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Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
Asian countries, yesterday, declared their readiness to deepen ties with Nigeria at the multilateral level, particularly in the field of culture.
The need to deepen ties with Nigeria, according to the Asian countries, was to ensure that the relationship with Nigeria received very robust impetus so that Asians and Nigerians can forge cultural alliance.
Speaking with Sunday Sun during the third Asian Film Festival in Abuja, the representative of the Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Usra Hendra Harahap, Mr. Isman Pasha, said the entire Asian countries were together in ensuring that the gap between Nigeria and Asians was bridged culturally.
He listed countries such as Japan, China, Korea, Iran and Indonesian to be at the forefront of furthering cultural ties between Asia and Nigeria.
“We want to have a good relation with Nigeria and also to make the audience in Nigeria know what the culture in Asia is,” Pasha said.
Pasha further said Asian countries hoped that through the Asian festival, Nigerians especially the younger generation would know more about Asian culture and further strengthen ties between Asians and Nigerians, which will in turn, bring Asia and Africa closer.
Pasha recalled that since the 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, which strengthened ties between both continents, younger generation of Nigerians were yet to know much about the Asian culture.
“That is why we are showing that this is Asian culture and actually, we have very good ties since 1955.
In his remarks, the Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, said from 2021, the Asian film festival will form the country’s cultural calendar.
Runsewe also said the film festival was to see how Nigeria’s collaboration and partnership with Asian countries was working.
“About almost eight, nine countries came together to show their strength through film. This is a very good development and I think we should take a cue from this kind of arrangement which brings them as they tie together and makes it easier to promote different countries on one platform,” Runsewe said.
