The Director General, National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, presenting a Memorandum of Understanding between the Council and the Bank of Industry to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja recently

Chief Segun Runsewe, the Director-General of National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), says the recently acquired N300 million loan from the Bank of Industry will be invested on artists.

Runsewe told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja that this was to create employment for youths across the country.

“We are going to invest the money in artists, marketing and others, so that we can build a strong cultural pace for Nigeria.

“This will also lead to creation of more jobs, reduce unemployment and make the country a better place for all of us.

“We were able to ensure that some of our best artists who are staff of NCAC performed at the event of tour of Arts and Craft Village by the Africa-Nordic Foreign Ministers,” Runsewe said.

The NCAC director-general said the council had also started engaging blind people, who were begging on the streets, into productive ventures.

According to him, the NCAC has recently established a place for them called, “Blind Centre for Production”.

“At these centres, they produce a lot of mats, bags, caps and other crafts; these are some of the strategies we are adopting to reduce tension in the country and make it a better place.

“These Blind Centres for Production are located in Bauchi, Kogi and Anambra respectively; we hope to establish more in other parts of the country.

“We also have skill acquisition centres across the country; all these are to create employment for Nigerians,” Runsewe said.

(NAN)