COVID 19 PREVENTION: NCAC TO ROLL OUT LOCAL MADE FACEMASKS , SANITIZERS.

By Innocent Orok

Segun Runsewe, DG, NCAC

To further promote the culture of protection and prevention against the rampaging Coronavirus pandemic, the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) is set to roll out local made facemasks and hand sanitizers to Nigerians.

This has become imperative due to government growing concerns about certain breaches of covid 19 protocols, particularly on the dedicated use of facemasks and sanitizers to clean the hands which has prompted the intervention of the National Council for Arts and Culture ( NCAC) .

The Nigeria premier culture agency will roll out both medical and conventional facemasks made from local Adire and Ankara fabrics embossed with NCAC logo to check imitation and also to showcase home grown solutions to demands for the kits.
Likewise, the sanitizers which is exclusively made from local natural resources will also be part of the intervention.

Otunba Segun Runsewe, DG, NCAC, disclosed that the measures are part of well thought out interventions that will help bridge the gap in the demands and needs to ensure no one finds excuse to breach the Covid 19 protocols.

Runsewe said “We shall be targeting the culture tourism community, the media, the security agencies at the frontline of the battle for the successful and full compliance of the lockdown and also the medical professionals.” Otunba Runsewe explained.

He described the initiative as a necessity and response to exploit the huge cultural resources in Nigeria, Otunba Runsewe noted that Covid 19 pandemic has provided Nigeria a great opportunity to look inwards for the production of relevant kits and accessories made exclusively in Nigeria and which will meet with export standards 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, support the process of indigenous response to all health challenges not just Covid 19 pandemic, he further clarified, adding that necessity is the mother of all inventions around the world.

” Ours is not only to support government directives that Nigerians should wear facemasks in public places, but to develop a determined basic cultural socio- economic baseline to the effective use and engagement of local fabrics and natural resources to which Nigeria is well blessed”, Otunba Runsewe stated.

It will be recalled that NCAC under Runsewe has made the use of local fabrics, arts and crafts as the fulcrum of a new and emerging cultural economy.
Indeed, NCAC has promoted a proudly and exclusively Nigerian cultural products since the advent of the Buhari administration.