The Ekiti government is set to establish an Arts, Crafts and Tourism Village in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
The state Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism, Prof. Rasaki Ojo-Bakare, made the disclosure in a statement on Sunday in Ado-Ekiti.
He said that the establishment of the village had become imperative in order to ensure the sustainability of the culture and tourism enhancement policy of the Gov. Kayode Fayemi-led administration.
According to him, the village will warehouse all the unique traditional arts, crafts, indigenous apparel, culinary heritage, cultural occupations and creative endowments, which he describes as the trans-generational inheritance of the people but which are ebbing towards extinction.
The village, the commissioner said, would also showcase the excellent unique cultural and traditional values, which had made the state homogenous and the indigenes who they were.
Ojo-Bakare commended the governor for his keen interest and passionate commitment to the development of arts, culture and tourism in the state, saying that this had led to the creation of his ministry.
He noted that this had also paved way for the passage of the Ekiti State Arts, Culture and Tourism bill by the House of Assembly as well as its signing into law by the governor.
The commissioner also attributed the inauguration of the state Performing Arts Company and the engagement of the private sector in the management of tourism sites in the state, creation of the ministry and the appointment of a commissioner as indicating the importance attached to the sector.
Ojo-Bakare said that due to the tenacity of purpose of the Fayemi-led administration on arts and tourism development, the state had participated in both international and local events.
He listed some of the events to include Nigeria’s independence celebration in Hungary in 2019, International Drum Festival in Abeokuta, Edo 2019, where the state emerged as the most creative and innovative state in Nigeria as well as the reinvigorated EKIFEST 2019.
The commissioner added that the governor had also sponsored a delegation to Rio de Janeiro Festival in Brazil, where the state tourism asset was marketed for investors and tourists.
He said that the COVID-19 pandemic had prevented international tourists from visiting the state in June and July.
Bakare stated that all roads would lead to the state in December, when the multi-purpose Kayode Fayemi Cultural Centre would be inaugurated, with a command performance by the newly-unveiled state Performing Arts Company.
