Government’s growing concerns about the breach of COVID-19 health protocols, particularly on the dedicated use of facemasks and sanitisers to clean hands, has prompted the intervention of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) to roll out both medical and conventional facemasks made from local adire and Ankara fabrics. The facemasks are embossed with NCAC logo to check imitation and also to showcase home-grown solutions to demands for the kits. Likewise, sanitisers exclusively made from local natural resources, are also part of the intervention.
Otunba Segun Runsewe, Director General of NCAC, disclosed that the measures are part of well thought-out interventions that will help bridge the gap in the demand and need to ensure no one finds excuses to breach the COVID-19 protocols.
“We shall be targeting the culture and tourism community, the media, security agencies and also medical professionals,” Otunba Runsewe explained.
Describing the initiative as a necessity and response to exploit the huge cultural resources in Nigeria, Runsewe noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has provided Nigeria a great opportunity to look inward for the production of relevant kits and accessories made exclusively in Nigeria which meet 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 that support the process of indigenous response to all health challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic,” Runsewe further clarified, adding that necessity is the mother of all inventions around the world.
He stated further: “Our duty is not only to support government’s directives that Nigerians should wear facemasks in public places, but to develop a determined basic cultural and socioeconomic baseline to the effective use and engagement of local fabrics and natural resources in Nigeria.”
The NCAC under Runsewe has made the use of local fabrics, arts and crafts as the fulcrum of a new and emerging cultural economy.
The Council has promoted a proudly and exclusively Nigerian cultural products since the advent of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
While distributing masks and sanitisers to select media houses, Runsewe, who is also President, World Crafts Council, Africa Region, added that he wants to ensure that enough of the masks and sanitisers are given to each media house so that those in the newsroom will also benefit.