The National Council for Arts & Culture (NCAC) and the River State Government have commended leading telecommunications service provider, Airtel for its sponsorship of the 2018 National Festival of Arts And Culture (NAFEST) hosted by Rivers.
According to Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, Director General, National Council for Arts & Culture and Chairman, National Planning Committee of NAFEST Rivers 2018, the festival is to unite the nation and Airtel, through its support, has demonstrated its commitment to connecting people and nation building.
“Airtel has been one of the very serious network providers in Nigeria. They have been able to support us with Internet facilities at all levels of this festival. Everything is not all about money but about delivering quality and creating value. Airtel contributed to the success of this festival in Rivers and we greatly appreciate them for their support”, the DG said.
Speaking during the closing ceremony and awards, River State Governor, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, commended all States that participated in the festival as well as brands that contributed to the success of the event.
“Let me thank NCAC, all the States that participated, government parastatals, agencies and others that contributed to the successful festival hosted by River State. This is to show to the world that Rivers is a peaceful State. Rivers is a peace-loving and hospitable State. This festival is to showcase that there is unity in diversity.
“You can see people from Sokoto, Kano, Eboyi, Kwara, Lagos, Ogun, Edo among others here in River State in celebration of the festival. That’s the beauty of our culture”, he said.
According to the telco, its sponsorship of NAFEST is to promote arts and culture in Nigeria. Few weeks ago, Airtel officially announced its 4G LTE network in Port Harcourt at a stakeholder event.
Certificate of participation and a gong was presented to the 25 States and FCT Abuja that took part in this year’s festival. Some of the States include: Abia, Enugu, Lagos, Gombe, Kastina, Ebonyi, Kano, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Delta, Kwara, Niger, Ondo, Taraba, Sokoto, Kogi, Edo, Bayelsa etc.
The 7-day event themed ‘Our Culture, Our Heritage’ was held in Port Harcourt from Monday, October 22 to Saturday, October 27, 2018.