The Executive Governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has said that with his State of Harmony's unique socio-cultural setting, enviable values, festivals and cultural activities that have great tourist potentials, there are enough cultural landscapes to share with interested persons, if well harnessed, including festivals like the Patigi Regatta, Gani, Ikan, Onimoka, and Ijakadi Festival, among others.

Governor Ahmed, who stated this at the opening ceremony of the 26th edition of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST 2012), on Tuesday, 16 October 2012, at the Metropolitan Square, Ilorin, maintained that NAFEST will continue to create avenues for Nigerians to interact with one another and breaking unfounded myths and fears, and by so doing, engender peaceful co-existence among the different ethnic groupings in the country.

The Governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Elder Peter Kisira, enjoined the participants from various states of the federation to make good use of the significance inherent in the festival and not to be carried away by the ecstasies involved.