National crafts devt centre commissioned in Kano

The building is sited in Dawanau, Ungogo Local government area of the State.The centre is to serve as avenues for training and retraining of craftsmen and women, skills acquisition and indigenous technology transfer centre as well as a medium  for poverty alleviation, youth empowerment and wealth creation.Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Executive Director of National […]

The building is sited in Dawanau, Ungogo Local government area of the State.
The centre is to serve as avenues for training and retraining of craftsmen and women, skills acquisition and indigenous technology transfer centre as well as a medium  for poverty alleviation, youth empowerment and wealth creation.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Executive Director of National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) Mr.  M.M. Maidugu said that the Council came up with the idea as parts of its programmes to establish crafts development centres in various parts of the country for the purpose of empowering the youth and at the same time providing market for craft products.
Represented by the Director of Finance of the Council, Mallam Musa Haruna Babura explained the centre is equally a centre where some innovative products can come up and make our craftsmen catch up with new trends in the art and craft sector.
 He said, “Because we did not want our products the way it is before to continue without looking at phenomenon within the world.  Presently all over, crafts bring in a lot of money. There is no tourism without craft because when a tourist comes into your country, he is interested in your products, skills or talents. What does your product say about you? So what we are trying to do is for this place to be a sort of centre for innovation as well as a resource centre for cultural products.”
 He said that the Council will bring in some master craftsmen that are professionals in the production of various craft products to train the youths in the area of arts and crafts as a way of skills acquisition and self employment.
He said the centre will source for people with talents and passion for the craft and train them.
“So anybody that is interested can apply,” he said.
Asked on how the NCAC intends to reach out to the youth and the number to start with, he replied, “We want to see how we can start with 20 because we are going to bring in master craftsmen and there are logistics we have to provide for them and then we have a mechanism of following up even when they set up after training to see how far they are going, what are their problems and if we can even get help them get small scales finances. So it is laudable programme and I am hopeful it is going to be a huge success.”
 Also speaking,  National Council for Arts and Culture zonal coordinator comprising Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states  Farouk Umar  noted that the patronage of the end products is expected to boost the consumption of made-in-Nigeria goods thus enhancing domestic revenue generation, curbing rural-urban drift and investments for rural economy growth.
 The centre will produce and exhibit such crafts as leather designs, pottery, ceramics, wood carvings, metal crafts, textiles and fabric design, embroidery, jewelry, ivory design, fibre glass designs, hairdo, body adornment and decorative items and souvenirs materials