Minister hails NAFEST 2016 for strengthening national unity

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
described the 2016 edition of the annual National Festival of Arts and
Culture (NAFEST 2016) as a success, saying it has helped to strengthen
national unity.

”Undoubtedly the biggest achievement recorded at the NAFEST 2016 is
that the festival has once again lived up to its original concept of
uniting us as a nation,” the Minister said at the closing ceremony of
the Festival, hosted by the Akwa Ibom State in Uyo, on Saturday.

”As you are very much aware, what is known today as the National
Festival of Arts and Culture started off as the Unity Festival. This
is because it was conceived as one of the tools to re-unite us as a
people after the unfortunate 30-month civil war,” he said in a speech
read on his behalf by the Director General of the National Council for
Arts and Culture, Mrs Dayo Keshi.

Alhaji Mohammed explained that bringing people from many states across
the Federation together for many days in an atmosphere of peace and
tranquility is a strong
statement, ”and it shows that we have decided to accept and respect
one another’s differences and come together as one. There is no bigger
achievement than this, because without peace, there can be no
sustainable development”.

He hailed the fact that the Festival was able to hold successfully
despite the recession in the country, describing this as an
affirmation of the fact that the only sector that is
recession-proof is the creative sector.

”As a matter of fact, and this is true all over the world, the
creative sector continues to thrive even when the economy is not at
its best. There is no bigger validation of the role that the creative
sector can play in any economy,” the Minister said.

He said NAFEST 2016 achieved its main objective, as spelt out in the
theme of the Festival, which is ”Exploring the Goldmine Inherent in
Nigerian Creative Industries”, to
utilize and explore the multi-faceted ways in which culture
contributes in concrete terms to our collective quest for economic
empowerment and national development.

”This, I am sure, the festival has achieved through a thorough
examination of both the theme and sub-themes which were manifested
through in all events of the festival
via exhibition of arts and crafts, traditional wrestling, drama,
poetry, performances, food-fair, essay, painting and drawing
competition and of course, the colloquium component,” Alhaji Mohammed
said.

He said the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture would continue
to work with local and international partners, including the Tony
Elumelu Foundation and the British Council, to develop the capacity of
players in the creative sector and also prepare the necessary
environment for the private sector to invest in the sector.

The Minister commended the Akwa Ibom State Government for hosting the
Festival and congratulated all the participants, officials and
contingents from the
various states of the Federation and Federal Capital Territory for
their ”wonderful” performances.