The Executive Secretary of National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Dr. Barclays Foubiri Ayakoroma, says the essence of the World Culture Day Celebration is to sensitize the general public on the need to place culture as a cornerstone for national development.
Stating this in his address at the just concluded 2012 edition of the World Culture Day Celebration by NICO North Central Zone in Ilorin, Dr. Ayakoroma said, as a pluralistic society, Nigeria is exposed to various forms of conflicts, ranging from religious to ethnic, and competing interests for the control of political power and the economic resources.
He noted that past and present administrations, both at the federal and State levels, have not relented in their strategies for ensuring religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence among Nigerians, and that government needs to explore culture as ano alternative means of conflict resolution that will compliment the efforts of conventional security outfits.
In an address, which was delivered by the NICO North Central Zonal Coordinator, Mr. Lawal Ibrahim, on his behalf, the ÉS said Nigerians are peace loving and therefore had an inbuilt culture for respect for mankind, and expressed his displeasure over, what he termed, lack of respect for our enviable culture and what benefits we can derive from it.
The Kwara State Cultural Troupe and some NICO Cultural Clubs from Secondary Schools entertained the audience at the occasion.
Naseer Saeed
Corporate Affairs Unit
NICO North Central Zone