Chief Edem Duke, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation on Tuesday called for more robust reorientation programmes for youths to preserve the nation's cultural heritage.

Duke, who was represented by Mr Chudi Uwandu, the acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, made the call at the two-day management retreat organised by the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) in Abuja.

The retreat has the theme: "Mainstreaming Culture in the Transformation Agenda: The NICO Perspective".

Duke urged NICO to introduce new programmes to strengthen the existing ones toward giving Nigerians, especially youths, a sense of cultural direction.

"While the ministry acknowledges and appreciates immensely the impact of NICO programmes, a lot still needs to be done to change the mental attitude of the people, especially the youths.

"So there is every need to re-strategise our reorientation and training programmes, bearing in mind the fact that NICO is strategic to the capacity building programme of government in the cultural sector," he said.

Duke urged NICO to instill in the youths the values of patriotism, hard work and respect for constituted authorities.