As the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) holds the first National Festival for Arts and Culture virtual meeting, the stakeholders in the Arts and Culture sector have appealed to the Plateau state governor to consider hosting the cultural festival in November, rather than December 2020.
The stakeholders made up of 36 state Commissioners of culture, permanent secretaries, special advisers and directors of culture and tourism in the 36 states of the federation including Abuja, said that November was a better date as December is usually full of activities.
The meeting which was held to review the syllabus for the festival, drew participants from all the states of the federation, a statement by Chas Nwam, NCAC media reveals.
The Director General, National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Segun Runsewe in his welcome address at the technical stakeholders virtual meeting in preparation of the National Festival for Arts and Culture, told all the stakeholders/ participants that the advent of Covid-19 has made it imperative for everybody to think outside the box in order to invent new ways of making the Arts and Culture sector busy and relevant.
Runsewe, informed his audience that the National Council for Arts and Culture in the second week of the month of May this year, organized the first ever government Drive In Theatre in Nigeria to demonstrate that even in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, entertainment is still possible.
He reminded the participants that the Council within this period of the pandemic produced and distributed personal protective equipment to journalists, frontline workers and other Nigerians to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, keep the sector busy and reposition it for greater visibility and relevance.
In the virtual conference, the Governor of Plateau state, Hon. Simon Lalong in his welcome address to the National Stakeholders Technical virtual meeting in preparation for the 33rd edition of the National Festival of Arts and Culture tagged Plateau NAFEST 2020, commended the NCAC Director General for the dynamic, purposeful and visionary leadership he has provided the Arts and Culture sector since his appointment in 2017.
Lalong, expressed his appreciation to the Director General and the management team of NCAC for initiating, facilitating and successfully organizing the zoom meeting as an alternative to the physical meeting initially scheduled for Jos Plateau state.
The governor noted that even in the midst of serious Covid-19 lockdown, the Arts and Culture sector have been kept alive and active, and assured the participants of his conviction that the 2020 National Festival of Arts and Culture scheduled to hold later in the year is not only possible but could be made even more spectacular in line with Covid 19 protocols.
