Creative Industry

Published

3 years ago

September 21, 2023

KCCN Intensify Efforts To Impact More Nigerians Through Cooking

By Joel Ajayi

Empowerment and training of human beings, no doubt, remain the spine behind the sustenance of any development in the world. This is the story of the Korean Cultural Centre Nigeria KCCN, who over the years, increased efforts to ensure many Nigerians are empowered through different endeavors in life.

The Center has given thousands of Nigerians leverage in arts, culture, entertainment, language education, creativity, and sports and recently added another sector, which is cooking class.

KCCN was established in 2010 in Nigeria’s Capital Territory, Abuja to enhance friendship, bilateral relations, and understanding between Korea and Nigeria through cultural and educational programs, and today, the center is making thoughtful progress.

On Tuesday in the FCT, another batch of selected members of the Association of Professional Chefs in Nigeria (APCN) were on the ground to learn more about Korean cuisine and how to prepare two of the country’s most popular dishes.

Indeed, it was another great experience for Nigerian Chefs who chose cooking as their career, as they had more knowledge about continental dishes, the Korean food that is believed will go a long way to promote and advance them in the inter-continental dishes know-how.

One of the first dishes they cooked was Spicy Braised Chicken and Com Cheese

In his remarks, shortly after the demonstration of the Chuseok cooking class, the representative of the Director of KCCN, Manager Of Cultural Content, Bae Sung Jin said the essence of the cooking class is to sensitize many Nigerian people about Korean food and to give opportunity to some who want to choose Korean food.

According to him, we are doing a lot of classes in Nigeria, not only cooking classes, but we also have K-POP Dance, Taekwondo, and language classes, among others.

“There is no Korean restaurant in Abuja, and Abuja is technically the capital of Africa, people want to try Korean food. That is what gave birth to this cooking class, to introduce our foods to the Nigerian people as well as empower them.

“We are trying to reach out to many Nigerians, which is why we choose members of the Association of Professional Chefs in Nigeria, and without a doubt, I do believe it will have an impact on their lives.” He said.

Speaking also was a staff of KCCN, Sharon Pwavi-Babale said, it’s the continuation of the effort of the center to expose Nigerians to Korean food.

“The reason, if noticed, Asian food which is popular in Nigeria is Chinese food and KCCN saw it as an opportunity, being the fact that a large number of people watch Korean movies, many Nigerians see Korean food through movies and desire to eat it.

“So, we ensure the cooking class is put in place as a means of introducing Nigerians to Korean dishes’ method of cooking and its richness.

However, Chuseok translates to autumn eve and is, at its core, a harvest moon festival nodding back to Korea’s traditional agrarian roots where traditional foods make their way onto every family’s table, and the infamous bumper-to-bumper traffic that plagues the country’s major roads in the lead-up to the long holiday, as people make the pilgrimage back to their hometowns to honour familial ancestors.

Share on Facebook

Creative Industry

FG Backs MyCityApp Launch of 100-Day Tourism Calendar to Drive $100bn Economic Growth

Published

2 weeks ago

September 15, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Federal Government has thrown its weight behind the launch of MyCityApp, a Nigerian city discovery and tourism platform designed to aggregate festivals, concerts, cultural events and lifestyle experiences into a single digital calendar.

The platform, which flags off the 100-Day Tourism Calendar, was unveiled on Monday at the Ember2Remember National Stakeholders’ Conference in Victoria Island, Lagos, with the initiative targeting Nigeria’s estimated $100 billion tourism and creative economy opportunity.

In a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the Media and Publicity Adviser to the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, the ministry said the conference was aimed at mobilising public and private stakeholders to transform the September-to-December festive period into jobs, investment and economic growth.

Speaking at the unveiling, the Minister, Hannatu Musa Musawa, said millions of visitors travel across Nigeria every year to celebrate, reconnect and experience the country’s diverse culture, stressing that the festive season could be deliberately organised and monetised to strengthen tourism’s contribution to the economy.

“This initiative is about moving beyond the traditional concept of a festive season. It is about deliberately organising, packaging, promoting, and monetising one of the most economically active periods in our national calendar,” Musawa said.

She noted that every visitor generates economic activity across several sectors, including aviation, transportation, hospitality, restaurants, entertainment, retail, technology, artisans and local communities.

The Minister commended MyCityApp Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Ifeoma Chukwu, for her vision and commitment to the initiative.

She urged state governments, event organisers, tourism operators, hospitality businesses and other stakeholders to list their festivals, concerts, exhibitions, food experiences, cultural celebrations, fashion and sporting events on the national calendar.

Musawa said the platform would enable Nigerians, members of the diaspora and international visitors to discover tourism and entertainment experiences across the country from a single, credible source.

Earlier, Chukwu said Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and creative sector provided enormous opportunities for tourism-driven economic growth.

She cited the contributions of tourism to the economies of countries such as Spain, France and the United States, arguing that Nigeria could equally build a $100 billion tourism economy.

Also present were Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Toke Benson-Awoyinka; Enugu State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Ugochi Madueke; NCAC Director-General, Obi Asika; National Gallery of Art Director-General, Ahmed Sodangi; ARCON Director-General, Dr Olalekan Fadolapo; and MTN Nigeria CEO, Dr Karl Toriola.

MyLagosApp and MyCityApp will serve as the digital engines of the calendar, distributing events through a 360-degree media ecosystem to audiences in Nigeria and the diaspora.

Stakeholders were encouraged to upload their events on MyCityApp to participate in the national tourism calendar urging them to upload events on http://www.MyCityApp.io.

Share on Facebook