Minister raises panel on Abuja Carnival 2011

MINISTER of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed, has set up a 10-man committee for the Abuja Carnival 2011. At the ceremony, which took place in his office yesterday, the minister handed the chairmanship of the committee to the Acting Director of Culture, Mr. George Ufot, while the Artistic Director remains the Professor of Dance, University of Abuja, Ojo Bakare. He will serve in that capacity for the third time. The chairmanship of the carnival since the inception in 2005 has been the exclusive preserve of the minister but The Guardian learnt that he relinquished the position this year to enable him handle other crucial issues towards ensuring the success of the carnival. Other members of the committee include Grace Gekpe, Armstrong Idachaba and Sam Agbi heading various sub-committees. Having promised to inaugurate the committee earlier, the minister blamed the delay on the collaborative efforts between the Ministry and the Federal Capital Territory Administration, which he said, was yet to be concluded. We wanted to involve them in resource mobilisation as partial owners of Abuja Carnival because we believe that FCT is the utmost beneficiary of the carnival. But unfortunately, the discussion has not yielded expected result but we have to continue, he said.
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