Akeem Lasisi
The National Institute for Cultural Orientation took a major step on Thursday to connect many pupils to the best of the country’s heritage. It was at the 2018 edition of the NICO Children Cultural Extravaganza held at the National Arts Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos.
Many stakeholders are worried that most Nigerian youths treat matters concerning cultural values with scorn and would rather leap at anything western. But the enthusiasm and potential displayed by the kids drawn from many schools gave the audience hope.
As the youngsters engaged in cultural dances, traditional fashion parade, et cetera, it dawned on all and sundry that they were ready to learn and grow in culture if adequately inspired and motivated.
This is the reason the stakeholders that joined NICO at the event generally commended its management and expressed the hope that there would be more of that.
In her welcome remarks, the Acting Executive Secretary, NICO, Mr. Louis Eriomola, noted that the extravaganza was an offshoot of the institute’s cultural club programme in secondary schools designed to inculcate in Nigerian children cherished cultural values of honesty, hard work, tolerance, patriotism, respect for elders and constituted authority, as well as sanctity for human life.
According to him, it is also designed to make them shun examination malpractice, cultism and indecent dressing. He added that the project, the 2018 edition of which was themed Culture: A Strategic Tool for Peace, Unity and National Integration, was also a platform to stimulate their interest and pride in the Nigerian cuisine, languages, dresses, etc.
Eriomola said, “The theme was carefully chosen to underscore the importance of the culture of fostering peace, unity and national integration and, ultimately, national development. There is no gainsaying the fact that our young people can be sentised and educated to understand the nexus between peace, unity and national development.
“Nigerians will, indeed, have hope for a better future. It is very important that we emphasise to our young ones the things that bind and unite us, which are greater than those that divide us as a people.”
Among others who contributed to the success of the programme, he thanked principals, teachers and students of participating schools.
In her presentation as the guest speaker, an educationist and culture administrator, Mrs. Victoria Agodo, identified parents, schools and government as agents that can and should transfer culture to posterity. According to her, it is also through them that tradition, culture and the arts can become effective tools of unity and development.
She said, “Parents should train their children to accept peculiarities and differences in other people. You should train your children to see value in life and in people. As a nation with diverse cultures, each tribe can help their children to understand the culture of other tribes in order to promote integration. Children should be encouraged to speak their languages and other people’s languages, as well as to eat foods from other cultures.”
Agodo also urged parents to encourage inter-tribal marriages and schools to place emphasis on subjects that encompass sociology, arts and culture.
Some of the schools that participated in the extravaganza are God’s Own School, Ijesha; Police Children School II, Obalende; Biolak Children School, Orile; Tender Grape Model College, Oworo; Kosofe Junior School, Ketu; Orire College, Orile; and Araromi Junior Secondary School, Iganmu.
Established in 1993, NICO has the primary responsibility of harnessing Nigeria’s cultural resources to meet the challenges of social integration, peace, unity and national development. It also serves as a vital force for promoting the country’s programme of cultural diplomacy and energising the various cultural establishments in the new direction advocated by Nigeria’s Cultural Policy and the World Decade for Cultural Development (1988-1997) declared by the United Nations.
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