The Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Runsewe, has urged Nigerians to embrace cultural tolerance to overcome the challenges bedevilling the country.

Runsewe made this call as he played host to 44 countries at the closing ceremony of a three-day International Arts and Crafts (INAC) Expo 2022, organised by the NCAC in Abuja with the theme ‘Networking Nigerian Arts and Crafts to the World’.

The Expo showcased an exhibition of various cultures and crafts of countries of the world as well as the rich green culture, arts and crafts of the Nigerian people from the North, South, East and West.

Runsewe noted that the diplomatic community
came for the Expo in their numbers because they saw that Nigeria is a peaceful place with a hospitable and business-worthy environment.

He said that Nigeria’s challenges can be overcome if its citizens embrace cultural tolerance and desist from sharing negative and false narratives on the internet.

He said, “Nigeria does not have problems but we have challenges and you can never become a champion until you overcome your challenges. I can tell you that everywhere in the world, they use one strategy which is cultural diplomacy”.

“The reason why you see us disagree with ourselves is that the Igbo man said bring Kola, if you want to discuss with me, you get offended why?

“The Hausa man said remove your shoes before you enter my house, you get offended why? The Yoruba man wants to eat Amala with his hand, you say he is local. There won’t be understanding in such a manner.

“So, we need to tolerate each other and bring in cultural diplomacy. Once we do that, all these challenges will be addressed.

“All over the world, there are only two strategies which are hard and soft. The hard and soft. So, the peace strategy is working.

“If it was not working, we would not have 54 countries in attendance today. Peace is gradually returning to our country.

“There is no great country in the world that does not have crime it is tackling but we celebrate ours beyond proportion.

“There is a lot of negative and fake news going near and there but what I have succeeded in doing today is a testimony that Nigeria is safe.”

According to him, the sector could reduce crime, unemployment and all the challenges facing the country.

“What has been happening is that we don’t understand the strength of this sector. It is the only sector where nobody is a failure. Even if you make F9 in school, you are useful in this sector. You don’t need a PhD or Msc to make a good bag.”

“A lot of members of the diplomatic community that are here today are amazed. For instance, the Diplomat of Spain has finished his tenure and he has applied for extension. If Nigeria is not good, he will not do that.

“So, for me, we have succeeded in using our own structure of culture to showcase the strength of Nigeria, not the weakness of Nigeria,” Runsewe said.

“Nigerians must reawaken themselves to understand that making Nigeria great is the duty of everyone to contribute.”

Similarly, the Cultural Counselor of the Chinese Embassy, Mr Li Xuda in his goodwill message said, Nigeria is a large country with an ancient history and rich cultural heritage.

According to Xuda, Nigerian people are proud of their colourful and diverse culture such as unique tribe dance, various kinds of languages, religions, music, fashion, movies as well as arts and crafts.

“This year’s INAC not only provides the world a window to showcase beautiful Nigeria beyond our imagination but also builds a bridge of friendship to connect to people of all countries with Nigerians,” he said.

Exhibitors and dignitaries from Nigeria and other countries represented were thrilled by the beauty of Nigeria’s unique cultural diversities exhibited through fashion, food, music, dance performances among others.