Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NIDCOM, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has announced that a mutually beneficial collaboration with National Gallery of Art, NGA, will not only help in appreciating the value for visual arts and artists in the Diaspora but also help in recognizing that there is a huge revenue yet untapped in this field.
The NIDCOM boss stated when she received the Director General, National Gallery of Art, Mr Ebeten William Ivara, and otjer top level management staff in her office in Abuja on Wednesday
Dabiri-Erewa also added that plans are underay to put an end to the lip service concerning the issue of data collection and mapping of Nigerians in the diaspora especially diasporans achieving great strides.
“We must hit the ground running in this relationship between NIDCOM and NGA which has long been overdue,” she said.
She however mentioned the amazing things Nigerians are doing in the visual arts in the Diaspora by highlighting the feat of Anthony Ayodele Obayomi, the first Nigerian Visual Art winner in Switzerland.
She offered to link NGA with reputable Nigerians in the field of arts in the diaspora and has promised to create a team of staff to work hand in globe to achieve desired results.
William Ivara acknowledged and commended Dabiri-Erewa for her accomplishments over the years while stating the NGA’s mandate to include harnessing, harvesting and assembling all visual arts of Nigerians at home and in the diaspora as repository of Nigeria’s socio- cultural and historical development.
The DG informed that NGA has designed an online form for capturing and registering Nigerian artists in the Diaspora to get proper documentation.
A six-member working committee between NIDCOM and NGA is to be constituted to fast-track the process of diaspora demographic mapping.
Packaged by Taofeek Lawal, Abuja
