Mr Olugbile Holloway, Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), has disclosed that poor funding and people participation were some of the major challenges of museums in Nigeria.
Holloway made the assertion at the Slave History Museum, Calabar during a Museum Conversation titled: Connecting the Dots
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the initiative which was organised by the Goethe Institute and Ford Foundation in partnership with NCMM was carried out in six Nigerian museums
Speaking to the NAN in an interview, the DG said they really needed to enlighten the populace and make the museums more interesting for the people to actually want to go there.
“We need to look at the user experience and ask ourselves what value are we adding to people’s lives by asking them to come to the museum.
“Most of our museums are dilapidated and not up to Global standards, they can be better in the area of technology and a lot of innovation,” he said
Speaking further, he said museums did not operate for themselves but for the wider community, noting that if the wider community was not keying into it and helping to drive the idea, there was no museum.
On his part, Mr Abubakar Ewa, Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, said the government of Cross River was doing a lot to enhance tourism activities involving the communities in the state.
Ewa, who was represented by Mr Dan Akeke, a Director in the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture, said one of such efforts was the celebration of the return of the original golden seat, which was taken away from the state to Liverpool centuries ago.
He said the return of such precious artefacts would help the youths of today and future generations to understand the ways and crafts of their ancestors.
Similarly, Mr Eyo Ndem, a traditional Ruler in the Obong of Calabar’s Council, said it was important for the three elements of the museum Palace and government to come together in the push for the preservation of the cultural heritage of the people.
Ndem said it was important to start catching them young by ensuring that a visit to the museum was part of the curriculum in every school for children to see the various aspects of their cultures.
Similarly, Prof. Adisa Ogunfolakan, former Director of AG Leventis Museum of Natural History, said the project emphasises the fact that the Nigerian cultural heritage needed to be preserved and exhibited to a wider populace.
He said Nigerians needed to show the world through their museums that their ancestors were great and that their legacies should be preserved.
NAN also reports that the engagement had a panel discussion on the topic: “Enhancing Cultural Stewardship Through Inclusive Community Engagement in Nigerian Museums.” (NAN)
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