Adequate training of the workforce of Nigeria’s culture and tourism sector is strategic to economic diversification and the transformation agenda of the country; that is why the Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation has continued to support the programmes and activities of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), especially the Institute’s training programmes because knowledge is power.
The Honourable Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, who stated this during the 2nd Convocation ceremony for the 2012/2013 graduands of NICO Training School, Saturday, 16th August, 2014, at the National Theatre, Iganmu-Lagos, expressed delight that through the training platform of the Institute, a crop of well-trained cultural officers had been prepared to make impact in the on-going socio-economic transformation of the nation.
Chief Duke said for Nigeria to truly become one of the 20 leading economies in the world by Year 2020, capacity building, which was a critical factor in modern economies, needed to be emphasized; and called on heads of cultural agencies at the Federal, State and Local Government levels, to take advantage of the high quality training programmes offered at NICO by nominating their staffers for the academic programmes of the School.
In his goodwill message, the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK), Professor Muhammad Akaro Mainoma, noted that NICO Training School was well positioned to use cultural education to combat most of Nigeria’s security and economic challenges if given the needed support.
He said the University’s signing of an MoU with NICO three years ago kick-started the affiliation process, which after close scrutiny of the curriculum, faculty and antecedents of the Institute, disclosing that, as the only institute empowered by law to train Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike on cultural administration and diplomacy, NICO Training School deserved all the support and collaboration to execute the mandate.
He therefore assured that by the next academic session, on completion of the affiliation process with the University, certificates of NICO Training School will be recognized as requirement for admission into the NUC accredited programmes of the Department of Theatre and Cultural Studies of Nasarawa State University, Keffi.
Earlier, NICO’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Barclays Foubiri Ayakoroma, in his Welcome Address, called on stakeholders, especially chief executives of culture at the Federal, State, and Local levels, to stand up for culture and capitalise on the success story of NICO to build the capacity of their workers by sponsoring them to attend the Training School of the apex and leading Institute in Nigeria.
He said NICO was determined, “to train leaders, administrators and cultural officers to use the intrinsic values of hospitality, honesty and hard work inherent in our culture, to pursue peace, stability and the fulfilment of the good aspirations of all Nigerians.”
According to him, satisfied by the success story of the Training School, Management was currently working on modalities to commence the Diploma and Postgraduate Diploma in Cultural Administration programmes at the Head Office of the Institute in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory; and that there was no doubt that this will go a long way in providing another window of opportunities for more culture workers to take advantage of the training platform.
The Convocation ceremony, which was organised to celebrate students who had fulfilled the requirements in character and in learning for the award of Diploma and Postgraduate Diploma in Cultural Administration, had a total of 73 graduands: 17 in Diploma and 56 in the Post Graduate Diploma in Cultural Administration.
Anthony Okafor
Corporate Affairs
NICO Training School