National Council for Art and Culture (NCAC) Director-General Otunba Segun Runsewe has won the Africa Travel Quarterly magazine (ATQ) award of Culture and Tourism Man of the Year.
In a letter of notification, the magazine dedicated exclusively to Africa travel narratives, said Runsewe was chosen because of his dedicated service and promotion of inter-Africa cultural understanding, the use of the culture platform to drive tourism in West Africa.
He is the first recipient of ATQ’s premium Balafon award. Runsewe was hailed for changing the narrative of Nigerian culture economy by instituting skills acquisition platforms on arts and crafts to empower the rural poor and create financial window for the creative community through partnership with the Bank of Industry (BoI).
According to ATQ, Runsewe’s exceptional strategic drive using International Arts and Crafts expo (INAC) to build bridges of understanding and accelerate growth of African tourism, stood him above other efforts across the continent.
In a letter of acceptance, Runsewe appreciated the organisers, stakeholders and journalists across the continent for finding his little contribution on culture and tourism worthy of continental recognition.
According to Runsewe, the Balafon award is a call to duty, dedication and collective sacrifice as governments all over the world faced by economic challenges, looks up to Culture and Tourism economy to make needed changes.
According to him, “We shall by this award redouble efforts to break the yoke of poverty, reposition culture and tourism as the mainstay of Nigerian economy,” adding that a new drum beat on culture has just begun to fully engage the birth of Nigerian and African tourism.
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