NAFEST: Bayelsa wins overall best twice in seven years

By Ozolua Uhakheme, Assistant Editor (Arts)

 

For the second time in history as a state, Bayelsa has won the 33rd National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST), which ended in Jos, Plateau State capital, on Saturday.  Bayelsa State first won the coveted trophy in 2013 when it hosted the festival under the theme Culture, peace and national transformation.

Ekiti and River states won the second position while the host state, Plateau, got the third place.

Others were Kano and Enugu states which dame fourth. Delta, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Kaduna State were fifth. The one-week cultural fiesta, which opened November 23, had 26 states in attendance.

The event had as a theme, Post COVID-19 and Cultural Dynamism.

Ekiti State, led by its Commissioner of Culture and Tourism, Prof. Ojo Rasak Bakare, received the gong as a symbol of hosting right for NAFEST 2021.

Plateau State Governor, Simon B. Lalong, at the closing, praised the organisers of NAFEST, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) and its Director-General, Otunba Segun Runsewe, for the resilience in ensuring that the festival held in spite challenges posed by COVID-19. He assured prospective  investors and tourists of a lasting peace in the state.

He said it was a great honour to host the festival 20 years after it held in the state, stressing that he had been vindicated for saying that the state would host a memorable event. For states who could not win any gong, Lalong urged them not to worry as “NAFEST is not all about winning competitions but more of fellowship and display of arts and culture.”

He added that the ability to host such a great event at a challenging moment in the nation’s history was an indication of “our resilience and the fact that we can use our arts and culture to revamp the economy.”

He also commended the participation of children from across the nation, stressing that the seed of culture sown in their hearts would grow and bear fruits that would sustain our cultural heritage. According to him, the friendship exhibited among the states showed a united nation.

Runsewe said the state was safe and peaceful, and a total departure from what was read on the social media on insecurity. He canvassed that the state be made the medical tourism destination for Africa due to its friendly weather and variety of foods and vegetables that are therapeutic to the people.