Key Points

• NAFEST 2025 postponement follows rising insecurity.

• FG says national mood cannot support festivities.

• Stakeholders await fresh plans for NAFEST 2025.

Nigeria has put off next year’s National Festival of Arts and Culture, which is one of the country’s most popular annual cultural events. The new date has not yet been announced. The decision is a big stop for an event that usually brings people together and shows off regional culture, but officials say the current climate makes it hard to celebrate.

A string of security problems in several states has changed the mood of the country, and the government has decided that holding a big festival right now would not be in line with what people want.

The Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism, and the Creative Economy said the event would be postponed after what it called a “deliberate and holistic” look at the country’s social environment. Officials stressed that the current situation calls for sensitivity, especially since many Nigerians are dealing with the emotional and financial effects of ongoing unrest.

The mood of the country makes it necessary to put things off

The festival was supposed to start on November 22 in Enugu and bring together delegations from more than two dozen states. Every year, NAFEST is a place for artists to show off their work, states to work together, and cultures to talk to each other.

Preparations were well underway, and the groups that were going to take part were already getting ready for a week-long party. But the ministry said that going ahead with the event could make them look tone-deaf at a time when people are dealing with loss, displacement, and uncertainty.

People who know how the planning process works said that the decision to put off the event was not made lightly. The ministry said that the festival has always done well, even during tough times, but that the current situation calls for more restraint. They said the goal is to avoid sending the message that national problems can be ignored by having fun.

The delay of NAFEST 2025 shows that people are sensitive

After talking with security agencies, state commissioners, and traditional cultural institutions, Culture Minister Hannatu Musawa agreed to put it off. Nneka Anibeze, her spokesperson, said that the government’s guiding principles in making the decision were empathy and national unity.

The ministry says that NAFEST is not just another event; it is a symbolic national asset that helps shape Nigeria’s image in the world and bring its people together. Officials want to protect the festival’s purpose by putting it off, not weaken it.

People who are involved are waiting for the new date of the festival

The ministry will announce a new date once more evaluations are done, and the states, cultural organisations, and private partners that are taking part are all waiting. Officials say that when things get better, the festival will come back “stronger and more unifying.” For now, the government is asking people to be patient and promising to celebrate Nigeria’s rich culture at a better time.