A.Y Bello, whose full name is Akwanga Yusuf Bello is currently in the Nigerian Army, but his heart has always been in the arts. Bello was one of the first to identify that Governor Abdullahi A. Sule also had a passion for arts, and that was why in the very first few months of Engr. Sule’s ascendancy as governor of Nasarawa State in 2019, A.Y. Bello came to seek the Gover- nor’s support to sponsor THE FIRST EVER NASARA- WA CULTURAL FESTIVAL. The Nasarawa Cultural Festival held in 2019 and 2020, and the rest as the saying goes is “both ex- periences offered worthy learning experience!”

WHO IS A.Y. BELLO?
I have studied History, for my First Degree, Second Degree, and Ph.D. Basically, my interest in culture springs from the fact that I am a history student, but then history for me was an accident, because while I was in secondary school, I had wanted to become a lawyer. But after University of Abuja offered me admission into History, I just said, let me just read the History. So, interestingly, I got so soaked up in history that I don't even want to be a lawyer anymore. And that is why I went for a second degree and a third degree. My background in History offered me the opportunity to learn a lot about various cultures, not just Nigerian cultures but various cultures around the world. That’s what inspired my idea of Nasar- awa Cultural Festival.

TELL US MORE ABOUT HOW YOU STARTED THE NASARAWA CULTURAL FESTIVAL:
As a history student, that background gave me the opportunity to also look at festivals like the Argungu Fishing Festival, Calabar Festival, the Cannes Festival as well as the Rio Carnival of Brazil. I happen to witness the Calabar Festival once, and I thought as a young man, what do we have such a colorful carnival our State? Nasarawa State is young and there are a lot of things we are lacking in Nasarawa State. And we thought that we can sit down and replicate what is going on in other parts of the world...bring them here. So, we brought up the idea to put Nasarawa State on the world cul- tural map that is what gave birth to the Nasarawa Cultural Festival.

I'm glad that the govern- ment of His Excellency, Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule is an inclusive administra- tion. Even before Engr. Sule, government has al- ways tried to guarantee the legitimacy of tradi- tional stools in Nasar- awa State based on lessons and experiences constituted in history.

SO WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE WITH THE FESTIVAL?
Like I said, the initial idea of Nasarawa Cultural Festival is to place Nasarawa State on the world cultural map. And we can't do that without having foreign components – that is tourists from abroad and within the country itself. You know tourists are big spenders and when they come, the economy grows with it too. When they come, there are spe- cial needs of tourists that have to be taken care of. And Engr Abdullahi A. Sule had come to Nasarawa State as a governor with a new and unique blue- print called NEDS: Nasarawa Economic Develop- ment Strategy, which had a place for investments in Tourism, Culture, Hospitality and Film. So we instantly knew he was the right or should I say “the perfect governor” to partner with. And he instant- ly bought the idea and sponsored the Nasarawa Cultural Festival

WHAT DIRECT BENEFITS DID THE NASARAWA CULTURAL FESTIVAL BRING TO YOU?
In 2019, when we started Nasarawa Cultural Festival with the support of His Excellency, Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule, we were not trying to say that our people should do away with the Western Cul- ture completely because we live in a global village now. But to ensure that our culture is prominent and the young ones grow up with that culture and they instill that aspect of the culture on the young- er ones. We achieved that in 2019 and in 2020 our second edition.

For example, when we did the last event, hotels ran out - there were no hotels, they were fully booked, sold out, let me just use that. So, what we expect is that, for tourists to come into Nasarawa State and stay there must be hotels that are of international standard. Yes, we have some two- star, three-star hotels here in Lafia, but the festival creates that opportunity. A business man will think very fast – “OK, during the festival, I ran out of rooms and people kept on coming, what do I do?” Now, he has to expand, that is just for hotel. Now, there are other aspects. Food vendors, even the normal person that sells pure water on the street – it goes down to that level. So, in what we are doing, we continue to promote this Festival, locally and internationally. And with Engr A.A. Sule in the saddle, the future is bright for a bigger and better Nasarawa Cultural Festival. We have taken a very long time to strategize and bring a bigger festival of international standard.

IS THERE ANY CLEAR EXAMPLE WHICH YOU HAVE DONE TO RECONCILE PEOPLE WITH THE TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS?
Well, sometimes given our current realities nowadays, there are people in leadership of some places who may see the decision of government regarding their chiefdoms as being rightly or wrongly taken.