The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, will be the Special Guest of Honour to declare open the two-day National Conference that will be organized by the National Institute for Cultural Orientation.
The ES, who stated this at the pre-event press briefing, told the Media that former President Olusegun Obasanjo will be the chairman of the occasıon, adding that the Chief Servant of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, will deliver the keynote paper, The Royal of the day is His Royal Highness, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha, wıll be the Royal Father of the Day, whıle the Honourable Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, ıs the Chief Host.
Accordıng to Ayakoroma, the theme event, which comes up between the 7th and 8th of May, 2012, at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, is “Culture, Peace and National Security in Nigeria: The Role of Local Government Chairmen and Traditional Rulers.’’
The ES explained that NICO has the mandate to sensitize Nigerians through culture, and especially now that the problem of peace and security has come to the fore, there was need to dialogue with those who are crıtıcal to solving the problem.
His words: “The traditional rulers know everybody in their domains. They know the families that have the bad boys in the societies. In the olden days, no community allowed crime. People took pride in their cultures. For instance, the Ijaw people do not kill to make money…. Today it is different. You have violence in many places. People take pride in doing evil. We need peace and the traditional rulers can help solve these problems. No development can take place in an atmosphere of chaos. The traditional rulers have security networks. The Local Government Chairmen are also at the grassroots.’’
The openıng ceremony of the coneference wıll be broadcast lıve on the network servıce of Nıgerıan Televısıon Authorıty (NTA).
Nwagbo Nnenyelike
Corporate Affairs