The National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) on Tuesday in Abuja announced a competition to celebrate the act of patriotism displayed by Super Eagles forward Kelechi Iheanacho on Saturday.
Iheanacho had, immediately after his English Premier League (EPL) side Leicester City beat Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley in London to win the 2020/2021 English FA Cup, displayed the Nigerian flag.
He had wrapped the flag around himself to celebrate the victory, with millions of Nigerians across the world watching on admirably and several others across the world applauding.
The NCAC, in view of this, says Iheanacho’s act was not only spectacular but an uncommon display of patriotism which must not go uncelebrated.
The Council’s Director-General, Olusegun Runsewe, told newsmen the celebration would come under the theme of “Sports and Culture: A brand for promoting Nigeria at international fora”.
“Nigeria’s flag was celebrated for the right reasons and we felt proud as Nigerians, especially as this has happened before several cameras.
“And that is why we at NCAC, seeing this as a platform, feel we should celebrate Iheanacho by documenting and institutional using this with a competition,” he said.
Runsewe said the competition would be with the collaboration of the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) Abuja.
“The Council is instituting an art contest which celebrates the intersection of sports and culture, referencing the Iheanacho celebration with the Nigerian flag after that match at the Wembley.”
The NCAC Director-General said the competition which would go on for one month was Open to traditional 2D Art which encompasses painting, print-making and drawing.
“While the competition is for now restricted to Abuja because of the time constraints of having one month, other details of the competition such as assessment and adjudication will be worked out with the SNA.
“We are even working towards fully exhibiting the winning entries at Ado-Ekiti during our 2021 National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST),” he said.
Runsewe disclosed that there would be a reward for the best three entries, with the cash prizes of N300,000, N200,000 and N100,000 on offer.
“We want them to come up an artistic impression of Iheanacho, which will be preserved for posterity so as to spur others to exhibit similar patriotism,” he said.
Runsewe said the person with the winning entry would be presented to both the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, and Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed.
He also disclosed that the winning entry would be sent to all Nigerian galleries as well as embassies across the world.
“Also, a copy will be presented to Leicester City Football Club in Leicester, England.”
The NCAC Director-General pointed out that the Council needed to embark on this project because it was its duty to use culture to unite Nigerians and ensure co-existence among Nigerians.
“So, we should tap the benefits of sports to further unite Nigerians, and this is a unique platform to celebrate the best among us,” he said.
Runsewe also said the project should not be viewed in terms of the reward or the money but about celebration of spectacular acts by Nigerians.
“We don’t celebrate ourselves, in spite of the fact that there many positive aspects to celebrate. We stand back to allow others to bring us down, in view of the fact that every society has its good and bad sides.
“So, we need to showcase ourselves, because nobody will do it for us. We have to do it ourselves.”(NAN)
