The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has described the Durbar Festival in Northern Nigeria as one of the most cherished precious stones in the cultural crown of Nigeria.

“The Durbar has been with us for a very long, but over the ages it has proved its flexibility and its sensitivity to adaptation to changing circumstances,” the Minister said in Paris on Monday at the inauguration of the Exhibition, ‘Durbar in Northern Nigeria’, at the UNESCO

headquarters in the French capital.

“Today its ancient garments for conflict and might have evolved into fares that please the eye with their splendor, and its celebration has become a feast of union of the people with their leadership, and a demonstration of the skills of valour and beauty,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed welcomed the initiative that led to the Exhibition, saying the coincidence between the aim of the Exhibition and some of the duties incumbent on the Ministry of Information and Culture is by no means an accident “nor is it by chance that we are gathered here for this celebration, in UNESCO, the organisation that is uniquely dedicated to Culture, in all its facets, but most especially as a means of bringing together peoples and nations of the world.”

“We in Nigeria, through the building of a dynamic and participatory public-information system, are fostering the promotion of the culture of the people of Nigeria, in all its diversities, in order to facilitate access to it by Nigerians themselves and also to open its treasures to the global community at large,” he said.

The minister expressed appreciation for the “positive and creative cooperation” between the Permanent Delegation of Nigeria to UNESCO under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Education, and Mr. Adeniyi Olagunju, the creative photographer and Manager of the exhibition, “for this offering which is totally in concert with some of the several goals pursued by the Ministry of Information and Culture in the field of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.”

The exhibition was also attended by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO, Ambassador Mariam Katagum

•Photo shows a typical Durbar scene.