Tag Archives: Culture

Aisha Buhari advises on Nigerian culture

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Mrs Aisha Buhari, Wife of President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday urged children to embrace the cultural values of Nigeria and develop their creative minds.

Aisha said this during the Children Fiesta at the ongoing Abuja carnival, which began on Dec. 3.

Represented by her Senior Special Assistant, Dr Hajju Sani, Aisha said children were the leaders of the future and should uphold the rich culture of the nation.

She said that sustaining and promoting the countries rich cultural heritage required creativity.

“Nigeria is a culturally rich nation and children will not forget this culture when they are taught at their tender age.

“Children are the leaders of tomorrow and we love our children, we want them to be creative to do more than the present leaders.

“Creativity is not about doing something better than others, but a discovery of innovations.

“Children should endeavour to put their minds to work, advance more than what their teachers in school teach them,’’ Aisha said.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, said children were the hope of the nation.

Represented by Mrs ?Ayotunde Adesugba, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mohammed urged stakeholders in the creative industry to strive to join forces with the government to preserve the cultural heritage of the country.

According to him, if the culture goes into extinction, the children will not have the proper cultural background of their diverse tribes.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Children Fiesta was a platform created to promote and develop the creative ability of children from ages five to 15 years.

NAN also reports that the aim of the programme was to promote cultural integration among children bearing in mind that they were of diverse socio-cultural, religious and economic background.

It was also designed to celebrate children’s positive attributes, creative ability through fun filled activities like traditional, modern dance, fashion parade, poetry, and drama, among other activities.

Children from different schools within the Federal Capital Territory and other states of the federation participated in the Children’s Fiesta.

The carnival continues on Monday with Masquerade Fiesta and Boat Regatta at the Eagle Square and Jabi Dam respectively.

Buhari: Corruption was becoming a culture before I came to power

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said corruption was becoming a culture before he came to power.

The president said this when he received the letter of credence of the United States ambassador to Nigeria, William Stuart Symington, at the state house.

In a statement issued by Femi Adesina, his spokesman, Buhari said his administration remained committed to realising the key priorities of securing the country, fighting corruption, and salvaging the economy in spite of current challenges.

“When I was invited to the G-7 meeting after my inauguration on May 29, 2015, I thought I was going to be an observer at the meeting,  but without prompting, I was asked to brief the leaders on the security situation in Nigeria, and I did. Since then, we have received support in training and military hardware, and I hope we have not disappointed,” he said.

He said the target of reversing the “culture of corruption” in the country had received support from Nigerians, with many realising the depth of damage done by some previous administrations from the ongoing investigations and prosecutions.

“The corruption we met at personal and institutional levels was unbelievable. Corruption was turning into a culture. After we came in, people started realising the truth,” said.

Buhari told the US ambassador that his administration was still determined to continue investigation and prosecution of corrupt persons in the country as “Nigeria will either kill corruption or corruption will kill Nigeria in the long run”.

The president stated that the years of mishandling of the economy at a period of financial prosperity affected the economy, making it more challenging to create employment for the youths and improve the livelihood of many Nigerians.

“It has not been easy for another party to come in and get things done properly, especially with the new economic reality of $37 per barrel of oil, against the $100 for the period, and there was no savings, no infrastructure on ground,” he said.

Buhari said the timely intervention of the United States, with a visit of its secretary of state, John Kerry to Nigeria, before the 2015 election, helped in ensuring peace and stability in the country.

In his remarks, the US ambassador said the interest in the well-being of Nigeria was of mutual benefit.

“We do it not only for Nigeria, but for ourselves. We did it because it was right for us and right for our people,” he said.

Symington said he would work hard to further strengthen the relationship between his country and Nigeria, assuring that president-elect Donald Trump would also be interested in the well-being of Nigeria.

Buhari also received letter of credence from the ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, Moha Ouali Tagma, assuring him of Nigeria’s willingness to improve bilateral relations between the countries.

Culture Minister Wants Nigeria’s Visa Policy Relaxed

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The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has called for the relaxation of the nation’s visa policy so that visitors to Nigeria can easily be given entry visas.

 

 

The minister, who spoke while briefing the Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism in Abuja on Tuesday, said that the advocated policy would boost tourism. He said that granting visitors’ visas on arrival, would go a long way in making the country tourists’ destination.

 

 

The minister added that government must improve the state of infrastructure and tourism sites across the country; so as to make Nigeria attractive to tourists.

 

 

“People talk about terrorism, but I can tell you that terrorism is not the major issue hindering tourism in Nigeria. There is more terrorism in Israel than in Nigeria, but yet people troop to that country every year for pilgrimage. Again, imagine a beautiful tourism site like the Obudu Resort, but the flight arrangement is such that when you go to Obudu on a Saturday for instance, there is no flight until the next Saturday. “How do you expect a tourist to undertake such adventure,” he queried, adding,” we have to make the tourism sites very attractive and accessible.”

 

 

 

In his remarks, Chairman of the committee, Sen. Matthew Urhoghide, urged the ministry officials to initiate new programmes that can make Nigeria an attractive tourists’ destination.

 

 

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the agencies and departments under the ministry were billed to defend their budget before the Committee on Appropriation on Feb. 16.