The Chinese Cultural Centre, Abuja in collaboration with the Youth Tourism Development Organisation (YTDO) marked the 2025 World Poetry Day to celebrate Nigerian and Chinese ancient and modern poets. The celebration which was initiated to coincide with the UNESCO World Poetry Day is also targeted at stimulating people’s interest and passion in poetry and poetic professions, facilitating the identification of poetry culture sites and poetry legends birthplaces for branding and promotion as tourist destinations as well as honouring the dead and living poets for their unique works and outstanding contributions that are positively shaping human and environmental existence.
This year’s event with the theme, “Poetry Culture and Tourism for Sustainable Socio-Cultural and Economic Development” was held at the China Cultural Centre, Abuja. The event included lectures, poems recitation, singing and illustrations, a brief presentation on food gastronomy and poem, display of Nigerian and Chinese cuisines by the Association of Professional Chefs Nigeria for testing and exhibition of poetry books among others.
The lectures unveil poetry culture’s unique capacity to preserve cultural identities, revive indigenous customs, traditions and histories, foster social justices and positive transformations and encouraged people to fully embrace poetry as a lucrative and life-time career. There were performances from volunteer poems recitations, singing, illustration and spoken word poetry performers. Organisers believe the programme would foster future poetry international exchanges between Nigeria and China.
According to the President of YTDO, Comrade Okon Emmanuel, the programme is held annually, and endorsed by the offices of the Cultural Counselor of the China Embassy and Director of the China Cultural Center in Nigeria (CCCN), the Director Generals of Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), and other.