A CASE has been made for the promotion and proper utilisation of culture in Nigeria. This is against the background that culture promotion and utilisation is still far below minimum standard and that the time to revive the nation's culture is now so that Nigerians can begin to enjoy life to the full again as it was in the past. This assertion was made recently in Lagos by the MD/CEO of Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) company, Mr. Chima Ibeneche.The electronics and electrical engineer and former senior staff of Shell, also an active promoter and consumer of culture, noted in an exclusive interview that Nigerians have long lost the ability to enjoy life with the absence of enlivening cultural events. He pointed at Nigerians' craze to make money as another major reason why they have lost the taste for cultural enjoyment.Therefore, it is this quest to return Nigeria to the path of cultural enjoyment that led Ibeneche's company to sponsor the yearly choral music competition in Port Harcourt as well as sponsorship of The Nigeria Prize for Science and Literature.He stated that his company's sponsorship of the choral group music competition wasn't because he is a churchman, who loves music, with a wife and daughter that sing, but that it arose from the company's vision for development of Nigerian society and culture and how it could best be positioned to serve Nigerians better in the appreciation and utilisation of culture.He said, 'My wife sings and my daughter also sings. So, we love music. But that's not why we decided that we run a choral group competition in Port Harcourt. Again, it's consistent with what we are doing with science and literature. We need to keep saying that we're a Nigerian company and we're interested in the development of culture and the growth of our society. One of the biggest disappointments you see in a place like Nigeria is that in many cases, we don't enjoy life. We're always struggling trying to make money'.Further, Ibeneche lamented the absence of purpose-built theatres and event centres, where people could go to enjoy cultural productions like good music. Although he noted that Nigeria's music scene had begun to look up again in recent years, especially the pop music, but Ibeneche said it was nowhere near what Nigeria had going for her in years gone by when the likes of Jim Rex Lawson, Osita Osadebey, I.K. Dairo and many others plied their highlife music trade to thrill Nigerians.Indeed, those were the days when highlife and nightlife held sway. He, therefore, urged Nigerians to once again return to their vibrant cultural heritage as a means of living life to the full, and away from constantly chasing money.'But there are no theatres, no big events; we need to return to a situation where culture is really vibrant', he stated. 'Right now, the Nigeria music scene, the pop music scene is picking up gradually. But it's nowhere near where it was during the time of Rex Jim Lawson, I.K. Dairo, Victor Uwaifo and all these people who were working hard in Nigeria.'So, this is a case of saying let's support another aspect of culture development, which has to be choral music. Just to say that it's also a genre of music that I enjoy as a singer, and that my family also enjoys in church.
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