The Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwase III, has said the traditional culture has the economic potential that is untapped by the Nigerian government.
Speaking on Channels TV on Monday night, the monarch said Nigerian traditional culture has yet to experience the full-scale exposure that will translate into economic growth for the nation.
Ogiame Atuwase III further said the Ojude Oba cultural festival practised in Ogun State is just scratching the surface of the potential of Nigeria’s cultural traditions.
According to the Warri monarch, the government and individual personnel are not paying attention to the enormous economic benefits that are enshrined in traditional culture.
The monarch said this while commenting on the increasing unemployment rate in the country, adding that the Nigerian government and individuals should tilt their attentions toward the traditional culture for economic empowerment.
He said, “A lot of people say let’s go back to the farm, let’s go back to the land, that’s good. I also feel there’s an untapped economy in this country and that is we ourselves, the traditional institution and by that I actually mean our culture, our identity, and our traditions are largely celebrated by us but we’ve not been able to properly tap into it, commercialise it, I don’t know if I want to say commercialise.
“But when you look at what happened in Ijebu Ode, Ojude Oba, for me, you’re just scratching the surface of the potential of an economy that can be created around traditional culture and we have not yet started looking in that direction.
“So, before everybody wanted to be in oil and gas, banking, and I don’t even know what everybody wants to be in now, bitcoin or Cryptocurrency, and all those economy, all those sectors people who are rushing in there find there’s no room there any more.”
