By Our Reporter
Otunba Segun Runsewe, the Director General, National Council for Art and Culture (NCAC), will not stop at wining laurels on account of his superlative performances, he recently won the prestigious Africa Travel Quarterly Magazine (ATQ) award as the Culture and Tourism Man of the Year.
In a letter of notification to Runsewe by the management of the the Magazine dedicated exclusively to Africa travel narratives, it explained that the DG of NCAC who was once in the saddle as Nigeria’s tourism marketer, was overwhelmingly chosen across the spectrum of its board of directors, stakeholders and Journalists across Africa as worthy of the award for his dedicated service and promotion of inter Africa cultural understanding and for using the culture platform to drive tourism on the west coast of Africa.
As first recipient of ATQ’s premium Balafon award, Runsewe was also singled out and commended for changing the narrative of Nigerian culture economy through instituting skills acquisition platforms on Art and crafts to empower rural poor and also creating financial window for the creative community through partnership with the Bank of Industry (BOI).
According to ATQ management which also drive the Accra weizo, a West coast tourism fair, Runsewe’s exceptional strategic drive using International culture marketing exposition(INAC) to build bridges of understanding and accelerate growth of African tourism, stood him above other efforts across the continent.
In a letter of acceptance, Otunba Segun Runsewe appreciated the organisers, stakeholders and Journalists across the continent for finding his little contribution on culture and tourism worthy of continental recognition.
According to Runsewe, the Balafon award is a call to duty, dedication and collective sacrifice as governments all over the world faced by economic challenges, looks up to Culture and Tourism economy to make needed changes.
” We shall by this award redouble efforts to break the yoke of poverty, reposition culture and tourism as the mainstay of Nigerian economy” adding that a new drum beat on culture has just begun to fully engage the birth of Nigerian and African tourism.
