Top officials of LIMCAF and other invited guests presenting a dummy First Bank cheque to the overall winner at the event
By Tony Adibe
One hundred budding visual artists drawn from various parts of Nigeria, emerge winners in Enugu during the grand finale/ Gala-Award Night organised by the Life in My City Arts Festival (LIMCAF) at the International Conference Center, Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu.
The lucky 100 prize winners went home with various monetary consolations and certificates up to the tune of between N50,000 and N500,000.00 respectively. The overall winner, Samson Ejiofor, went home with a cheque of N500,000.00 while the rest five best runners up received N250,000.00 each.
It was gathered that about 250 entries were received for the exhibition, but the 100 lucky winners were selected for the award. It was also gathered that the six lucky bests would be sponsored to participate in the arts exhibition that would take place in 2023 at Dakar, Senegal.
Very important personalities at the LIMCAF event in Enugu State
The Chairman, LIMCAF Board, Elder Kalu U. Kalu, while addressing the gathering, lauded the major sponsors, MTN, Foundation and Ford Foundation as well as other sponsors like AutoStar, HELIU Residences, Alliance Francaise, IMT, Enugu State Government, AARONS, Pan-African Circle of Artists (PACA), Digital Dreams, Tachi Studio, Pinnacle Oil and Gas, among others for their immeasurable support for the annual festival.
Elder Kalu, who was a former chairman of the Union Bank, bemoaned the fact that the 2022 event would have been the 16th edition of the festival but due to the COVID-19 disruption, the 2020 edition was cancelled, hence LIMCAF is holding the 2022 edition which is the 15th instead of 16th edition.
The Chairman expressed gratitude for the invited dignitaries such as the Rwandan Ambassador to Nigeria, Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State as well as the former GOC, 82 Division, Maj. Gen. Adamu Ibrahim (Rtd.), for sparing time to attend the ceremony, despite their tight schedule.
The LIMCAF, he explained, has offered young Nigerian artists the opportunity to showcase their artistic talents and skills. Tracing the genesis of LIMCAF to 2007, Elder Kalu described the gala/award night as a “celebration of creativity like any other,” stressing that, “many artists have found professional succour in LIMCAF. Many have discovered themselves through LIMCAF.”
A cross-section of dignitaries at the event
According to him, the organizers of LIMCAF are currently planning to also expand to school workshop to include children in the rural areas so as to afford them the opportunity too, to showcase their talents.
Expressing delight with the festival, Mr. Dennis Okoro of the MTN Foundation, said that education and youth were part of their mandate. He said that so far, the MTN Foundation has not less than 5,000 Nigerian on scholarship.
Mr. Okoro described Nigerian youths as being very resourceful and creative as well as non-violent, emphasising that all the youths needed was a quality leadership that would give them encouragement like what LIMCAF is currently offering.
He said: “We are too quick to condemn our youths. Our youths are the best in the world. They are eager to learn if they see who will teach them. We shall continue within our resources to give a helping hand.”
