Why Nigeria Should Enlist More Heritage Sites, By Culture Minister

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has expressed needs for the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) to work towards increasing Nigeria’s Sites in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Speaking last week at the management retreat organized by the agency to chat 2016 road map, the Minister said such feat would widen the spot the nation occupied on the global tourism map.

The Minister who was represented by the Director, Cultural Industries and Heritage, Mr. Seyi Womiloju, also believed that more heritage sites would enhance the number of local and foreign tourists to the country, thereby improving the present administration’s revenue drive.

He said:  “The NCMM has a big role to play especially in the areas of cultural rebirth and re-orientation which should be targeted at promoting national peace and harmony, youth empowerment and revenue generation.”

The Minister equally seized the opportunity to call on the federal and state ministries of education to integrate Museums Studies in their school curriculum. This, he insisted, would create avenue for students to learn more about indigenous arts as well as help in building their core values.

He also called for the centre for Earth Construction Technology (CETECH) under the auspices of the NCMM. The department would be responsible for organizing capacity building programmes for the youths towards promoting indigenous technology as well as ameliorating housing challenges confronting the nation.

Director General, NCMM, Yusuf Abdallah Usman, in his remarks, stressed the essence of ethical rebirth of Nigerians, noting that it was the intrinsic factor that validated the museum as a veritable platform to actualize the aspirations of the federal government.

Maintaining that Museums promote better understanding of cultural heritage as it fosters dialogue and self-reflection, the DG maintained that they also “hold the cultural wealth of the nation in trust for all generations.”

And by their functions and unique position, Mallam Yusuf said, “Museums have become the cultural conscience of the nation.”
He therefore charged participants to put in their best and ensure that at the end of the retreat, they would have emerged with an action plan that would reposition the agency towards realizing its objectives.

Speaking at the occasion, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, represented by the Director, Administration and Finance, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Alhaji Muazu A. Dantata, pledged to assist the Commission in the forthcoming exhibition of Nok artifacts recently returned to the country from Europe.

Describing Nok arts as one of the evidences of early civilization in Sub- Saharan Africa, Dantata said the State would partner the Commission to take inventories of the State’s Heritage resources and also establish Museums in the three Senatorial districts as educational resource centres.

The Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji (Dr.) Shehu Idris, who was also at the event, solicited the support of the Commission in establishing a Palace Museum, where material evidence of historical development of the Zazzau Emirate from earliest time to date, would be showcased.

He hoped that the Commission would redouble efforts at preserving the nation’s heritage sites, monuments and artifacts.
The Royal Father while commending the NCMM for the timely retreat, urged other government agencies to join hands with the government to reposition the country.

The Royal Father, who was represented by Alhaji Abbas Ahmad Fatik, pledged the Emirate’s continuous support to the Commission and the readiness to assist to unearth, develop and remodel the tourism potentials of the Emirate, which he noted, was historically rich,  inestimable in values and are economically viable.