Kwara has been given the official right to host the annual National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST).

Mr Malgwi Maidugu, the executive director, National Council for Arts and Culture, made this known on Thursday in Minna. NAFEST is scheduled to hold from Oct. 13 to Oct. 20.

Maidugu, who was attending the two-day annual meeting of the 39th Chief Executive of Culture of the Federation, said that the council was consulting with the state to ensure adequate preparation for the festival.

''Kwara has been given the hosting right. We are in consult

ation with the state government. ''They have assured us that work has started on the event to ensure that befitting facilities are put in place for the 2012 edition. ''We are also talking with the communities. This time, we want to take the festival to the community, so that the people will appreciate what we are doing, it is the type of transformation we want to cut across the nation,'' he said.

Maidugu said that people in the community would want to be enlightened on the usefulness of the festival and the need to embrace it.

He said that there was need for a change in perception and that the change was to look inward to critical aspects of the country's culture in terms of values, decency, integrity and honesty.

''These critical aspects of our culture in terms of values, in terms of what we do to make us decent people of integrity, people that are honest, people that are above such vices,'' he said.

Maidugu said that above all, it would inculcate the spirit of passion, patriotism for Nigeria and the spirit of ''being our brothers keeper''.

The two-day meeting of the Chief Executives of Culture, with the theme ''Culture, Peace and Economic Empowerment'' ends on Thursday.