By ADERONKE OJEDIRAN

Lagos State Government has unveiled the Eko Flavours project, a platform to showcase the state as the melting point of Nigeria.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Food System, Ms Abiola Olusanya, disclosed this at a press conference on Friday in Lagos.

She said the project wasalso aimed attesting the culinary prowess of youths.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the government,in its bid to engage youths and students meaningfully during holiday, came up with the Eko Flavours project.

The project is an epic showdown for upcoming chefs, culinary students and local food vendors to celebratediverse food culture.

“The main aim, aside engaging young culinary enthusiasts and food lovers,is to showcase Lagos as a transformative state when it comes to experience around food.

“We seem to have more affinity to just getting our foods inside our kitchen without understanding the logistics that goes into the production side,” Olusanya said.

Olusanya,who said that the Eko Flavours project would showcase the cooking skills ofchefsresiding in Lagos, gave the assurance that various cultural dishes would be displayed to the delight of residents.

The commissioner said that the project would be an annual event and support chefs,whowould register online viawww.ekoflavourslagosfreshfoodhub.com, with a voucher of 200,000 to purchase food itemsfor the competition.

Representatives of the Project Management Agency, Mrs Olufunke Adu and Mrs Jennifer Odufuwa, said that 50 chefs would be selected for the competition, of which 20 semi-finalists would emerge.

”Just post a cooking vlog on your social media handle and tag us. The content with the highest interaction with likes and comments will be among the 50 to be selected.

”From there, we would pick the best 20. Contestants will be judged based on taste, cleanliness, time management and presentation,” Odufuwa said.

She said that, fromthe 20 semi-finalists, the topmost three contestants will emerge, and the winner will be the ambassador for Eko for the next one year.

“The winner will go home with five million Naira. The second and third positions will attract three million Naira and one million Naira, respectively. There will beconsolation prizes,” she said.

She said that the idea was to encourage unity among the various ethnic groupsin Lagos with their various cooking skills and dishes.

She described Lagos as the melting point of diversification in Nigeria.

NAN reports that the only criteria to apply for the competition is havingLagos State Residents Registration Agency card. (NAN)