Director-General
of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Segun
Runsewe has stated that his recent appointment into the agency was
intended by the Federal Government to reposition the culture sector
for more meaningful contribution to the national economy even as he
pledged to work with the Association of Nigerian Journalists and
Writers of Tourism (ANJET) in the pursuit of this goal.
According to
Runsewe, government’s policy towards leveraging on the culture
sector in its quest to diversify the economy and empower its
stakeholders also informs the new mantra at the agency which is
‘culture is the new oil.’
Receiving a
delegation from the Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers
of Tourism (ANJET), the umbrella body of travel and tourism writers,
in his office in Abuja, he said NCAC under his stewardship will be
refocused to ‘take control of the culture sector in the country.’
“My appointment
was intended by the Federal Government as a move to reposition the
culture sector of which the NCAC is the biggest agency and make the
people not just here but also the private operators see it as the new
oil. And as we say here, crude oil will eventually dry up but our
culture will always be there. Culture will soon be our new cash cow
for the Nigerian economy,” said Runsewe who had previously served
as Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation
(NTDC).
Runsewe, who used
the platform provided by the visit of the ANJET delegation, said his
agency will be retooled and effectively equipped to ‘take charge of
the culture sector of the country’ so as to better the lives and
businesses of the practitioners in terms of exploiting the sector’s
business potential, even as the NCAC boss thanked the visiting
journalists for their support.
“Thank you for
finding time to visit my agency. You are part of my success story at
my various duty posts in the course of my national call to service. I
will always carry you along even in my new assignment because of my
belief in the importance of the media.
Earlier, head of
the five-man ANJET delegation, Andrew Okungbowa, had presented a
five-point agenda to the NCAC boss in which he tasked him on the need
to bridge the yawning gap and dichotomy between tourism and culture
in the country, as well as growing the Nigerian culture industry,
among others.
The ANJET
delegation was received by the entire Management Board of the NCAC
led by Otunba Runsewe.
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