Runsewe: Gov Sanwo-Olu to Unveil 7 Wonders of Nigeria at Eko NAFEST

Director General of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Segun Runsewe, has revealed that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State will be the first in the history of Nigeria to declare and unveil the Seven Wonders of Nigeria.

Runsewe disclosed this yesterday when he declared open the Cultural Market at the ongoing 35th edition of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) taking place at National Institute for Sports (NIS), Surulere, Lagos.

According to Runsewe, the unveiling of the Seven Wonders of Nigeria is part of the activities lined up today as the governor officially declares open Eko NAFEST 2022 at Mobolaji Johnson Arena (Onikan Stadium).

“Governor Sanwo-Olu on the 13th of November (today) is making history, he is going to be the first governor in the history of our country to declare and unveil the 37 Wonders of Nigeria,” Runsewe said, adding “It takes a governor with goodwill and capacity to say he wants to host NAFEST so that other parts of Nigeria can come to the state.”

The NCAC boss, who was accompanied by the Lagos State Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism, Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, said “The idea of the market is for us to showcase the creativity in Nigeria and what they can produce. You can see a lot of them there. Lagos State was at 2022 INAC and a lot of white people especially 36 ambassadors that attended the expo in Abuja were marveled by what they saw at the Lagos State stand.

“Lagos is the Centre of Excellence and they want to show us the excellence in Lagos and unite Nigeria better than it was.

“You see, I must tell you one of the challenges in this country today is because we don’t understand each other. For example, if you visit an Igboman, he will bring out kola nuts and pour libation and you will be angry. A Hausa man says, pull your shoes that he is doing his prayers, you say it’s local. A Yoruba man says I want to eat amala and oil will fill his hand. You call him names. You see, if you respect the Igboman’s culture, the Hausaman’s and the Yorubaman’s culture there will be less challenges in Nigeria.

“So NAFEST is that platform to unite us as a country. I don’t know how many of you were in Ekiti NAFEST, the man from Taraba who never ate pounded yam in the morning before. He ate pounded yam in the morning, afternoon and night. The man shouted in Hausa ‘these people want to kill me’. The next day he is getting stronger after eating pounded yam three times in a day. I’m telling you today if you find out Nigerians fighting themselves today is due to lack of communication. So NAFEST is a melting point to unite us.”

“I was born and brought up in the North. Celestine Babayero that played for the national team is an Igboman, there was nobody who was talking of Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa. This NAFEST is spiritual and very significant to the togetherness of this country.

“If Lagos didn’t host NAFEST, the Commissioner for Culture from Taraba State would never get to know the Commissioner for Culture in Lagos. That is the truth. We are far from each other and that is the truth. Now we are creating a forum for togetherness. So nobody can sell our thing more than us, we are the ones to do so,” Runsewe added.

On her part, the Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism, Akinbile-Yusuf said the market is very key to the overall success of the cultural festival.

“I want to implore Lagosians to go to the cultural market at the National Institute for Sports tand buy beautiful things produced by Nigerians. I also want to thank Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for accommodating Nigerians at this critical time and we know Nigeria will continue to be stronger than ever before after this cultural festival,” she said.