The Pathfinder
Monday, December 1, 2025
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Veteran creative artist and Professor of Choreography and Performance Aesthetics, Rasaki Ojo Bakare, will lead Nigeria’s contingent to the 2026 global Festival of Arts and Crafts holding in India from 31st January to 15th February 2026.
This is happening even as he just returned from England, where he directed his new play, KASHIMAWO, for performance at Shaw Theatre, London, courtesy of the Duke of Shomolu Foundation. Prof. Bakare is a prolific arts creator. Among his over two hundred commissioned command performances are three presidential inauguration command performances and the opening and closing ceremonies of two FIFA-organized games.
The Aramoko-Ekiti-born creative guru is a staff member of Federal University Oye-Ekiti, where he was the pioneer dean of the postgraduate school and the pioneer dean of the faculty of arts. Between December 2019 and August 2025, he was Ekiti State Commissioner for Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy. I
In 1998, he was honored with the the Ekiti State Merit Award by the then military administrator, Inuwa Bawa, while he was decorated as Ekiti Cultural Ambassador in 2013 by the then Governor John Kayode Fayemi. A serial award winner, Prof. Bakare has led Nigeria to over 10 global cultural competitions, winning laurels for the country.
A former artistic director of Abuja National Carnival, former assistant director of the National Troupe of Nigeria, and former choreographer of the National Troupe of Gambia, Prof. Bakare is one of Nigeria’s most sought-after consultants in the creative sector. The extremely versatile creative mind has worked on all the continents of the world.
In January 2026, he will be the artistic director leading the Calabar-based Calasvegas Carnival Band Dance Troupe, which has been selected by the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy to represent Nigeria at the global event in India. He will be handling the assignment in conjunction with the chairman of the Calasvegas Band, who is also the MD/CEO of the Mirage Hospitality Group, High Chief Edem Duke, who is a former honorable minister for arts, culture, and tourism.
While congratulating Prof. Bakare on another milestone in his patriotic zeal in developing the culture sector of Nigeria and promoting the rich cultural heritage and creative endowment of Nigeria, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina, said, “FUOYE is greatly proud to have Prof. Bakare as one of her leading astute academics and upwardly mobile scholars and professionals in their field. We wish him more success in this venture, like he has always achieved in the past admirable feats.”
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