The Honourable Commissioner of Inter-Ministerial Affairs, Enugu State, Engr. Dan Obi Anike, has commended the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), with a renowned cultural guru, Dr. Barclays Foubiri Ayakoroma, as the Executive Secretary, in their relentless effort to see that our cultures do not go into extinction.
Engr. Obi, who stated this when he received a delegation of NICO Enugu staffers, led by the State Head, Mr. Nwajagu Nnaemeka, on a courtesy visit in his office, said the Institute needed the necessary support to achieve its mandate of harnessing culture for national development, promising to allocate office space to NICO when the State Secretariat is completed.
He described culture as the basis for technological development because the transfer of ideas and methodology is a product of a cultural process, saying, “I believe in our own; and our technology will do better if we have adopted and improved on it. The transfer of technology can only be translated but the methodology remains the same,” further commending NICO for the successful completion of the one-month intensive Nigeria Indigenous Language Programme (NILP).
Earlier in his speech, the Head, NICO Enugu State office, Mr. Nwajagu Nnaemeka, gave an overview of the Institute’s programmes, ranging from Promoting Nigerian Dress Culture, NICO Cultural Clubs in Schools, Repositioning Workshops for Public Officers, National Workshops for Traditional Rulers/Local Government Chairmen, Training School in Lagos, and Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme (NILP), among others.
Nwajagu described Enugu State as having a rich cultural heritage with the enabling environment to research on, and reiterated the importance of Enugu state as the first Southern capital region in Nigeria that people from different cultures inhabit, hence, the need to preserve such rich cultures.
He intimated the Commissioner that the NICO State Office was determined to work actively in Enugu State and solicited the support of his ministry for his office to effectively discharge its duties, adding that the office had documented some festivals, like the “Igwa Nshi Eke” in Udi Local Government Area and the “Iwa Ji of Ibagwa Nike” in Enugu East Local Government Area.
In his own contribution, Mr. James Bisong of the Orientation and Cultural Affairs Department pointed out the need for the nomination and sponsorship of candidates from the Ministry to the NICO Training School, Lagos, to be trained as cultural administrators so that they can be better equipped to manage the culture sector in the state.
He stressed that it is only when one knows the value of gold that one can appreciate it, and that our culture is our gold, pointing out that the training will add value to job performance in the various organizational settings for them to co-exist peacefully.
In his vote of thanks, the Head of Admin, Mr. Chukwudi Onah, thanked the management of NICO for coming to Enugu at this crucial moment with such laudable programmes that will restore the declining culture in the society, promising on behalf of the ministry to give maximum support to NICO to ensure that the Institute succeeds in Enugu State.
Kingsley Ngoka
Corporate Affair Unit