A festival in the mold of NAFEST can never be exiting if it ended on a note of being a jamboree. NAFEST 2020 which was held in Jos from November 23- 28 had the trappings of a wonderful end since the evening of the command performance at the Langfield Leisure Park, which the festival brought back to life.

We told you; didn’t we that it was going to be a gathering that participants would for long continue to relish the outcome of the meeting? There were many reasons which enabled the participating states for not regretting coming to spend about ten days enjoying the beautiful scenes and the weather that have indeed made Plateau the Home of Peace and Tourism.

The 33rd edition of the National Festival of Arts and Culture, NAFEST, 2020 in Jos, may have come with problems presumed to be associated with Plateau State. Many from outside the state had envisaged the possibility of not going to be secured having read many alarming tales about the state. They were dead wrong.

They may have heard a lot about what had happened in the past; the fear of the unknown and rightly so, about what they had read about the state made many to be apprehensive. The good news is that 25 states including the Federal Capital Territory made it to the event; and without any doubt enjoyed their stay in Jos while the festival lasted.

The pull to be in Jos has always been irresistible, many thanks to the clement weather and the friendly disposition of the people of the state; despite the name the state has been associated with as a result of attacks over the years. It is not for anything than the above and the attractions in the state that have made Plateau truly the Home of Peace and Tourism.

That sobriquet almost died as a result of acts associated with recurring insecurity in communities of the state. The news that went out, rightly or even assumed made the world to name the state as ‘capital of attacks’; and that situation would naturally kill tourism, peace, arts and culture, having become famous for.

Stagnant places don’t receive visitors, much more, the news that filter from them destroy initiative and therefore it was a tough test for participants from states other than Plateau to want to come; even as they may have been skeptical of taking part in the festival.

Before now, the state has made a number of initiatives to draw people to the state; but more importantly, to unite them. One of such initiative is the Jos Easter Carnival. The acceptance of the concept that has been successfully staged for three consecutive years was largely due to the drive and support of Governor Simon Bako Lalong.

‘NAFEST was exciting and exerting for Plateau State which offered to host the epoch making event. Talks about the hosting of the event have occupied the centre stage of discourse especially on social media. Some have welcomed the idea while others have condemned in very strong and vehement terms the hosting of the event at the moment. In all this, one cannot help but understand the various view-points. It is the right of the individual to see things the way they understand it’.

By any standard one could think of, NAFEST offered the biggest opportunity in the ten days that it lasted for the state to tell its story through the creative industry. But apart from that, it was evident as stated by the governor that peace had since returned to the state. Even as the curtain was drawn, the palpable smiles on faces of participants as they drove out of the Rwang Pam Township Stadium; it was apparent that they had seen the better part of the state.

Whether it was the Assop Water Falls where John Best was tour guide, the stadium, Langfield or the venue of the Cultural Golf Tournament at the Rayfield Golf Course and the Gbong Gwom Palace, on the lips of participants had a clear picture of the fact that ‘the people are kind, hospitable, and the sprawling savannah grassland parading a panorama of picturesque hills and rock formations are wonderful. When these scenic sights are combined with the cool weather of Jos, the total package becomes therapeutic, giving credence to Otunba Olusegun Runsewe’s assertion that Jos will become the headquarter of medical tourism in Africa’.

Long before the festival, Governor Simon Bako Lalong and the Chairman, Plateau State Council of Traditional Rulers, Da Jacob Buba Gyang and the state Commissioner for Tourism, Culture and Hospitality, Mrs. Tamwakat Weli had assured the world that NAFEST ‘will be a point of reference in organisation and the showcasing of the best of Plateau.’ They had reiterated the fact that the people and government of the state were in the mood to stage the most iconic festival ever staged here ‘despite the challenges of a new normal’.

Several indices will always work for the state, given the destination it has become for many across the land. From having some of the best hotels and recreation centers, culinary skills that leave many wanting to return, wonderful golf courses; but above all a temperate climate that is the envy of many.

Amidst the challenges prevalent in the world currently, a number of voices had risen in condemnation of holding the festival in Jos at a time the world has challenges of Covid-19. They may be wrong and right: The state organizers were fully in tune with the realities and they ensured that the protocols and health regulations were fully implemented and observed without let.

They left no one in doubt of the seriousness of the pandemic and how they could protect participants and others from the virus. The issue was for the state to remain on the tourism map, which the governor has been able to lay the foundation. 

That done, the participants knowing the severity of insecurity and of making sure they were protected, secured through the period of the festival. The festival was theme: Post Covid-19 and Cultural Dynamism.

“We are the first state in ‘Nigeria to ensure Covid-19 testing is taken to the grass roots, starting with all ministries and agencies, the local governments. We also ensured the total fumigation of all public places. It’s not a fluke that we responded and took responsibility to check Covid-19 in the state, not only because of our people, but also because we know we are the home of hospitality and tourism in Nigeria,” Lalong was quoted as telling Nigerians.

Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba had said: ‘We shall support this event and mobilize our resources and people to showcase our very unique best in all areas. We only want you to tell Nigerians and foreigners coming that they should leave something behind as we shall be willing to offer lands for many of you who may wish to stay behind after the event. We know that will happen because we are very peaceful here and accommodating with rich biosphere and temperate environment’.

‘Right from the opening of the event, over two hundred small scale entrepreneurs have been trained in various economic endeavours which would help in enhancing their enterprises. This would no doubt widen the scope of their businesses and increase or grow their capital.

‘Beyond all these, NAFEST has provided the avenue for Nigerians to appreciate their diversity, understand these differences and see the common grounds that exist between and amongst the over 500 ethnic nationalities that span the length and breadth of the country. Meeting in a convivial atmosphere such as this no doubt would open the eyes of most of these groups that were strewn together by the British years back and make them understand their Nigerianness. That in itself would do a world of good to a country that is so divided and does not think beyond the different nationalities that make up the country’.

Plateau State has a way of ‘spoiling’ positively beyond comprehension of its visitors. The Director General, National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, has been grateful to the governor for his commitment to the overall success of the festival. 

He praised the efforts of Governor Simon Lalong in putting Jos Plateau on the global cultural tourism map, even as the Commissioner for Tourism, Culture and Hospitality, Mrs. Tamwakat Weli received commendation for meritoriously chairing the local organizing committee. What happened all through the festival testifies to what we can achieve as a people, if we are committed to a project.

Bayelsa State emerged the overall winner, while Ekiti and Rivers States came 2nd. Plateau, the host state came 3rd. Kano and Enugu states emerged 4th, while Delta, FTC and Kaduna states came 5th. Three states; Kwara, Taraba and Kogi have indicated interest to host the festival in 2022 while Ekiti State won the bid to host it in 2021.

The festival has come and gone: There are many take aways for which the state should work on; to be able to improve and set a new agenda on the tourism sector in the state. The most important thing is to get things right, even as states are tasked to put their thinking caps to explore new areas of generating revenue.