The Nigerian government must reposition the country’s rich cultural resources if it wishes to massively grow the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The Director General National Council for Arts and Culture, Mr. Olusegun Runsewe stated this at the first day of the maiden edition of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST)’s stakeholders conference holding in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

The Director General while presenting a paper titled ” Culture As a Tool for Revamping the Economy : An Agenda Setting “ emphasised the importance of reassessing the cultural sector and implementing new strategies to align it with the federal government’s agenda.

Runsewe says: The culture sector has immense potential to boost the economy if properly harnessed.
The Nigerian government should prioritise skill acquisition training as part of efforts to equip the population with the necessary skills and capacities to become productive members of society. States in Nigeria must work towards developing cultural markets within their respective regions”. He said.

To accelerate cultural activities and enhance visibility, relevance and viability of the culture sector in Nigeria,
Runsewe calls on all stakeholders in the arts and culture sector to begin to apply more creative energies to optimising the huge potentials that abound.

“It is my hope that if our cultural resources are carefully harnessed and productively channelled, it will open up our cultural economy and engender rapid socio-economic growth.
“It would also lead to the emergence of a strong and stable currency that will command the required purchasing power at the international market,” He said.

To further support the development of the sector, Runsewe mentioned plans to leverage the intervention of the Bank of Industry (BOI). He noted that NCAC had entered into an agreement with the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria to provide technical skills training to 3,700 youths in various fields.

The fields include hospitality, arts and crafts, elevator machine production and installation, mono-rail construction, branding, electric car repairs and more.

The day one of NAFEST 2023 witnessed inauguration of a committee to review NAFEST’s past 35 editions. Those that made the list were, Mr Dotun Osunsanya, a culture consultant, Mr Victor Omoniyi, Director with NCAC; Mr Ado Yahuza, Executive Secretary, National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) and some delegates from Yobe and Rivers states, to look into the review in the course of the four-day conference.

More so, delegates from 28 states of the federation and other stakeholders were segmented into 8 syndicate group to discuss extensively on how to further develop the culture and tourism sector. One of the 8 groups named the Skills Acquisition of NAFEST comprises delegates from, Katsina, Kano, Cross River, Lagos and Osun states.

Another group named E-Marketing, consists of delegates from Lagos, Edo, Ebonyi and Jigawa states as well as National President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies and National Association Nigeria Theatre Practitioners. Some other delegates were also selected to review aspects like: cultural exchange, synergy between tourism and culture, e-marketing and one state one product.

The Director General said a document will be produced from the groups discussions and sent to the Nigerian government to aid in revamping the sector.