Arts village for upgrade, as summer school ends

At the closing ceremony of the five-week event organized by the National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC) Mr. Garba Shehu, head of the arts and design department, who represented the Executive Secretary expressed gratitude at the success of the programme which he described as one to encourage sustainability. “Children are the future of Nigeria […]

At the closing ceremony of the five-week event organized by the National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC) Mr. Garba Shehu, head of the arts and design department, who represented the Executive Secretary expressed gratitude at the success of the programme which he described as one to encourage sustainability. “Children are the future of Nigeria and they have performed beyond my expectations. I am grateful to the team who have spent time teaching and grooming them because their works speak volume of time and hardwork invested in these five weeks.”

Head of the team, Blessing Eluanyan said, “The programme was initiated to help children acquire some of the basic cultural skills, expose and develop their talents as well as to help them develop the cultural industry.”

The event which was the first edition and promised to be an annual one, ended last Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Orientation, Chief Edem Duke has said the Arts and Craft Village would receive a face-lift to make it a hub for tourism and to boost profitability for those marketing their products in the premises.

While touring the facilities, Chief Duke made it known that the ministry will embark on a renewal programme on a public private partnership basis.

He said, “We are going to look for investors to collaborate with us to ensure that not only do we invest in developing this enterprise, but we can also help the dealers here for their products to go beyond Abuja, even into the international market.”

Speaking on the extent to which the businesses sold their products, he said, “I do not know how many of them have their products on the internet. Today, foreigners who are buying arts are going on the internet, like eBay, so to speak, and they look at the product, the catalogue and place order and pay in dollars. But I don’t think anybody has come to talk to them about entrepreneurial development, about skills and new technology with which to develop their products.”

The minister added that, “That is where our ministry comes in to help promote their businesses and help improve the quality of products so that if you have a carving and somebody wants 4,000 pieces of it, it will be the same. But the problem we have with our arts and crafts is that by the time they do two, they tell you that, sorry it is not possible. And so the buyers of arts and crafts for the big retail chains in Europe and America are not buying from Nigeria. The people buying from Nigeria are individuals who want to use it as a gift or to display it in their private homes.”

He stated that the plan is to develop and improve the facility with banks and the private sector, so that it becomes a modern arts and crafts market, which will also have conferencing facility, first class restaurants, an improved theater for performances, and a lot more varieties.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the NCAC, Mr. M.M. Maidugu, the politics associated with the land revocation by the former FCT administration persisted which led to the agency loosing ownership. “We did not fold our hands. We continued to meet subsequent Ministers with all the documents indicating that the piece legitimately belongs to us.”

With the coming of the present administration the land was returned to the NCAC but with only 3.24 hectares left of the original 22.

As for the relationship between the craftsmen and the NCAC, Maidugu said its tenants would remain cordial considering their passionate desire to promote the enterprise.

For eight year-old Mark Okin it was an exciting time and he looked forward to the next edition.

It was the same for Jachi Iheanacho who didn’t want the programme to come to an end. She said she would like cookery lessons to be added to subsequent editions.

With locally sourced materials, Mr. Dotun Osunsoya head of performing arts department explained that the workshop was a major step to making kids interested in general art and art in culture as well as to create a balance. Regarding the children’s performances he said some of them showed very high level of artistic interest while some others had to worked hard at.

The decline in cultural values was evident in the dance performances of the children who found it a lot easier to learn and display Western steps than they did indigenous ones. To this, Osunsoya emphasized the need to create more of such informal learning avenues.