NIGERIA TO STRENGTHEN BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP WITH CUBA THROUGH ARTS AND CULTURE.

By Iyang Bassey

Nigeria is poised to strengthen it’s bilateral relationship with the Republic of Cuba using arts and culture as potential tools

The Director General, National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe made this revelation in his office when he played host to the Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba, Her Excellency, Clara Escandell who paid him a courtesy visit.

Otunba Runsewe revealed that Nigeria and the Republic of Cuba have very rich cultural heritage adding that the similarities that also exist both in music and dance needs to be explored to create room for easy affiliation.
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The Director General remarked that the NCAC has provided a platform for the diplomatic community to gather andt rob minds on cultural issues to engender cultural diplomacy. He further stated that the International Arts and Crafts (INAC) Expo also brought other international community under one umbrella to network their arts and crafts to the the rest of the world.

Runsewe however promised that during this year’s INAC Expo, the Republic of Cuba will feature prominently and will be given an opportunity to speak to the International Media on ways to collaborate with the youths for possible cultural exchange programmes.

Runsewe was full of praises for Ambassador Escandell for dressing in Nigerian attire for the visit and promised to visit the Republic of Cuba soon.

Speaking earlier, the Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba, Her Excellency, Clara Escandell said she was in the Council to see he man who had projected the image of Nigeria culturally both home and abroad and tirelessly working to use Nigerian arts and culture to show the need for peaceful coexistence among countries of the world.

Ambassador Escandell added that she was also driven by the burning desire to acquaint herself with the council’s programmes as the seat of culture in the country.

She reiterated the need for stronger collaboration between the NCAC and the Republic of Cuba to harness the rich cultural heritage of both countries for export.

The Cuban Ambassador used the visit to call on the diplomatic community to always make good use of culture as a veritable tool to build strong bilateral relationships in theory missions.