The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos has called on priests, corporate bodies, church organizations, lay societies and faithful of the Archdiocese of Lagos to support the organizers of LACDRAFEST 2021. He made this passionate appeal in his office recently when some officers of the Lagos Archdiocesan Cultural and Drama Festival paid him a courtesy visit at the Chancery. Archbishop Martins who expressed delight at the objectives behind the festival, said the church would continue to appreciate and support Catholic artistes and entertainers in their resolve to project the ideals of the gospel through the world of entertainment. He enjoined the organizers to remain focused in their resolve to identify budding talents in the entertainment world in line with the tenets of the church, assuring them of his constant fatherly support and encouragement.
Archbishop Martins, while appealing to the organizers to enforce strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocols in the course of the festival, also urged them to ensure they create more awareness amongst parish priests and the youths so as to ensure they carry all stakeholders along for a more enhanced result. Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr. Tony Agbugba revealed that the project, a baby of the Directorate of Social Communications in conjunction with Catholic Artistes and Entertainers Association of Nigeria, CAEAN started in the year 2010 and was also held in the year 2014.
The project, according to him, has continued to provide a veritable platform, not only to evangelize, but also to discover young talented Catholics who are launched into mainstream Nollywood to influence positive values in the society. The regional competition, according to him, will commence this May with online submissions by participating parishes in drama, cultural dance, singing and comedy skits while the physical grand finale will come up in July, 2021. Other members of the delegation were John Okeh, Commander C.O.C Nze, Mr. Tony Akposheri, Ms. Amina Ndim and Nwokolo Arinze.
