Nigeria seeks to revive dormant festivals, traditional games
*Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, Nigeria's Minister of Information and Culture
(Nigeria) The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has signed an MoU with the Chief Executive of the British Council, Sir Ciaran Devane, with a request for partnership to help train festival managers, revive the country's major festivals and prevent its traditional games from dying.
(Nigeria) The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has signed an MoU with the Chief Executive of the British Council, Sir Ciaran Devane, with a request for partnership to help train festival managers, revive the country's major festivals and prevent its traditional games from dying.
The agreement was signed in Edinburgh, Scotland, on the
sidelines of the ongoing 2016 Edinburgh International Festival Summit.
The Minister described the MoU as the height of the
"spirit of cooperation that has taken us thus far", saying however
that it must put more emphasis on substance rather than form.
"We need to have a work plan that will enable us to
measure achievement year by year," he said. "An MoU that does not
achieve visible results is not worth its while."
Alhaji Mohammed said the challenge facing the sector is how
to ensure that it transits from creative industry to creative economy.
Alhaji Mohammed said the country is interested in capacity
building for festival managers with a view to changing its festivals from mere
fun events to business.
He said Nigeria is particularly keen to revive such grand
festivals as the Durbar and Argungun, which have not been held for some years,
as well as to prevent such traditional games like 'ayo' from dying, because of
their importance in teaching sportsmanship and promoting tolerance.
In his comments, Sir Ciaran expressed his delight at the
partnership between the Ministry and the British Council.
He expressed the hope that the MoU will allow both parties
to translate their intent into action.
"The British Council is delighted to assist in any way
we can" to take the partnership further, Sir Ciaran said.
Apart from the British Council, the Ministry also plans to sign a similar
cooperation agreement with the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
Comments
Post a Comment