Nigerian Newsday

The Chairman of Toto Local Government Council of Nasarawa State, Hon. Zakari O. Sani, said that his administration would make funds available to the council's cultural troupe to attend cultural festivals within and outside the state.

The chairman stated this while inspecting facilities at the venue of the Ogani fishing festival in Umaisha recently.

He said the local government was always prepared to work toward the over- all development of the area not only to enhance its tourism potentials, but also to hand down to the future generation a decent and befitting cultural heritage.

He said that a bill on art and culture would soon be sent to the legislative arm of the local government for effective administration of cultural activities in the area, adding that arrangements for the Ogani Fishing and Cultural Festival had started in earnest.

The chairman then urged the people of Umaisha where the Ogoni fishing festival would take place to strive harder in developing the festival, which he said serves as a reflection of the people's liberation from enslavement by the gods.

Earlier, in his welcome address, the Ohimege Opanda, Alhaji Usman Abdullahi said that the corporate existence of any people was contained in their much cherished tradition which constituted a rallying point for them.

He then appealed to the local government to do everything to give the Ogani festival an international status, adding that the state government should build a more decent guest house in the area while the town should be electrified.