The federal government has introduced the Nigerian Academy for Cultural Studies (NACUS) as a specialised institution to train individuals for innovative studies and the development of Nigerian culture and history.

Biodun Ajiboye, executive secretary of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), disclosed this in a statement through his media aide, Caleb Nor, on Saturday.

Mr Ajiboye said this was to encourage a cultural renaissance.

He said the specialised academy would be known as the nation’s citadel of cultural training.

He said the institute had the approval of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and accreditation to run the programme, leading to the award of the National Diploma in Cultural Administration & Human Resources (NDCAHR).

According to him, the postgraduate diploma programme is affiliated with Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK).

“Already, the accreditation and affiliation have provided an opportunity for certification of individuals who have obtained a diploma to proceed with higher education in cultural studies while using the Academy’s Postgraduate Diploma in Cultural Administration to enrol for their Master’s degree,” he said.

“According to the Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, the institution will be situated in four geographical locations in Nigeria, with campuses in Abuja, the Northern Zone, the Southern Zone and the Eastern Zone,” he said.

Mr Ajiboye said that the process is currently ongoing to sensitise the head of service of the federation to ensure that such certificates emanating from the academy are employable in the civil service.

He noted that the certificates would also be honoured for cultural workers, entrepreneurs, hotels and tourism agencies, among others.

Mr Ajiboye said that the rebranding and elevation of the institution, known as the training school of NICO, to a full-fledged higher institution for cultural education and training was a clear indication that President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda had come to fully recognise culture.

He said the administration had also realised the need for cultural renaissance to take centre stage in its policy-making processes.

“The nation has seen the need to incorporate adequate cultural content in our school curriculum both in the primary, secondary and tertiary education systems.

“What this means is that once we are able to shed off the foreign cultural antecedents that we have inadvertently imbibed over the years, we will then begin to realise the importance of our innate cultural essentialities.

“These essentialities will confer on us as a people a great dose of originality, thereby paving the way for adequate cultural identity,” he said.

According to Mr Ajiboye, no nation can attain a state of national identity without cultural identity.

“This first specialised institution to teach culture—NACUS—is a bold step and an innovation of the Tinubu administration.

“With the approval of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the consent of the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy, it is here on note that the government of Nigeria will begin to view culture as an important element in Nigerians’ daily lives,” he said.

Mr Ajiboye explained that the move to rebrand the institution was one of the biggest efforts by the Tinubu-led administration to ensure Nigerian youths were made proficient and prominent in issues of entertainment and fintech.

He said this would also ensure the creation of job opportunities through the nation’s cultural heritage. 

(NAN)