived greener pastures abroad”.

The Ubuntu Series was conceived due to media reports in 2017 that showed Africans being sold as slaves in Libya and so many young Africans dying in the Mediterranean sea. Africans need to create conducive environments in our communities and countries that encourage development at both the individual and national levels, Tatah said.

She said her organisation believes that “the renaissance of Africa lies in the accomplishment of the African Identity, by realising the black consciousness and back-to-our-roots agenda, and by reloading our sense of humanity, fairness, justice, empathy, naturalism and the legendary consideration of the human being”.

Tatah noted that while the continent is “is very rich and truly offers a lot of hidden opportunities that are not always obvious to young Africans,” many Africans focus on the West glamorised in the media.

She said Series aimed to change African youths’ orientation to believe in themselves, their continent and stop embarking on dangerous migration.

 

Enugu State came alive with literary activities when hundreds of writers, under the auspices of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), stormed its capital for its International Convention. The need for the establishment of structures to foster the writers’ craft steered the discourse at the opening ceremony, reports EVELYN OSAGIE

 

HAVE you recently visited the National Library complex in Abuja? I was there a couple of months ago on business,” began Prof E.E. Sule, keynote speaker at the 38th Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) International Convention.

“Located in the Central Business District among the high-rise buildings glorifying the city, indeed, it is a stone-throw from NNPC Towers, a symbol of Nigeria’s oil wealth. In the splendor of the central district, the library is distinguished by its state of squalor.”

For the professor of African Literature and Cultural Studies, the state of the library is one of “the signs of a failed modernity’’. In his address themed, “Nationalism and the Poetics of Integration”, Sule said: “Unless we complete the project of Nigerian modernity by building not only an elegant and virile National Library, but also a national narrative to demolish the constituted violence imposed on us, to turnaround the condition of our society, we may end up not having a country”.

According to him, writers cannot forge a national direction if they lack home-based or home-grown structures with which to develop ideological consciousness. “Conventional publishing, editorial facilities, residencies, grants and fellowships are structures severely lacking in Nigeria, and their absences should provoke a declaration of a state of emergency by writers’ bodies, such as ANA. I do not see how a nation can build a strong literary heritage without the structures. It is possible,” he said.

 A call for cultural revolution

Sule called for “a cultural revolution to lead to a political revolution”, saying literature has the power to engineer change. While advising that writers should retrace their steps, he observed that literary writing should provide a critical insight o Nigerians in the course of rehabilitating the idea of the nation-state, which is indeed the prerequisite of national integration

He said: “We must begin a new phase of cultural revolution to lead to a political revolution. Our modernity is, must be, anchored on a revolution…it is therefore expedient for writers to have a sense of purpose, a kind of collective ideological consciousness. A writer ought to have an artistic manifesto. While not discounting diasporic voices, writers living and writing in Nigeria are the ones we can count on to achieve a poetics of integration, to attain cultural revolution.”

One-minute silent

ANA National President, Denja Abdullahi, called for a more proactive involvement and support by government to foster the development of the book industry and the lot of writers, stating that the organisation is open to partnerships. Recounting his administration’s achievements, he called for one-minute silence in honour of late writers – Ikeogu Ike, Prof Pius Adesanmi and Dr Gabriel Okara. “The 38th convention of the association, historic for being a sort of homecoming to the Association, established in 1981 around this precinct by the patriarch of modern African literature, Chinua Achebe and others. This particular convention is auspicious for me and my team and therefore calls for reflection and a look back at how far we have come with the promises we made when we sought and were given the mandate to lead in 2015,” he said.

The convention’s opening ceremony, which brought together over 400 writers from across the country, was headlined by Prof Zainab Akali, Odia Ofeimun, Prof Ernest Emeyonu, Nigeria Copyrights Commission (NCC) Director-General, Mr John Asein, among other dignitaries.

Akali,  Agbada, Remi, get ANA fellow award

Three new fellows were induct at the opening ceremony of thisyear’s convention, which include celebrated woman writer, Prof Zaynab Alkali; enowned professor and prolific author, Prof J. O. J. Nwachukwu Agbada and former President of ANA, Prof Remi Raji.

The writers were received the investiture for their contributions to the development of Nigerian literature.

Presenting the award to Akali, a member of ANA Board of Trustees, Prof Ernest Emenyonu, said: “Alkali is a renowned novelist and writer whose first novel,  “Still Born” has become a classic  nationally and internationally. She is also a veteran University administrator and teacher.”

“The investiture of the writers was in recognition of their contribution to the development of the Nigerian literature/book indusry and her commitment to the craft of writing”, Abdullahi said.

For Akali, who is on the board of the National Library, “Writers must rise to their responsibilities, “first as healers of sick society, mobilisers of a collective consciences, moderators of excessive behaviours, tamers of unruly conducts, but above all, as agents of love.”

Akali advised writers to rise to their responsibilities, “first as healers of sick society, mobilisers of a collective consciences, moderators of excessive behaviours, tamers of unruly conducts, but above all, as agents of love”.

She said: “Unfortunately, many Nigerian writers are undergoing inertia and abandoning their birthright – the right to make relevant contributions to the growth of the nation. We have relinquished our responsibility as the custodian of peoples’ conscience. Our voices are muffled, and wherever we raise them, they carry no missiles of correction.

“This award says a writer must never give up, never be afraid of joining the others in performing the job he is created for. For whatever talent is given to a writer is not his to squander, no matter the circumstances, for he is only a conduit or, at best a messenger.”

NCC partners ANA to fight piracy

In view of the myriads of security challenges threatening the unity of the nation, NCC DG observed that art and culture remain major pillars in nation building and social integration and their roles cannot be over-emphasised. The timing of this convention is consequently deemed most auspicious.

He stated that the commission will partner ANA to protect the copyrights of Nigerian writers and fight piracy in the country. “The Commission reaffirms its commitment to addressing issues of plagiarism, author/publisher dealings and all forms of piracy. As the Commission renews its pact with ANA, it is our hope that we can join hands to strengthen the copyright system and make it a tool for the sustainable growth of the book industry. While wishing participants a fruitful convention, the Commission enjoins all authors to be more copyright conscious as owners and users.

“Copyright piracy denies authors and publishers the fruits of their intellectual labour and investment and this cannot be allowed to continue if the book industry is to thrive and help sustain the educational sector in Nigeria,” he said.

By Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

A group exhibition entitled: Tentacles, which featured artworks by three young artists Bola Opadiran, Bolaji Aremu and Kolawole Joseph, at the Cornelius Adedigba Museum of African Art, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, was an eye opener.

It underscored the fact that passion remains a major driver in one’s achievement. This was demonstrated by one of the exhibiting artists, Opadiran, a self-taught artist who holds a Bachelor and Masters in Agric Economics of the Obafemi Awolowo University and University of Ibadan.

   Tentacles featured paintings, sculpture and mixed media.

Opadiran believes that no barrier is unassailable and in the philosophy that ‘not what you have in your hands  matters, but what you can do with your hands.’

According to him, it is not always what we condemn that is really condemned because ‘we can still visit them and we can still put life into them as you can see in my work.’

Aremu urge federal, states and local governments to provide art teachers in schools in order to discover young artists. He noted that Federal Government caould generate billions of dollars yearly as proceeds from art works, only if it can invest and develop the nation’s creative industry, through the provision of adequate art teachers in public secondary schools to assist in nurturing the young and gifted.

Aremu said Nigeria has a potential to rule the through art. Besides, he advocated the establishment of a platform, through, which  artists could showcase their work to the world, disclosing that many foreigners have shown great interest in art work, and this is a good avenue for the country to earn billions of dollars from art.

Aremu, who noted that most of the public secondary schools lacked Art teachers, leaving those who were gifted in arts abandoned and undeveloped , explained that majority of public secondary schools don’t have art teachers and has negative impact on the industry.

“May be they were not well paid, that is why they decided to set up their own business and move on, instead of imparting their knowledge into the up and coming ones who are also gifted, because there is a saying that we should catch them young and they will keep the gift forever,” he said.

Read Also: Why we are building Benin Royal Museum, by Obaseki

Describing art as a lucrative business, Aremu said: “As it is, arts can improve the nation’s foreign exchange earnings if the government can help us in some ways. You see, the problem we are having in Nigeria is lack of security. Art itself is a lucrative business. It is something that the western world really appreciate so much more than we here in Nigeria.’’

“But thank God some Nigerians, the rich people are showing appreciation for art. And they are giving us urge to stay here rather than going abroad. However, the foreigners are really buying our works, and they are also giving us urge to still push on, the gift you have in you, let it out, unleash it, we appreciate it. So, if government could tackle the problem of insecurity, we will all have peace of mind, and foreigners will be free to come down here to show more appreciation to our work. But if that is not in place, am sorry it is difficult. ”

Another Joseph, a sculpture, said the exhibition was aimed at passing a message to the people, saying: “My aim particularly about this art exhibition was to pass my message to the world with my work and the major part of the message is based on the development of Africa , how do we move forward in Africa to meet up with the rest of our colleagues in the world .While encouraging the up-coming artists not to lose hope, he charged them to keep on doing what they do best, and then there would be a step for their rising someday.

The Curator, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Prof Ohioma Pogoson, who described the three artists as a bundle of talents, observed that the works displayed at the exhibition are an eyeful in more than the aesthetic sense.

 

Janefrances Chibuzor

 

Chairman, National Executive Council of the  Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), Chief Ede Dafinone, has led his family in tree planting to mark the anniversary of  the late chartered accountant,  Senator David Omueya Dafinone.

Speaking during the exercise in Sapele, Delta State,   Dafinone said:  “When a great man dies, we typically say ‘an iroko has fallen’,  so, it is appropriate that to mark this day an Iroko tree will be planted in the garden of the crumb rubber-exporting factory established by my father in Amukpe, Sapele, Delta State.”

The NEF chair used the tree planting to draw attention to the need to improve on Nigeria’s dwindling forest cover, which stands at four percent compared to the FAO recommended level of 25 percent.

He also drummed support for the laudable conservation efforts of NCF.

He said tree planting to commemorate births and deaths is common in some Asian countries and if this trend is established in Nigeria, it will be one of the thrusts of NCF’s Green Recovery Nigeria (GRN) initiative, which will continue to flourish where there is push to recover degenerated and degraded forests whilst establishing new forests.

Read Also: Bandits free kidnapped councillor, family, two others in Katsina

He said: “To plant a tree is to send signal to the rest of Nigeria that we need to preserve our land. This iroko tree will be planted in my father’s memory. It will grow and be year, 100 years, 200 years, even when we might have gone from this world. While some people are cutting trees, destroying forests, we will continue to plant trees”

Finance and Administration Manager, Sapele Integrated Industries Limited (SIIL) Hon. Emmanuel Agbaje, said the Senator Dafinone established the factory in 1995, for processing rubber because Sapele is known then for large rubber plantations and the founder of SIIL remained one of the largest employers of the time.

At the event were wife of Senator Dafinone, Chief Cynthia Dafinone; Dafinone’s bother Chief Godfrey Dafinone; his son Mr. Duvie Dafinone; his daughters in-law Mrs. Eyamba Dafinone and Mrs. Stella Dafinone; management staff of SIIL, media, among others.

 

Except for the downpour on the closing day, Benin City, the Edo State capital was agog for most part of last week. Thirty states featured in various cultural events at this year’s National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) won back-to-back by Rivers State, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports

For eight days, the royal splendour of the great Benin Kingdom boosted major activities at this year’s National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST), themed: Our royalty, our pride, held in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

It was the first time Edo State will host the national fiesta. The Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare (11), along with his wives – a rare experience in Benin tradition – attended.

The Benin monarch hosted the Celebration of Royal Splendour, one of the festival’s events in his palace on Thursday.

The famous red and white colours of the Benin literarily became the unofficial corporate colours of the event. The fiesta, which coincided with the celebration of the monarch’s birthday and third coronation anniversary, was attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo last Friday, during which he visited Oba of Benin, and held a Town Hall meeting with market women, traditional and religious leaders, the artists’ community and students.

The Royal Splendour was not restricted to the Oba’s Palace as there were royal demonstrations of Nigerian cuisines by several states. The Oba Ewuare Foundation Night display of indigenous fabrics in royal apparel and a night of glorious royal grandeur personified by the Benin monarch showcased royalty in its purest form at various venues.

Speaking at the closing ceremony held at the University of  Benin Sports Complex last Saturday, Governor Godwin Obaseki who was represented by his deputy, Rt. Hon. Philip Shuaibu, said Benin had made a bold statement by successfully hosting NAFEST 2019 and setting a new precedent in royalty, culture and national integration.

Director General, National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Segun Runsewe, commended the ancient city for hosting a successful NAFEST, saying,: “Edo people are very hospitable and ever smiling. I must say that I am yet to meet one ugly Edo person”

The festival, which is one of the flagship programmes of the council, featured free skill acquisition, competitive events, royal golf tournament, command performances, traditional cuisines, and traditional wrestling, among other activities.

Earlier at the Cultural Golf Kitty Tournament at Benin Golf Course, which was part of the closing events for the festival, Oba Ewuare II, observed that while culture and sports have been unifying forces in the country, it was not so with partisan politics.

The Oba, who was received by Otunba Runsewe, noted that culture is an instrument for promoting peace, unity and national integration, adding that partisan politics has been divisive.

He emphasised that as a major custodian of our rich culture, he promotes Nigeria at  international fora, including his diplomatic sojourns. The Benin monarch thanked Runsewe for leading Benin to its first hosting of NAFEST.

At the Celebration of Royal Splendour in the palace, Runsewe led over 25 state contingents to pay homage to the monarch. This was followed by performances by troupes from Katsina, Ondo, Delta, Inneh Cultural troupe, Edo Royal Academy, and Edo State Cultural Troupe.

The main feature at the Oba Ewuare Foundation Night held the previous day at Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre was the dramatic perfromance of the legendary Queen Mother, Idia, whose exploits in saving the old kingdom, were extolled in Benin folklore. The drama was preceded by a fashion runway by Sukponquin Collections.

Rusewe urged women to emulate the virtues and courageous acts of the famous Idia (mother of Oba Esigie of ancient Benin Kingdom), who demonstrated rare zeal and determination to protect Benin people from the attack by Idah people in the 14th Century.

He said one of the lessons women must learn from Idia is that they must be ready to help when the society is in need of one, adding that as mothers, they must protect and preserve culture.

Runsewe, who spoke on the sidelines of Oba Ewuare II Foundation Night, stressed the need to promote our rich cultural heritage.

“Unfortunately, many parents take pride in their children speaking English than speaking their dialects or languages. However, we must understand that our cultural heritage is our strength as a people,” he said.

NAFEST 2019 offered a new route towards the aesthetic appreciation of the festival. Rather than adopting artifices, this year’s festival provided a consoling view of a heritage loss, but regained by the people’s will to retain their culture.

The fiesta’s theme was selected to celebrate the country’s traditional rulers as custodians of cultural values and heritage as well as their distinct role in the promotion, preservation and transmission of culture from generation to generation. That culture has the capacity to ameliorate challenges facing any given society, necessitated its use as a vehicle to promote unity, peace, social integration and harmony among Nigerians.

So far, NAFEST can be described as an acknowledgement of the council’s determination and consistency in unveiling the invaluable abundant resources in the culture sector, which have the capacity to turn around the economic fortunes of the country.

Also known as the National Unity Forum, the festival, over the years, has promoted creativity in the field of arts, science and technology to ensure the continuity and progressive updating of traditional skills and sports, to serve modern development needs and act as a vehicle for preservation and documentation of the country’s rich and diverse cultural heritage.

Earlier, at the opening on Monday,  Governor Godwin Obaseki, said the festival, coming to Edo State, 40 years after its inception, was akin to culture coming home.

“Today, we are celebrating in Edo State because 40 years after this festival was launched, it is coming to the home of culture for the first time. Is Edo not the home of culture in Nigeria?” he asked, noting: “We are very happy to host this NAFEST, because this festival is a bond of unity for Nigeria. Culture is a mold for uniting our people.”

Runsewe said: “The abundant potential of our diverse cultural manifestations, if properly harnessed and developed, can gainfully engage our teeming youths and women that are both rural and urban-based so that the sector can contribute meaningfully in attaining the economic diversification agenda of the present administration.”

According to him, Nigeria should not just celebrate a virile cultural system, Nigerians should export their indigenous values-art, food, clothing, music, customs, religious ceremonies and any other – as cultural products to strengthen cultural cohesion and national consciousness.

“Every edition of the festival focuses on a specific issue of our national life, as we seek to find solutions to the challenges of nation building. The theme of this 32nd edition of the festival is Our royalty, our pride and it was evolved, among others, to celebrate the royalty in Nigeria and to underscore the critical roles our royal fathers must play in the task of restoring the glory of our cultural heritage and also using culture as a tool for driving rapid socio-economic development.”

He added that part of the vision of the  management of NCAC “is to make culture a key player in the economy, capable of creating mass employment and empowering the people in line with the economic diversification policy of the Buhari’s administration. It is in the light of this that we have expanded the scope of NAFEST to include skill acquisition programme.”

In a way, the festival was a blessing to the state. Apart from the increase in economic activities in Benin City, it gave the Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre a new look and was put into effective use.

However, poor organisation and inadequate preparation denied the host state of its rightful place as true  home of culture even though it emerged joint winner of third position with Bayelsa state.

Rivers State emerged as the overall winner of the festival followed by Ogun State.   Delta State and Oyo State emerged fourth and fifth winners. Plateau State won the Special Gong for 2020 proposed host state.