THE National Council of Arts and Culture Director-General, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe has hailed Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State for his interest in promoting arts and culture in the state.
He described the governor as “one of the greatest cultural assets in Nigeria, who is stoking the arts and cultural sector for the overall development of the state and its wonderful homogenous indigenes”.
Runsewe made this observation when Ekiti State Council for Arts and Culture Director-General, Wale Ojo-Lanre highlighted the state’s cultural strides at the 49th National Stakeholders meeting on the National Festival of Arts and Culture ( NAFEST) in Benin, Edo State.
Ojo-Lanre, who attended the meeting with two directors of the council, Banji Adelusi and Adeoye Adewuyi, briefed the body about the cultural strides made by Governor Fayemi’s administration at enhancing the cultural potentialities of the state.
“I am bold to tell this distinguished gathering of cultural administrators of 36 states of the Federation that Governor Kayode Fayemi has brought to life the hitherto lifeless, moribund, sterile and dead Arts and Cultural sector, thus empowering it as one of the essential agents of value restoration and reorientation,” he said.
Ojo-Lanre said Ekiti State has begun to implement the state’s Council for Arts and Culture 2012 Law, which was enacted by Governor Fayemi during his first term and was put in the cooler by former Governor Ayodele Fayose’s administration.
He revealed that Ekiti State, via the law, has legally established the Council for Arts and Culture, which has been mobilised and reinforced to promote, enhance and market the cultural ingredients, values, arts, crafts and heritage sites to not only being sources of entertainment, but of empowerment, revenue generation and employment creation.
Ojo-Lanre said within the last two months of inaugurating the council, Governor Fayemi has empowered it to attend the 2019 Drum Festival in Abeokuta, rebranded the state’s Cultural Troupe, accelerated the work on the cultural and the civic centre, approved the hosting of stakeholders’ forum and creative workshop, and stoked indigenous industry clusters.
The governor, Ojo-Lanre said, also ensured the harmonisation, unification of various hitherto disorganised sectoral association players and rejuvenated cultural festivals, such as Ogun, Oladunwo in Okemesi, Ekiti Parapo War Festival and institutionalised culture and arts as fulcrum of value reorientation.
He pointed out that one of the signs to show that Governor Fayemi was doing well was the presence and attendance of the Ekiti delegates at the Pre NAFEST Technical Forum being held in Edo State.
