The Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture, Mr. Obi Asika has solicited support of big 50 companies in the country ahead of the forthcoming International Arts and Crafts Expo.

He said the Expo which will bring attention to Nigeria will run simultaneously with National Festival of Arts and Culture, NAFEST from November 18th to 30th.

Asika spoke at the pre-INAC Dinner, an esteemed annual event hosted by the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC). at Abuja’s Vue Novare Mall, attracted no fewer than 28 countries diplomats and representatives. The dinner serves as a precursor to the upcoming International Arts and Crafts (INAC) Expo.

The Director-General said: “we don’t have a lot of budget, we don’t really have sponsors, because the sponsors have not been aware of these platforms, but I can tell you that we’ve taken it to all the sponsors, all the major big 50 companies, the big 100 companies in Nigeria have received information on this event.

“I’m not sure that many of them are coming on board this year, but I think what we are going to do this year is establish a benchmark that allows everybody to embrace NAFEST and INAC in 2025.”

The Director-General said: “we don’t have a lot of budget, we don’t really have sponsors, because the sponsors have not been aware of these platforms, but I can tell you that we’ve taken it to all the sponsors, all the major big 50 companies, the big 100 companies in Nigeria have received information on this event.

“I’m not sure that many of them are coming on board this year, but I think what we are going to do this year is establish a benchmark that allows everybody to embrace NAFEST and INAC in 2025.”

Asika also provided a glimpse into the upcoming National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST), holding between November 22nd and 30th in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). With plans for enhanced international visibility, Asika said that the event would bring attention to Abuja’s cultural richness and drive economic growth. Themed Connected Culture, NAFEST 2024 will feature an array of new programs designed to engage the global audience, including comedy shows, cultural troupe performances, sing-offs, book fairs, swag shows, danbe, dance competitions, and the famed Jollof Wars cooking competition.”

Continuing, he said: “NAFEST is like a cultural Olympics that enables us to celebrate each other, compete in a friendly environment, over cultural expressions such as dance, food, music, fashion, and indigenous instruments, indigenous games, like Dambe wrestling and indigenous wrestling. So, we have a lot of things coming.

There’s no energy that can stop us accepting ourselves, if we are negative. So, we’re trying to bring positive energy to everything we do, and invite people who want to collaborate, who want to support, who want to participate, reach out to the National Council. We’re open for business.

I’m putting that at the highest level, because what I always say is this, the cultural expression of Nigerians is the IPs, intellectual property. There is no higher output that a country can put out.

“And for a country like Nigeria, which is home to a brilliant untold story, it is time for the government to intentionally back storytellers. And that’s what we are doing at the council. That’s what the minister’s mandate is.

“We’re backing the storytellers. We’re backing the creators. We’re backing the creators. We don’t want to replace them. Government cannot become the storyteller, but government can back the storyteller. Create the funnel, create the leverage, create the opportunity and support with funding.