Gideon Arinze in Enugu
The MTN Foundation has expressed its commitment to support platforms that will ensure artistic excellence among young people in Nigeria.
The Director of MTN Foundation, Dennis Okoro, disclosed this yesterday in Enugu at the grand finale and award night of the ‘2022 Edition of Life In My City Art Festival (LIMCAF)’, with the theme: ‘Paradox of Muted Echoes’.
Okoro said the foundation’s support for art and young people is expressed in its decision to sponsor the LIMCAF, which is also part of its corporate social responsibility.
He noted that sponsoring the art festival remains a wise decision because it gives hope and provides platforms to hundreds of youths from different parts of the country yearly.
According to him, “It also creates an enabling environment for youths to learn from renowned art scholars,” he said, adding that the foundation was impressed with the yearly outcome of the festival.
He maintained that the foundation’s mandate focuses on education, health and human empowerment with over 5,000 medical and science students presently under its scholarship.
Okoro described Nigerian youths as highly resourceful and among the best in the world, adding that all they needed is platforms like LIMCAF to express themselves.
“We are too quick to condemn our youths. But they are eager to learn if they have the opportunity, and that is what we are providing at MTN foundation,” he said.
Earlier in his address, the Chairman of the LIMCAF Board of Trustees (BoT), K.U. Kalu, said hundreds of young people have found livelihood through arts, some have become international artists while others have discovered themselves by participating in the festival, “which indicates that our investment is yielding fruits.”
Winners in various categories of the award, including vest textile, ceramics and art, got cash prizes of N250,000 each while other finalists received consolation prizes of N20,000 each.
