The NYSC Cultural Troupe is to perform at the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students, which is scheduled to take place from 14th to 22nd of this month in Sochi, Russian Federation.
This followed an invitation extended to the NYSC by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, which will be coordinating Nigeria’s participation at the event.
The NYSC Kebbi State Cultural Troupe has been chosen for the trip to Russia during which the Corps members will use dance and drama presentations to showcase Nigeria’s cultural heritage to a global audience.
In a bid to assess the level of the troupe’s preparedness, the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, accompanied by the permanent secretary, Olusade Adesola; the NYSC director-general, Brigadier General Sulaiman Kazaure, and directors, witnessed one of their rehearsal sessions on Thursday, October 5, 2017 at the FCT Permanent Orientation Camp, Kubwa.
After watching the dance and drama presentations, the Minister said he was impressed, and went on to commend the Corps members for their performance.
He noted that the troupe was chosen based on their adjudged capacity to stage performances that would properly convey the intended message to the target audience.
Dalung stressed that the NYSC Kebbi Cultural Troupe was also picked for the task purely on merit having emerged the overall best in drama in the culture segment of the 2016/2017 NYSC Sports and Cultural Festival.
“Like I have always argued, the challenge with Nigeria is not the absence of talents, but the collapse of our reward system.
“I think having emerged winners, the only incentive available is to encourage them to get to the next level,” he added.
Dalung also explained that the choice of the Corps members would enable them use the friendship they would build with young persons from other countries at the festival to easily reach consensus on global issues when they become world leaders in the coming years.
He assured that the Federal Government would give support and encouragement to the troupe to enable them represent Nigeria well at the event.
Earlier, the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Sulaiman Kazaure, praised the Corps members’ display of talent, adding that they had the potential to reach the peak in the arts, culture and entertainment industry.
Kazaure noted that their talents had been buttressed by their ability to make impressive performance of cultural dance of an ethnic group which majority of them did not belong to.
He expressed confidence that they would make Nigeria proud at the festival.
Commenting, the Foundation Head, Department of Theatre and Cultural Studies, Nasarawa State University and Global Vice-President of the International Association of Theatre Critics, Professor Emmanuel Dandaura, said the content of the troupe’s presentations were being fine-tuned to properly project Nigeria’s image and to meet a standard fit for global audience.
