Runsewe Hosts 27 Foreign Affairs Ministers

The Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture, Chief Segun Runsewe, has hosted an Africa–Nordic delegation comprising of Foreign Affairs Ministers from over 27 countries in Abuja.

The former tourism boss informed the visitors on the need for global integration using the instrumentality of cultural diplomacy towards achieving global peace and harmony.

He noted that Nigeria loves to receive visitors saying, “We are hospitable people with unique diversity of culture. As a nation, we are proud of our dance, music, food, and language because our culture is our pride.”

He dispelled some of the negative perceptions of the country outside by people who do not really know Nigeria saying, “as you can see we are a receptive people with high level of humility. It is my foremost belief that when you get home, what you have seen, like our clement weather and hospitable people should be passed on for the world to appreciate and visit Nigeria. You have seen the true picture of who we are; we are wonderful people and friendly too.”

He further employed them to enjoy their stay while equally taking the opportunity to invest in the country given the vast potential and investment opportunities that abound.

The NCAC chief further affirmed that Nigeria’s cultural diversity remains her strongest selling point, which his agency was fully committed to exploring by harnessing the unique cultural identities of all states in the federation in order to give foreign guests options as they seek to savour Nigeria’s abundant cultural heritage.

Delivering her vote of thanks on behalf of the august visitors, Director- General for Trade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iceland Unnur Orratottir, expressed profound gratitude to the culture helmsman for such a delightful outing. She said, “music has become a marketing tool that brings tourists to a country. From what I have seen the cultural group perform here today, Nigeria has a lot to sell to the world.”