Runsewe tasks foreign Ambassadors to invest in Nigeria’s tourism

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

The Director General of National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Runsewe has tasked foreign ambassadors to invest in the Nigeria Tourism sector and embrace the rare opportunity.
Runsewe made the plea while playing host to no less than 36 Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Representatives of countries drawn from around the world to a pre-International Arts and Crafts Expo (INAC) dinner held in Abuja at the weekend.
In his welcome address, the DG stated that the pre-INAC dinner has become an annual prelude to kickstarting the event in earnest, making it a most memorable one especially for foreign nationals.
He said the essence of the dinner is to provide a platform for diplomats to interact and unwind in an informal atmosphere in a bid to further cement the cordial relationship already existing between them and the host country, Nigeria.
“The dinner was a deliberate attempt by NCAC to rewrite the culture narratives of Nigeria as it prepares for a groundbreaking 2019 Expo”, he said.
According to him, the third (3rd) edition of INAC will dedicate an entire day to any country interested in entertaining the Envoys, noting that last year witnessed phenomenal entertainment from countries like China, India and Bangladesh.
He further thanked various Ambassadors and High Commissioners for gracing the occasion, recalling that it was an improvement from the 22 countries that participated in the 2018 edition of the event.
Runsewe revealed that plans are also underway to ensure this year’s Cultural Diplomacy Day for Peace slated for November 24th is marked to establish a cultural link amongst nations with the aim of ensuring a common network of cultural identities.
Consequently, in his goodwill message, the Dean of Ambassadors, Amb. Salaheddine Ibrahim, Nigeria High Commissioners to Cameroon, disclosed that for the last 10 years Arts and Culture has been growing but in the last three (3) years the improvements are so visible and wonderful to associate with.
Adding that, “last year INAC was a great success, we believe that, this year own will be greater and huge “.
He also charged the36nations here present at the dinner to take the rare opportunities to showcase their crafts and culture during the INAC 2019.
Meanwhile, Countries that attended the event were; South Africa, Iran, Cameroon Spain, China, Sudan, Venezuela, USA among many other nations from every continent in the world at the pre-INAC dinner.