The Special Adviser (SA) on Tourism Arts and Culture, Idris Aregbe has reiterated his commitment towards showcasing Lagos State cultural heritage.
The SA to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State made the vow at the launch of the Lagos Cultural Mission Movement which held at the Nike Arts Gallery at Lekki on Thursday.
It was a convergence of cultural enthusiasts in Lekki as Lagos celebrated its Cultural Mission to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the state in the global map.Aregbe, said the event was to enable the youths to mingle with the elders to learn the cultural heritage of Lagos to prevent it from going into extinction.
He further said that the Lagos Cultural Mission will hold for the next six months to tell the Lagos story to the world as a journey of exploration, discovery, celebrate and beauty of diversity for unity as well as increase investors confidence in the state.
” When you look at the journey we need to be able to tell our story and seat down more and learn about our values.
” We came up with this Lagos Cultural Mission and what we intend to do is to engage our story intensify to make sure that we appeal to lovers of Lagos.
“Let’s see how we can help each other, let’s see how we can cater for more youths on the street we have a lot of people waiting to add value to Lagos we want to continue to give them a platform and leverage,” he said.
Biodun Ajiboye, the Director General, National Institute of Cultural Orientation, Otunba Biodun Ajiboye, said that the institute now has a monotechnic.
” We believe it’s important to educate our future leaders of our history, in order to train the youths on Nigerian culture, comparative culture and cultural diplomacy to preserve the nation’s rich cultural heritage for generations to come,” he said.
The special guest of honour, the Oluwo of Iwo Town in Osun , Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, commended the Lagos State government for putting Nigeria entertainment sector on the international map.
” I was sent to put kingship in the right perspective and I’m doing that, Lagos has done a lot when it comes to cultural promotion.
“Before I became king in Iwo people didn’t here about Iwo but now everyone knows about Iwo, I enjoy the controversies, it provides content for intellectual debate,” he said.
Diplomatic corps from various countries were represented by the US Consul General in Lagos, Mr Will Stevens, promised more collaboration with the Lagos State government using innovation to solve global challenges,
He also commended the founder of Nike Arts Gallery Mrs Nike Okundaye-Davies for bringing her works of Arts for cultural unit
“As diplomatic corps we are so grateful to you, for being welcoming with your open arms by showcasing the love in Nigeria,” he said.
Okundaye the host and founder of Nike Art Gallery, Chief Nike Okundaye, appealed to the Minister of Interior to make visa application easy for tourists.
” We want the minster to make the visa easy for those who want to invest. It’s difficult to get a Nigerian visa we need to address this ” We need more advocacy for visa on arrival for tourists to encourage more investment in the creative and arts sector,” she said.
The Lagos Cultural Mission will showcase different African foods, cultural display by Lagos Troupe and Chinese representatives had in attendance cultural enthusiasts from across different continents.
