The Head, Department of Theatre and Cultural Studies, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Professor Emmanuel Dandaura, has commended the Executive Secretary, Dr. Barclays Foubiri Ayakoroma, for the vibrancy he has brought to the organization, which is exemplified in the laudable programmes the Institute has been packaging.
Professor Dandaura was speaking as chairman at the opening ceremony of the 5th Quarterly National Workshop on “Repositioning Cultural Workers for Improved Productivity,” organised by National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), at NICO Training School complex, National Theatre Annex, Iganmu-Lagos.
He encouraged the workshop participants to see the event as an opportunity to be fully equipped for a role as major players in the Nigerian economy, saying that the certificate to be awarded at the end of this workshop is a unique one that any cultural officer would like to keep.
Declaring the workshop formally open, the Executive Secretary, Dr. Barclays Foubiri Ayakoroma, informed that the workshop, which used to be an annual event, was redesigned as a quarterly programme because of the growing need for capacity building in the culture sector.
Dr. Ayakoroma said, the workshop, which is a veritable platform for NICO Training School students as well as participants to learn from seasoned academics and cultural administrators, will be stepped up to a higher level by next year.
He therefore advised participants to use the opportunity to share, interface and interconnect with cultural officers from various parts of Nigeria, and counselled them to ensure th
ey take back tangible ideas to their various States.
Earlier, the Director, Training School, Prince Bamidele Olusa, in his Welcome Address, urged participants to build their cultural capacity in order to improve their level of productivity and ensure effective service delivery in the culture sector.
The opening ceremony of the workshop, which featured excerpts from Dipo Kalejaiye’s play, “Graduate Palaver,” has as its theme, “Cultural Festivals as Tools for Socio-Economic Transformation,” and it ends on Friday, the 2nd of November, 2012.
Uche Odionye and Obianuju Ukwu
NICO Training School