Reviving Cultural Values, Panacea For Many Societal Problems – Minister

Reviving Cultural Values, Panacea For Many Societal Problems – Minister

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said

the revival of the nation’s cultural values is a panacea to some of

the problems confronting the country due to moral decadence.

Thursday at the maiden edition of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC)

Joint Venture (JV) Host Community Day.

“Yesterday in Abuja, a German Journalist who is visiting Nigeria asked

me what my vision of the nation’s Culture Sector is. I told him that

my vision is to see a cultural renaissance in the country because of

its ability to restore our moral values, which can in turn help in

solving many of the problems we, as a nation, face today, whether it

is in the area of insecurity, job creation or loss of moral values.

”It is in furtherance of this that I have always made sure to

participate in as many festivals and other cultural events as

possible, across the country, to give them more visibility and to

encourage the organizers,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said giving the people of the host communities the

opportunity to showcase their cultural heritage is a sure way to

reconnect them to their roots, and this, in turn, helps to restore their

moral values and self-worth, which is a sure recipe for avoiding

anti-social activities and criminal tendencies.

“In this maiden edition, the focus is on cultural dance. Winners at

the preliminary stages in the four states are here today for the grand

finale. By hosting this event, the company is encouraging its host

Communities to harness and take advantage of this opportunity with

huge potentials for job creation/employment for their teeming youths.

I have no doubt that this event will stimulate cultural activities on

a commercial scale and assist in curbing youth restiveness, pipeline

vandalism, oil bunkering and other vices associated with the Oil & Gas

Industry in this region.

“It is also hoped that the event will strengthen inter-community

relationship as well as Company-Community relationship,” he said.

The Minister congratulated the NAOC JV partners for coming up with the

idea of the Host Community Day, which is a day set aside for the

people of the company’s host communities in Bayelsa, Delta, Imo and

River States to showcase their rich cultural heritage.

“Let me say that the decision by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company and its

Joint Venture partners to hold this Host Community Day, with the theme

‘Promoting Our Cultural Heritage’, could not have come at a better

time. This is because the Federal Government is also tapping into the

huge potentials in the Tourism and Culture Sector not just to promote

the nation’s cultural heritage, but to diversify the economy,

thus earning more revenue and creating more jobs,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed commended Nigerian Agip Oil Company for its community

development activities, especially its Green River Project initiative,

where over 38,000 farmers in the four states have been empowered

within the last 33 years and Socio-Economic Developmental projects

such as roads, water, cottage hospitals, electricity and human

capacity development programmes in the area of scholarships and

bursaries as well as agro skills training.

In his remarks, the General Manager, District, Nigerian AGIP Oil

Company, Alessandro Tiani, said the company recognized that

communities are unique by their culture, which holds the key to

identity, oneness, integration, growth and ultimately development,

hence the need for the Host Community Day.