>
The new Director-General of Ekiti State Council of Arts and Tourism, Mr Wale Ojo-Lanre, has charged the staff of the council to be more efficient and proactive in their duties, saying that the state’s arts and culture sector must be number one in the country.
Ojo-Lanre gave the charge on Wednesday while addressing some members of staff of the council who paid him a welcome visit in his office at the Secretariat, in Ado Ekiti.
“The vision of Governor Kayode Fayemi on this agency must be accomplished, and we as the drivers of the vision must be proactive in our activities, acts, deeds and at discharging our duties promptly and efficiently,” he stressed.
The arts and tourism boss who expressed satisfaction at the performance of the state’s cultural troupe which he described as one of the best in Nigeria, stated that all hands must be on deck to tackle all the challenges facing the troupe.
“The past has gone. We shall collectively explore the opportunities and turn the challenges facing the troupe to practically promote the state and put her on the world cultural map,” he said.
It would be recalled that the state’s cultural troupe came first in the 2017 edition of African Drums Festival, in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Ojo-Lanre urged the troupe members to work hard and maintain the first position in the forthcoming competitions.
Earlier in his welcoming speech, the Director, Administration and Supply of the council, Mr Rotimi Ijasan, lauded Governor Fayemi for choosing Ojo-Lanre to lead the Council.
“The appointment of Wale Ojo-Lanre, tourism, arts and culture aficionado, as the Ekiti State Council of Arts and Culture boss is an answer to our prayers to make Ekiti State a tourism-model in Nigeria.
“No doubt, the doggedness and creative ingenuity of the Ojo-Lanre will propel in showcasing of Ekiti State to the world as a paragon of enviable arts and culture, with the state and her people benefitting immensely from the goodies of the money-spinning sectors,” Ijasan noted.