NCAC calls for cultural rebirth among Nigerian youths

The National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), has called for a cultural rebirth among Nigerian youths and the general populace amidst the Japa syndrome.

The Director General of the council, Otunba Segun Runsewe, made the call Tuesday, during a one-day programme, themed “Culture, Peace and National Rebirth: An Agenda Setting, organized by the Council in Abuja.

Speaking at the event which had youths and other cultural stakeholders in attendance, Runsewe stated that the sensitization was timely considering the alarming rate at which the nation’s cultures are being eroded and substituted by alien practices.

He said: “The disturbing development has also greatly impacted on the youths, as there is a growing feeling of alienation among the vast majority of the youths, manifesting in various forms of restiveness and the internationalization and exhibition of vices that are at variance with our culture.

“Incidences of violent crimes, transgender, the End-SARS protest and the Japa syndrome are clear indications of a youth population that harbours a sense of alienation, exclusion, disillusionment and despair.

“Many of the youths are at a cultural crossroads with a high propensity for anger and violence.”

Runsewe said that Nigerian youths should be part of the efforts towards building a new Nigeria by inculcating traditional values as the building blocks of a greater Nigerian nation that will be internally secure, socially stable, economically viable, peaceful and prosperous.

He said: “No nation can attain its developmental aspiration when its elites are heavily divided among sentimental cleavages of religion and ethnicity as was played out in the 2023 General elections.

“It is also unarguable that a nation can only be on the path of progress and prosperity when its youths espouse the right values and orientation that supports national development.

Meanwhile, the President, of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), who was the Keynote Speaker at the event, Nkereuwem Onung, urged young people to shun cultism, gender-based violence among other social vices and become ambassadors of change by making positive differences.

He said that as the youths are the greatest assets and driving force of the nation’s development, so also can they become the nation’s most disturbing liability when they absorb wrong attitudes and orientations that do not engender national development.