Government growing concerns about certain breaches of COVID 19 protocols, particularly on the dedicated use of facemasks and sanitizers to clean the hands, has prompted the intervention of the National Council for Arts and Culture ( NCAC).
The Nigeria premier culture agency will roll out both medical and conventional facemasks made from local adire and Ankara fabrics embossed with NCAC logo to check imitation and also to showcase homegrown solutions to demands for the kits.
Likewise, sanitizers exclusively made from local natural resources will also be part of the intervention.
Otunba Segun Runsewe DG NCAC disclosed that the measures are part of well thought out interventions that will help bridge the gap in the demands and needs to ensure no one finds an excuse to breach the COVID 19 protocols.
” We shall be targeting the culture tourism community, the media, the security agencies at the frontline of the battle to the successful and full compliance of the lockdown and also the medical professionals.” Otunba Runsewe explained.
Describing the initiative as a necessity and response to exploit the huge cultural resources in Nigeria, Otunba Runsewe noted that COVID 19 pandemics has provided Nigeria with a great opportunity to look inwards for the production of relevant kits and accessories made exclusively in Nigeria and which will meet with export standard and health protocols.
” We cannot just sit down and expect help from outside the country all the time. We should respond to this challenge by looking inwards and creatively discover certain benefits in our cultural endowment, support the process of indigenous response to all health challenges not just COVID 19 pandemic, Runsewe further clarified, adding that necessity is the mother of all inventions around the world.
” Ours is not only to support government directives that Nigerians should wear facemasks in public places but to develop a determined basic cultural socioeconomic baseline to the effective use and engagement of local fabrics and natural resources to which Nigeria is well blessed, Otunba Runsewe stated further.
It will be recalled that NCAC under Runsewe has made the use of local fabrics, arts and crafts as the fulcrum of a new and emerging cultural economy.
Indeed, NCAC has promoted proudly and exclusively Nigerian cultural products since the advent of Buhari administration.
