Nigeria

 ^{Published by The Tide Online (Rivers State Newspaper Corporation, Port Harcourt, Nigeria) On Sunday, Aug 5, 2007.}

^{With the dawn of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's administration, Nigerians were anxious to know those that would constitute the new cabinet. For those in the arts, the expectation was no less as they waited and hoped that a 'Messiah' would be sent to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.}

 ^{With the eventual appointment of Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), as the Minister, reactions rented the air as to whether a lawyer by profession was really the right person that would bring the desired change to the ministry.}

 ^{Many have also listened with rapt attention since his appointment to hear what plans and strategies he hopes to adopt in order to move the sector forward.}

 ^{While addressing journalists on Monday in Abuja, the new minister assured Nigerians and stakeholders in the arts of his determination to make the ministry as vibrant and viable as others.}

 ^{As if to clear the controversy surrounding his profession and his new office, the minister underscored deep knowledge and appreciation of his new assignment, having been adequately briefed by the management on the assumption of office. "I am assuring you we will achieve success. I have had meetings with directors and now, I can tell you that I can answer questions on what is happening in the ministry. We are ready to work to hit the ground in terms of implementation. We will do our best for the country," he stated.}

 ^{According to him, culture and tourism industry would no longer be relegated to the background, neither would it be limited to songs and dance. He expressed optimism that his administration would take the ministry to the forefront of the government activities where it would assume its rightful role as a tool for social re-engineering of the country.}

 ^{Noting that poor funding was blamed by his predecessors as a factor against actualising their goals for the ministry, Prince Kayode attributed their plight to 100 per cent dependence on the government and pledged to reposition the sector to attract private sector participation.}

 ^{"In the past, government alone had been responsible for funding the sector. The effort has been public sector driven but now, there is a paradigm shift from this mind-set to public/private sector participation." He disclosed that efforts are in place to embark on}

 ^{reorganisation of the activities of the ministry to bring it in line with the desires of the president and also with the seven-point agenda, which emphasises self-sustenance by the year 2020.}

 ^{The minister therefore used the opportunity to beckon on corporate bodies and financial institutions to avail themselves of the huge business opportunities available in the sector.}

 ^{Kayode commended the past administration for setting agenda for cultural policy and tourism master-plan, saying that with these in place, his administration is on the threshold of implementation. "Now, there is a policy in respect of  culture and tourism. A lot of work has gone into this for the past eight years to get the documents together, enough consultation and research has also gone into it. We are fortunate that cultural policy}

 ^{and master plan are ready. We are just at the threshold of the implementation."}

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