The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced on Thursday at the ongoing 4th World UNWTO/UNESCO
World Conference on Tourism and Culture in Kyoto, Japan that there are plans to establish community museums as this will benefit local communities within the country.
The Minister, who served as one of the panellists at the Ministerial Segment of the conference, dedicated to discussing and exchanging policies and government models impacting the future of cultural tourism said:
”In Nigeria, we observed that tourists stay in big cities when they visit. They visit the museums in the cities where objects gotten from different parts, including the rural areas, are displayed but they hardly go to the rural areas.
”To encourage tourists to visit the rural areas where money spent is quickly reflected in the local economy, we are trying to establish community museums,”
The Minister of Information and Culture further added that the Nigerian government will encourage the establishment of palace museums.
”Parts of ancient residencies of traditional rulers and important chiefs are being turned to museums. Thus, we are not limiting museums to big cities. Money spent by tourists while visiting these rustic places stays longer in these areas. Lamido Adamawa now has the Fombina Palace museum, just like the Emir of Potiskum has palace museum,”
The Minister said the government, through high-level representation, training of festival managers and the provision of enabling environment, is supporting and promoting festivals and cultural tourism all over the country, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that local communities benefit from such events. He concluded by saying a national calendar of festivals will soon be unveiled to assist tourists who are coming to Nigeria in planning their visits.